CNI News
12 Nov 2022
The contract farming system should be implemented effectively in cooperation with farmers, peasant unions and activists told the CNI.
Although the contract farming system is being implemented in Ayeyarwady Region at the moment, lack of proper approach has posed difficulties for farmers, according to peasants in the region.
The current contract farming system amounts to forcing farmers to sell their crops to companies that provided seeds and fertilizers, Chairman U Thein Aung of Farmers' Development Association told the CNI.
A farmer plowing in the Bagan area.
He said, "Contract farming calls for proper implementation. The so-called contract farming in our country is just a semi-contract farming system. Acutally, contract farming means inputs and services including ploughing must be provided by the company, according to the international procedure. However, our farmers had to plough the land and as a result, they had to pay for fuel and labour costs by themselves. The so-called contract farming system is just that they will sell fertilizers and seeds to farmers, who will have to sell their crops to the companies."
Under the contract farming system applied in the international community, companies are required to provide fertilizers, seeds, fuel, labour costs, threshing and marketing activities, according to farmers.
Myanmar Rice Conference in progress in 2022.
Therefore, it is necessary for the government to adopt policies on contract farming and construct buildings to store grains and export them for companies, according to U Thein Aung.
The contract farming is mainly implemented in Ayeyarwady Region and it is being implemented on only a few acres of land in other states and regions.
Currently, farmers have seen their capital investments dwindle and hope for a proper contract farming system that can provide technologies, investments and guarantees, Chairman U Kyaw Zan of All-Rakhine State Peasants Union told the CNI.
A farmer carrying seedlings.
He said, "We promote contract farming. However, as the system is being implemented by people from the mainland, local residents are worried about it. Companies that engage in contract farming are required to provide technologies, investments and guarantees. Farmers are in a position to welcome them if the companies promise to provide them with such needs."
At present, the cultivating acreage of rice paddy is falling while the per-acre-yields are dropping because of the higher costs of fertilizers, according to farmers, who also call on the authorities to allow them to buy inputs through the BNPL system.
