Myanmar: Insecticide credit system hurts farmers

Myanmar: Insecticide credit system hurts farmers

Friday, 29 July 2016 – Insecticide prices in Myanmar are much higher than they should be, because sellers are using a credit system, an official has said, with some farmers paying three or four times the market price to keep pests away from their crops. U Aung Kyaw Oo, director of the Crop Protection Division under the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation, said farmers are losing out, while insecticide manufacturers and distributors are able to make huge profits.

Typically a large distributer sells pesticide to local sellers on credit, and local sellers also sell to farmers under the same system. Sometimes, in a third stage, farmers sell the products on to other farmers, taking their own cut. Read More?