Business Plan Arr Hman Thit Producer Organisation Kywe Kue Village, Myeik Township: Producer Organisation offering farm machinery services

Abstract

Kywe Kue village is located in Sandar Wut village tract, alongside the Yangon-Myeik Highway road, and about 9 miles away from Myeik Township. The major livelihood in the village is seasonal crop farming and paddy production for seeds and grain. Villagers also depend on trade, fishery and off-farm employment in Myeik Township. The topography of the land surrounding the village makes it ideal for commercial paddy production and trading. However, households that depend on paddy production as their main source of income are confronted with numerous challenges that hinder their productivity, these include, lack of technical knowledge, poor husbandry practices and land preparation, lack of quality inputs, farm labor shortages and poor access to affordable finance. As a result, most farmers engage in subsistence paddy production to feed their households with surpluses sold to nearby millers and brokers. Low profitability from their farming operations also result in farmers leaving their fields idle while seeking off-farm employment in the neighboring township and even Thailand. In October 2018, with the support of World Vision through the TRRILD project, our producer group was formed to help alleviate some of the common challenges we faced as farmers. With continued technical support, our producer group was constituted in June 2019 under the new name ‘Arr Man Thit’ producer group (which means New Strength). One of our first collective activity was a bulk purchase of over MMK4 million worth of quality fertiliser among our members from a reputable supplier in Myeik. Immediately, our members benefited from a lower per unit transportation cost and discount from the supplier. Also during that year, we contracted 12 of our members to cultivate 16 acres of certified high-quality Shwe Bo Paw San seeds with technical support by World Vision and the Department of agriculture, through this activity, majority of our members and villagers received production training. A portion of the yield was sold to farmers as seed and the remainder was sold as grain to a commercial miller. These initial activities motivated our members and encouraged other villagers to join our producer group. Realising the need to improve land preparation to increase productivity, we decided as a group to invest in land preparation machinery and equipment. Due to our hard work, commitment, unity and functionality, our PG was prioritised as a candidate Producer Organisation by the TRRILD project in January 2020. Since then, we have hosted many exposure visits to share our experience with other TRRILD producer groups.