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This Research Note presents the results from an assessment of farm commercialization in Myanmar after the monsoon of 2022, based on data from a phone survey – the Myanmar Agriculture Performance Survey (MAPS) – that was conducted with almost 5,000 crop farmers in all states/regions of the country, over the period February – March 2023. It is found that:  The security situation is worrisome for farmers. 27 percent of the farmers reported feeling ‘very insecure’ or ‘insecure’ during the period of the interview. 23 percent of the farmers reported that they could not move around without serious concern for security while 9 percent reported that some agricultural fields could not be cultivated because of conflict in their area.  Agricultural inputs were mostly available during the 2022 monsoon period. Chemical fertilizers were reported to not be available for 7 percent of farmers. However, it was difficult to access labor for 14 percent of the farmers. Conflict-affected areas suffered substantially more from labor availability problems.  Input prices during the monsoon season of 2022 increased compared to the same period in 2021 by 60 percent for urea, 33 percent for mechanization, and 17 and 16 percent for hired labor of men and women, respectively.  Farmgate prices are all on the rise compared to a year earlier. Paddy prices increased by 80 percent, reflecting changes in international rice prices (an increase of 22 percent between 02/22 and 02/23) as well as the depreciation of the MMK (by 46 percent, for rice export under the imposed 65 percent official exchange rate – 35 percent market exchange rate export rule).  Other farm prices showed mostly lower price increases. Maize prices increased by 47 percent, groundnut by 47 percent, and sesame by 41 percent compared to a year earlier. The lowest price increase was seen in the case of rubber, which only increased by 23 percent.  Most farmers reported higher crop sales income this year compared to last. Small farms and farms in insecure areas however saw lower crop sales income increases. Recommended Actions:  The increasing insecurity in the country is hampering the functioning of agricultural markets (leading to lower availability of agricultural inputs and lower incomes). An improved security situation is called for.  Small farmers are relatively worse off compared to other farmers. They would benefit from support to their agricultural operations, potentially through agricultural cash programs.
We have analyzed the farming environment and farm commercialization situation for the 2023 monsoon season from the Myanmar Agriculture Performance Survey (MAPS), conducted at the beginning of 2024. This survey encompassed almost 4,400 crop producers in the monsoon, distributed across all states/regions of the country. Our findings reveal: The security situation in Myanmar continues to pose concerns for farmers, impacting their commercialization practices. During the interview period (January – March 2024): 1.1) 31 percent of farmers reported feeling 'very insecure' or 'insecure'. 1.2) 22 percent expressed serious security concerns while moving around. 1.3) 8 percent stated that conflict in their area prevented the cultivation of some agricultural fields. 1.4) 1.4 percent reported land confiscation as a problem in their community. 1.5) 11 percent indicated fear of storing produce at home due to the risk of confiscation or destruction. Security challenges for farming vary across states and regions, with the Delta area - the country's rice bowl - experiencing relatively better conditions. Limited access to fuel, crucial for irrigation and mechanization among others, poses a significant constraint to farming. Nationally, about a quarter of Burmese farmers reported either no or rare availability of fuel in their communities during the monsoon and post/premonsoon periods. This situation is exacerbated in conflict-affected areas such as Rakhine, Chin, and Kayah, with Rakhine experiencing a dramatic worsening in recent months, with 81 percent of farmers reporting fuel scarcity in the post/pre-monsoon period. Agricultural inputs were generally accessible during the 2023 monsoon season, indicating the resilience of the private sector in delivering these inputs. However, 4 percent of farmers reported unavailability of chemical fertilizers, while 6 percent faced difficulties in accessing mechanization and 18 percent in securing agricultural labor. Input prices increased during the 2023 monsoon compared to the same period in 2022, with mechanized plowing costs rising by 20 percent, and hired labor costs for men and women increasing by 19 percent and 23 percent, respectively. Conversely, urea prices decreased by 15 percent. In the post/pre-monsoon of 2024, wages saw substantial increases compared to the monsoon, especially for men, with a 15 percent rise, possibly linked to the new conscription law. Nearly all crop prices increased compared to the previous monsoon. Paddy prices surged by 64 percent. Conversely, maize prices experienced an 11 percent decrease, likely due to transportation issues via Myawaddy, the border town for trade with Thailand. Most farmers reported higher crop sales income this year compared to the previous one. However, 14 percent of farmers reported lower sales incomes. Farmers in remote and conflict-affected areas face significant disadvantages in farm commercialization. Insecurity and isolation are primarily linked to higher input costs, while output prices are similar or lower compared to secure and well-connected areas. Consequently, farming profitability in these regions is reduced, impacting farmers' income and welfare.
Key Findings This Research Note presents the results from an assessment of farm commercialization in Myanmar after the dry season of 2023, based on data from a phone survey – the Myanmar Agriculture Performance Survey (MAPS) – that was conducted with 5,001 crop farmers in all states/regions of the country, over the period June – July 2023. It is found that:  The security situation is worrisome for farmers. Almost a quarter of the farmers reported feeling ‘very insecure’ or ‘insecure’ during the period of the interview.  Agricultural inputs were mostly available during the 2023 dry season period. However, it was difficult to access labor for 17 percent of the farmers. Conflict-affected areas suffered substantially more from labor availability problems.  Input prices during the dry season of 2023 increased compared to the same period in 2022 by 14 percent for urea, 19 percent for mechanization, and 15 and 22 percent for hired labor of men and women, respectively.  Farmgate prices are all on the rise compared to a year earlier. Paddy prices increased by 69 percent. Other farm prices showed mostly lower price increases. In the case of pulses, black gram increased by 21 percent and green gram by 19 percent. In the case of oilseeds, sesame increased by 38 percent and groundnut by 33 percent.  The high price increases in the case of paddy and oilseeds – higher than input costs – reflects increased profitability for these farmers. However, that is not the case of these other crops.  Most farmers reported higher crop sales income this year compared to last. Farms affected by cyclone Mocha and farms in insecure areas however reported relatively more crop sales income decreases than other farmers. Recommended Actions  The increasing insecurity in the country is hampering the functioning of agricultural markets (leading to lower availability of agricultural inputs and lower incomes). An improved security situation is called for.  As cyclone Mocha has reduced, among others, incomes of a large number of farmers in Rakhine and the Dry Zone, assistance of these cyclone-affected farmers is needed.
This Research Note presents the results from an assessment of output markets and crop prices in Myanmar after the monsoon of 2021. The results are based on data from a phone survey – the Myanmar Agriculture Performance Survey (MAPS) – that was conducted with almost 4,000 crop farmers in 281 townships in all states/regions of the country, over the period February 2022 – March 2022. We found that: Commercial rice income was down on average by 5 percent as farmers sold less of their harvest and stored more compared to the year before. Prices of crops linked to export markets increased more because of international price changes as well as the MMK depreciation than crops marketed domestically. For example, maize exported to Thailand increased by 53 percent and pigeon pea exported to India by 44 percent. There is strong heterogeneity in the evolution of income reported from crop sales. Compared to one year earlier, 35 percent of the farmers indicated an increase of crop sales income of more than 20 percent while 36 percent saw a decrease of more than 20 percent. Small farms in more insecure areas saw lower crop sales income increases compared to average farmers while farmers connected to export markets (maize and pulses) had relatively higher income increases from crop sales.
We analyze paddy rice productivity and profitability data for the monsoon season of 2022 from the Myanmar Agriculture Performance Survey (MAPS), fielded in the beginning of 2023. The survey covered plots of 3,076 paddy rice producers, spread across all states/regions of the country. We find that: 1. Paddy rice productivity – tons of paddy produced per unit of cultivated land – at the national level decreased on average by 7.5 percent during the monsoon of 2022 compared to the monsoon of 2021. The lower productivity is mostly explained by adverse weather conditions, with negative impacts of droughts during the monsoon of 2022. Lower input use and other factors - such as increased insecurity - played an important role as well. Paddy rice yields were lowest in Kayah and Chin, two conflict-affected states. 2. Prices for most inputs used in paddy rice cultivation increased significantly between these two seasons. Prices of urea, the most important chemical fertilizer used by paddy rice farmers, increased by 87 percent on average while mechanization costs increased by 27 percent. Small decreases are noted, on average, in the use of paddy rice inputs over the last two monsoons. Despite the large price increases for chemical fertilizer, its use declined only by 8 percent compared to the previous monsoon. 3. Paddy prices at the farm level increased by 81 percent, reflecting changes in international rice prices as well as the depreciation of the MMK. Gross revenues per acre increased in nominal terms by 67 percent, mostly due to these high price increases. 4. Real profits, with nominal prices corrected by the change in the cost of an average food basket, from paddy rice farming during the monsoon of 2022 increased by 26 percent and 10 percent compared to the monsoon of 2021 and 2020 respectively. While nominal profits for paddy rice farmers increased by 95 percent over the last two seasons, price inflation has been high in the country and real profit increased much less. While the rice sector demonstrated resilience in the country, the current situation is concerning given productivity declines and high price increases, raising fears for increased food insecurity in the country. We have found improved farm profitability this year and as fertilizer prices for the coming monsoon (the monsoon of 2023) are down (due to international price decreases) and international rice prices are up (due to lower global stocks), this might further improve profitability - and incentives - for paddy production in 2023. These price developments might possibly reverse the declining productivity trend. The big unknowns that might impact paddy production in 2023 though are the weather - with less rainfall expected due to El Niño conditions in the second half of the year - and the evolution of conflict-related insecurity in the country.
Rice is an extremely important product for farmers’ livelihoods and for food security in Myanmar. Rice is the main staple, accounting for 51 and 62 percent of urban and rural calories consumed, respectively, making it crucial for food security in the country.1 Large international changes in commodity markets and twin local crises – COVID-19 and political problems due to the military take-over – have raised doubts on the performance of the agricultural sector overall and the rice sector in particular. The assessment on farmers’ rice productivity during the dry season of 2022 presented in this research note is based on data from the Myanmar Agriculture Performance Survey (MAPS) that was conducted with 678 rice producers, spread over all states/regions of the country, over the period August 2022 – September 2022. Detailed questions were asked to farmers about their background, input use and input prices, farm management practices, rice output and output prices, and natural and other shocks during the dry season of 2021 and 2022.2 This research note presents the results from that assessment.
Myanmar has endured multiple crises in recent years — including COVID-19, global price instability, the 2021 coup, and widespread conflict — that have disrupted and even reversed a decade of economic development. Household welfare has declined severely, with more than 3 million people displaced and many more affected by high food price inflation and worsening diets. Yet Myanmar’s agrifood production and exports have proved surprisingly resilient. Myanmar’s Agrifood System: Historical Development, Recent Shocks, Future Opportunities provides critical analyses and insights into the agrifood system’s evolution, current state, and future potential. This work fills an important knowledge gap for one of Southeast Asia’s major agricultural economies — one largely closed to empirical research for many years. It is the culmination of a decade of rigorous empirical research on Myanmar’s agrifood system, including through the recent crises. Written by IFPRI researchers and colleagues from Michigan State University, the book’s insights can serve as a to guide immediate humanitarian assistance and inform future growth strategies, once a sustainable resolution to the current crisis is found that ensures lasting peace and good governance.
Groundnut, sesame, soybean, and sunflower crops are grown across Myanmar. Nationally, 15 percent of farmers were engaged in oilseed cultivation in the post/pre-monsoon 2023 season, while 17 percent of farmers planted oilseeds in the 2022 monsoon season. Among the agro-ecological zones, the Dry Zone had the largest share of farmers growing oilseeds as their most important non-paddy crop. At the same time, the percentage of farmers who grew oilseeds as their most important non-paddy crop in 2023 declined overall and in the Dry Zone compared to the post/pre monsoon seasons of 2022 and 2021. In the post/pre-monsoon 2023 season, 7 and 6 percent of the farmers grew sesame and groundnut, respectively. Only 2 percent of farmers grew soybeans while 1 percent grew sunflowers. Groundnut, sunflower, and sesame were mainly grown in the Dry Zone, while soybean was mainly grown in the Hills and Mountainous Region. The farm size of oilseed growing households was slightly larger than that of the average crop growing household, 5.7 acres compared with 4.7 acres. Most oilseed farmers specialize in oilseed production and plant more than half of their cultivated acres to oilseeds. Oilseed farmers grew oilseeds on 64 percent of their cultivated acres in the 2023 pre/post monsoon season and 36 percent of their cultivated acres in the monsoon season.
Over the last decade, farms in Myanmar have gone through important market transitions. On the input side, imports of chemical fertilizer increased four-fold and agro-chemicals eight-fold while 55 percent more farmers were using mechanization rental services between 2011 and 2020. On the output side, three-quarters of Myanmar’s crop production is sold, indicating high market orientation, especially so for non-paddy crops. However, farm commercialization in Myanmar started from a low base and is still lagging peer countries in the region. The twin crises in 2020 and 2021 (the covid-19 and the political crisis) and international market developments have further led to increasing worries for an agricultural market transformation on hold or in reverse, as seen by a decline in imports of modern inputs, driven by price increases of inputs, currency policy changes, insecurity, and reduced profitability for most crop farmers. To improve farm commercialization and to catch up with peers, a better and secure business environment, openness to trade, further diversification, and improved infrastructure is called for.
The “Sustainable Cropland and Forest Management in Priority Agro-ecosystems of Myanmar” Project of FAO in Myanmar is a five-year project (2016-2021) funded by Global Environment Facility (GEF) and being jointly coordinated and implemented by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (MoNREC) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Irrigation (MoALI). The project has supported establishment of a National CSA at Yezin Agriculture University in Myanmar. One of the key activities of the National CSA Center is to organize annual workshop/conference to share ideas, opportunities and challenges with regards to CSA and SLM and to discuss on the way forwards. Such workshops will focus on different themes of CSA and SLM every year. Accordingly, the first workshop was organized by the CSA Center at YAU on 14th Sep 2018 and the theme of this workshop was “Promoting Climate Smart Agriculture in Myanmar”. This proceeding presents the background of the project and workshop and compiles all the papers presented during the workshop.