Farmers on the Myanmar-China border are facing hardship due to lower labor costs and high agricultural equipment costs, according to local residents.
“The selling price of sugarcane is not much different, but the labor cost is very low,” said a sugarcane farmer from the border area.
The price of sugarcane packed with plastic bags was only 15,000 kyats to 20,000 kyats last year, but this year it has increased to 30,000 kyats, he said.
The price of sugarcane packed with plastic bags was also only 6,000 kyats per ton last year, but this year it has increased to 10,000 kyats per ton, and the price at which sugarcane is resold is only three Chinese yuan higher than last year’s price, he explained.
“It’s worse to grow rice. The cost of fertilizer, cultivation costs, and daily rent are expensive, and it’s difficult to harvest. The rice market is not good,and it’s a loss,” said a rice farmer in the border area.
Since no one buys rice, and the price of rice is not good, it’s a loss, so the farmland is only used for household-based cultivating, and no one wants to rent it anymore, he said.
The farmers in the border area of China used to sell rice to China before the Northern Alliance’s 1027 Operation, but now China can no longer legally sell rice, so there is no demand and they are struggling.
Photo Crd – Local Resident
