A spokesman from the Farmers Development Public Company announced that China and Myanmar will embark on a joint agricultural development venture this coming year. The two nations have agreed to cooperatively cultivate rice paddies on Myanmar land.
China will supply the fertilizer for these fields and has arranged to purchase the harvested rice at local prices.
“China will purchase all the varieties of rice that this venture will produce,” assured U Kyaw Swar Soe. “It has not put any restraints on the types that should be grown. Food supplies for many countries are becoming an important issue, so this is asignificant deal.”
Representatives from the Farmers Development Public Company mentioned that the paddies will likely be cultivated in the Ayeyarwady delta region and the Bago Division and that development will begin in early summer, at the start of the growing season.
Chinese agricultural businesses will begin related negotiations with Myanmar farmers during the last week of October and the first few weeks of November.
India, in conjunction with the Asia United Rice Company and the Farmers Development Party, has also made an agreement with Myanmar to develop 100,000 acres of rice paddies on its soil.
In these respective ventures with China and India, the Farmers Development Company made assurances that both locally and internationally owned paddy fields will be cared for and tended equally.
Rice traders have mentioned that these paddy deals will greatly benefit local farmers, who usually face issues with fluctuations in the prices of rice during the crucial harvest time.
Source: Mizzima News
