The Community-Led Coastal Management in the Gulf of Mottama Project is planning to establish a township farmers’ association within the next three years, according to U Tun Zaw Htay, agriculture officer of the Mottama Project.
“The next project will run for three years after this three-year project has been completed. There will be some changes in the way we run [the project]. The farmers’ association has been established on the village level during the first three years and we will establish it on a township-level in the next three years,” he said.
He explained that the farmers’ associations will try to establish agricultural manufacturing associations and connect with the Food Chamber of Commerce and Rice Mill Chamber of Commerce to boost the market.
U Tun Zaw Htay said the farmers need to use good quality seeds in planting the crops and they need to enter the market in order to get the prices they deserve based on the quality of the products.
The farmers need to plant good quality seeds that are based on the market, he added.
U Kyaw Htay, a farmer from Bo Yar Gyi Village in Kyaikhto Township, said efforts have been made to increase the amount of good quality seeds and distribute them to the farmers since the good quality seeds and technologies are out of their reach.
“We used the traditional methods in the past, but the quality has become higher after we use the good quality seeds and plant them with correct methods. We have received good prices for the rice due to higher quality,” said U Kyaw Htay.
The Mottama Project held a farmer field day at Bo Yar Gyi Village on March 23 to develop the agricultural sector, increase family incomes, produce seeds, and enable farmers to use the technologies.
The Mottama Project is the first group that was able to designate a fisheries co-management zone in Aung Kan Thar Village last year after cooperating with the state government.
