CNI News
5 Sept 2022
Farmers as well as SMEs will be eligible for the MMK 10 billion loans the Rakhine State Administration Council is planning to offer, Rakhine State Attorney General U Hla Thein, a spokesperson of the council, told the CNI.
He added that larger part of the loan will contribute to rural areas and will flow to agriculture and livestock farmers in rural areas.
U Hla Thein told the CNI, “Priority is given to rural residents. There are some rural residents who own modern ricl mills. As they have to store paddy and mill it. If they can get loans, they can store more paddy. Moreover, there are big livestock farmers in rural areas. If mill owners can store more rice, their workers will get jobs all year round. As they buy paddy from farmers, farmers will get more money from them. There are SMEs in urban areas. They are registered with departments. We will offer loans to them as well if they need.”
The MMK 10 billion loan has not been granted to farmers because state level government departments have held the first meeting about the loan.
Heaps of harvested paddy.
Unlike agricultural loans normally offered, the loan will be supervised by officials of the Rural Development Department, the Cooperatives Department, the Mechanized Farming Department and the Myanmar Agriculture Department.
U Hla Thein said, “For example, a farmer grows crops during the rainy season. He has five acres of land. So, he will receive loans from the Agriculture Bank. Our loans will be offered to farmers who have farmland on the banks of freshwater creeks so that they can grow summer paddy. If three or four such farmers can grow 100 acres of summer paddy, it is beneficial for them. If they grow oil crops, they must choose farms that are viable. We offer loans to them. They must provide evidence that they really own their farms and recommendations from the Agriculture Department. We will offer loans to farmers who meet all requirements.”
As agricultural loans were granted to people who did not do farming during the terms of successive governments, measures should be taken to make sure that the MMK 10 billion loan is granted to people who actually do agriculture and livestock farming, farmers from Rakhine State told the CNI.
A livestock breeding farm.
U Aung Kyaw Mya, a Rakhine farmer, told the CNI,” Instead of offering loans, they should provide us with fertilizer because it is very difficult to buy it. We cannot buy as much as we need. Cargo trucks are not permitted to transport fertilizers. There are many checkpoints along highways. Fertilizers are transported to Rakhine State by ship. So, it takes at least three weeks to transport fertilizers to Rakhine State by sea. It is beneficial for farmers if fertilizers are available for them.”
Farmers also said MMK 10 billion will not be sufficient for all farmers in Rakhine State.
Due to higher costs of fuel and inputs, farmers in Rakhine State have reduced the cultivation acreage of monsoon paddy this year and yields may be one fourth of previous years in the upcoming harvest, according to farmers in Rakhine State.
