The message sent by Chairman of the State Administration Council Prime Minister of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar
Senior General Thadoe Maha Thray Sithu Thadoe Thiri Thudhamma Min Aung Hlaing
to the ceremony to mark the Peasants’ Day.
2 March 2024
Esteemed peasants,
Now is an occasion of a historically significant day honoring the farmers who engage in agriculture and livestock farms across the nation. I extend my greetings to all with best wishes for all peasants to have physical and mental well-being with the capacity to double the agriculture and livestock tasks and enjoy socio-economic development.
In implementing the five-point roadmap, the State Administration Council is initiating short-term and long-term plans by adopting three economic objectives in order to ensure the prosperity of the State: food security, all-round development of the economic sector and promotion of export volume.
Peasants have to grow primary crops such as paddy and oil crops, including groundnut, sesame and sunflower, and industrial crops such as cotton, sugarcane and coffee, in addition to pulses, beans and maize, among other crops, to meet the earmarked sown acreage. I want to urge them to strive to meet the target production of all crops through the use of quality strains of crops, proper soil preparations, smart supply of water, correct agricultural techniques, and the growth of double crops.
In order to ensure food security and promote the export sector, annual plans are adopted for relevant crops, and encouragement is being given to boost the per-acre yield of primary crops. As peasants have placed 17 million acres of paddy, 10.57 million acres of pulses and beans, 8.24 million acres of oil crops,
1.6 million acres of corn and 0.52 million acres of cotton in the 2023-2024 financial year, I would like to express my gratitude to relevant departments and peasants for their concerted efforts.
At present, people consume more cooking oil than necessary, and some of them are suffering from health problems. On the other hand, the import volume of cooking oil increases due to local demand. Consuming just the necessary volume of cooking oil can contribute much to the improvement of health conditions as well as the reduction of spending on foreign currency. As such, it is necessary to strive to increase the production of oil crops. The government is making the utmost efforts for the cultivation of oil crops on set acres of croplands to secure the target production for cooking oil at home.
The government is implementing plans to reduce the import volume of thread and textile products and meet the target cultivation of 800,000 acres of long staple cotton grown in the past five years with the expansion of sown acreage in order to increase the per-acre yield of cotton for export purpose as well as supplying the domestic demand. If surplus, cotton can be exported. Moreover, as the government sets a plan to produce 700 vises per acre of quality cotton, farmers have to follow the implementation of the government’s plan. As coffee production is a sure long-term agricultural business in the global market, I would like to invite interested persons and ethnic entrepreneurs capable of investing in the coffee farming industry. The government earmarked the initial cultivation of 100,000 acres of coffee with more plans to grow 300,000 acres of coffee crops and one million acres of crops in the future.
Currently, the government manages the production of seeds in the entire nation entirely using quality strains of crops while organizing the seed show since 2019 to broaden the scope of peasants.
Likewise, the government initiates management for the use of machinery in farmland preparations and harvesting and winnowing in the agriculture sector, systematic reclamation of farmlands in order to utilize agricultural equipment at full capacity, sell various agricultural machinery items at different levels of the workplace and transform the manual to the mechanized farming through modern techniques.
The Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation cooperate in selling urea fertilizers to peasants at reduced prices.
Moreover, arrangements are being made to disseminate knowledge about the combined use of fertilizer and natural fertilizers and the production and use of natural fertilizers in relevant areas for boosting the per-acre yield of crops and to mark concerted efforts among the government, private businesspersons and associations in sell inputs at fair prices with the contribution of the State economic promotion fund.
Currently, crops throughout the world face loss and damage before harvest time due to the climate change process, and it is necessary to consider how to overcome the challenges of food shortage and how to enhance response power against the challenges due to aforesaid events. The government has enacted laws and bylaws to protect the rights of peasants and raise their interests by paying particular attention to the storage of reserve seeds, making preparations, and re-growing crops in the damaged areas.
On the other hand, peasants have to change the cultivation of crops suitable for the regions and use short-term matured crops with the least water requirement in order to efficiently use water in conformity with the changing climate. As such, the government raises peasant awareness and demonstrations to use modern irrigated facilities to save water in cultivation and change the cultivation of crops with the least requirement of water.
The government has built 246 dams, 144 reservoirs, 72 lakes, 199 sluice gates, and 219 water pumping stations, totaling 880, to solve the shortage of water as well as irrigating more than 3.1 million acres of crops. Moreover, the government carries out sinking 25,513 tube wells as underground water tapping, temporary damming creeks to supply water with the use of solar pumping systems, building anti-saltwater dykes and embankments for prevention of flooding in deltaic areas close to the sea and entering salt water in order to supply sufficient agricultural water and prevention of flooding. Hence, I would like to urge all peasants to use water efficiently and minimize the waste of water.
Peasants have to apply ways of boosting the per-acre yield of crops and emphasize the cultivation of crops in double and mixed-cropping patterns to increase the sown acreage of crops. Moreover, it is necessary to leverage the application of good agricultural practices and organic crop cultivation.
Farmers’ Channel of MRTV and Myanmar Radio broadcast general knowledge about agricultural techniques, including modern agricultural methods, climate, market and agrarian information in order to improve the cultivation and production of crops, whereas newspapers, journals, periodicals and farming business publications are being published as well as agricultural techniques are being shared through mobile phone for farmers to be able to accumulate agrarian information.
The capital revolving fund of the State economic promotion fund contributes to the implementation of the monsoon project and oil crop project this year in addition to the green gram and summer paddy project last year. In order to develop agriculture and livestock sectors, eight states, six regions, and six self-administered zones and divisions have been provided the capital through the State economic promotion fund for booming agriculture, livestock and related businesses.
An emphasis is being placed on initiating artificial insemination processes in order to propagate pedigree cows, distribute pedigree cows by operating quality cow species research farms, educate local farmers for managing livestock and production to follow Good Animal Husbandry Practices (GAHP), vaccinate cattle and control animal diseases with treatment, establish livestock breeding zones and implement dairy cow farming industries through the State economic promotion fund.
It is necessary to successfully breed cows and buffaloes in order to produce dairy products to ensure local sufficiency. A plan is underway to establish the Veterinary Science School in May 2024 so as to turn out skilled professionals for enhancement of the livestock breeding sector.
In the livestock sector, the State economic promotion fund contributed to the implementation of the agriculture and livestock emerald green project, and the capital revolving fund supported the livestock farms.
The capital revolving fund contributes to the emerald green village (fishery sector) project for rural development. In this regard, some 90 percent of production met the domestic fish demand, and the remaining 10 percent of fish products were exported to earn foreign exchange.
The government assists in the collection of fish species suitable for regions, climate and market demand, non-depletion of fish species, an increase of fish production, production and releasing of fingerlings into natural water for ensuring sustainability of pedigree fish species, testing quality of water and soil of fish farms, undertaking of health and disease control, issuance of recommendations for fingerling health conditions. As such, fish farmers need to follow Good Aquacultural Practices (GAqPs).
In conclusion, if agricultural and livestock farms of peasants who are composed of rural people, accounting for 70 percent of the population of Myanmar, are successful, all people will have improvement in their basic daily needs and socioeconomic lives. As the country can ensure food security at home as well as earn increased income in the export of products to global countries, I want
to urge all in the agriculture and livestock sectors to work in concert with diligence, perseverance and good morale to boost the State economy.
Senior General Thadoe Maha Thray Sithu
Thadoe Thiri Thudhamma Min Aung Hlaing
Prime Minister
Chairman, State Administration Council