Border News Agency
Kyauktaw, May 29
Farmers say that they are in need of support to continue working, as the prices of imported agricultural inputs have increased in areas controlled by the Arakan Army (AA), causing financial difficulties.
Due to the rising prices of these imported inputs and ongoing financial challenges, farmers also report that the number of people continuing to engage in farming has decreased.
Farmers say that in areas controlled by the Arakan Army (AA), the price of premium petrol has risen to 1.7 million kyats per barrel, while diesel has gone up to 1.6 million kyats per barrel.
In addition, the price of a bag of fertilizer has exceeded 500,000 kyats, and the costs of plowing services and labor wages have also increased, according to the farmers.
Because of these challenges, farmers say they are facing difficulties in continuing their agricultural work, leading to a decline in the number of people engaged in farming.
“This year, even fewer people are going into farming. Although many invested heavily last year, they couldn’t recover their capital. That’s why more people are quitting farming. Now the rains have started, but the prices of imported inputs have soared. We don’t have the capital needed to farm. We really need support,” a farmer from Kyauktaw Township told Border News Agency.
Due to financial difficulties, farmers say they are now only growing crops on a small scale just to meet their families’ food needs.
They also mention that last year, the Arakan region experienced floods, which led to a decrease in rice yields and falling rice prices, causing many farmers to suffer losses.
On top of that, poor transportation infrastructure has made it difficult for farmers to access essential supplies, and there are fewer buyers for their rice, leaving them in need of capital to continue farming, according to the farmers.
“Farmers are facing more difficulties year after year. Every year ends in losses. It’s becoming hard to even make a living from farming,” another farmer from Kyauktaw Township told Border News Agency.
In the Arakan region, the price of fuel needed for farming machinery has been rising, and the cost of spare parts for repairing those machines has also increased. As a result, many farmers have gone back to using oxen and cows for plowing, they said.
Although there are over 1 million acres of arable land suitable for rice cultivation in the Arakan region, farmers say only about 700,000 acres were actually cultivated last year, and that figure may drop even further this year.
