Nang Su Thiri Win, Thanet Saengthongsrikamon, Tin Maung Htwe and Pyae Sone Aung
22 April 2024 at 9:49 (Updated on 29 April 2024 at 18:21) SHAN STATE, MYANMAR – Efforts are being made to end the burning of agricultural fields in Myanmar, one of the sources of transboundary haze in the Mekong region. However, the country’s economic woes have forced farmers to continue relying on low-cost and unsustainable farming practices. Aung Thein*, a maize farmer from Than Te village in the southern part of Shan State, recalled when maize plantations – also known as corn – only made up a tiny part of his farming area in 2019. However, the crop’s popularity soon grew, expanding from 28 to nearly 810 hectares over the next five years. Farmers in about 70 villages shifted to maize, a big increase from the 19 villages where it had previously been grown. Now more than 5,000 farmers are involved in the sector. The sharp rise in maize plantations was because of a push by Thai companies and local authorities to promote the crop in Shan State. Thailand requires 8.9 million tons of maize per year, but it can only produce half that much, according to data from Thailand’s Ministry of Commerce. Thailand now imports about 1.6 million tons of maize from neighboring countries annually. Between 600,000 and 700,000 tons come from Myanmar. Maize is mainly used for producing animal feed, of which demand has increased dramatically due to the rising popularity of meat in Thailand and across Southeast Asia. But this surging demand has come with downsides, such as deforestation and field burning – a common farming practice used to clear residue after harvests in the Mekong region, and one which has caused the unhealthy transboundary haze. Greenpeace analyzed satellite maps and found that more than 470,000 hectares of forests in Shan State had been converted into maize plantations. It also highlighted that one by three of the hotspots, indicating burning, were detected in the maize plantation area. Other hotspots were in forests. Efforts have been made by the Thai government and agro companies to reduce fires in neighboring countries, as companies’ rising demands for maize have been blamed for the increase in widespread burning. Some of the initiatives aimed at cutting back the burning included the implementation of the Feed Ingredient Trading Business Group in Myanmar by Thai agro conglomerate Charoen Pokphand (or CP Group), which established a traceability system that verified the origin of harvested maize. The Thai government recently approved a ban on maize imports from areas where farmers burn off their fields. However, Myanmar’s ongoing political and economic challenges have not created the right circumstances for farmers to stop burning, despite their awareness of its impacts on health and the environment. Myanmar General Min Aung Hlaing staged a military coup in 2021 which started a civil war across Myanmar, including in Shan State where nearly 100,000 people have been displaced after clashes between the military and armed ethnic groups. The international community responded to the conflict by sanctioning military-affiliated businesses and calling on private companies to exit the country. As a result, many activities relating to trade and commerce have been suspended and Myanmar has suffered a huge economic downturn. Rising inflation has led to Myanmar’s currency, the Kyat, being devalued due to a shortage of foreign exchange – and put up the prices of agricultural production. Maize farmers have been heavily affected as their farming practices rely heavily on fertilizers. The Irrawaddy also reported that traders and exporters of agricultural products, including maize, have lost profits in the border trade with Thailand due to the junta’s frequent change of policies. These include various tariffs charged at checkpoints along the transportation routes, where goods have also been seized by authorities. Rising fuel prices add to the costs. “The military set up many checkpoints along the routes. I had to pay between 3,000 and 4,000 Kyat (about US$14 to $24) to pass through each checkpoint,” said maize farmer Aung Thein. The uncertainty in maize trading has led Thai buyers to offer lower prices or cancel or reduce their orders. As transportation costs double, an anonymous farmer from Hopong Township said buyers do not take as much as they used to, forcing farmers to sell their maize by weight, which reduces their profits. The ongoing El Nino, expected to continue until at least June, has resulted in a heatwave and drought that has also hit maize production in Southeast Asia.