Fuel shortage leaves Bago Region farmers struggling with monsoon paddy harvest and winter crop planting

Fuel shortage leaves farmers in Bago Region struggling with monsoon paddy harvest and winter crop cultivation

November 8

Farmers in Bago Region are facing difficulties in their harvesting operations due to fuel shortages and exorbitant price increases during the monsoon paddy harvest season, and preparations for winter crop cultivation have also stalled, according to local farmers.

Currently, some fuel stations have closed because they have no fuel left to sell, and in the outside market, fuel cannot be purchased in the needed quantities while prices have risen exorbitantly, it is reported.

"Now the fuel stations have closed, saying they have no fuel. If you buy outside, you have to pay nearly 10,000 per liter. Even if you want to pay the high price, you can't buy as much as you need. The situation is such that even getting a liter is not easy," said a woman resident of Bago.

In addition, for winter crops being prepared for continued cultivation after the monsoon paddy harvest, land preparation, plowing and cultivation operations cannot continue due to the unavailability of fuel, and they are facing difficulties, it is also reported.

If harvesting is to be done with manual labor, they are also facing a labor shortage problem, as the civil war and conscription law following the coup have led to an increase in young people able to work leaving for abroad, it is reported.

Due to the fuel shortage, agricultural machinery is having difficulty operating, and farmers are worried that monsoon paddy harvesting operations may be delayed and that winter crop cultivation timing will also be affected.

"At the time we need to harvest the monsoon paddy, we can't get fuel, so the work can't go forward. In the workplace, the main thing is diesel. Harvesting machines can't run without fuel. If we buy from places that have fuel, the price is so high that farmers can't afford it," said a farmer in eastern Bago Region.

Due to rising fuel prices and commodity prices, pesticides and herbicides have also become expensive, and fertilizer prices have also risen, the farmer said.

Myanmar has a total of 31 million acres of cultivated land, including nearly 16 million acres of paddy land and nearly 10 million acres of upland fields, of which 15 million acres are planted with monsoon paddy and 3 million acres with summer paddy, the junta government announced last year.

MyoTaw News Channel