“...it’s better to use proper techniques rather than just working blindly.”
They are turning to tech for better yields, address knowledge gap
SAN SAN HLA, Myanmar farmer
AFREE app on farmer San San Hla’s smartphone is her new weapon in the war against the dreaded stem borer moth that blighted her rice paddy in southern Myanmar for the last two years.
As she watches her workers haul in this year’s harvest, the 35year-old is in a triumphant mood, ascribing her victory over the seasonal scourge to advice received via the app about effective pesticide use.
“We used to just farm the way our parents showed us,” she said, in her village of Aye Ywar, west of Yangon.
“But after getting the app, I now see how we should be doing it... it’s better to use proper techniques rather than just working blindly.”
San Hla is among a growing cohort of farmers who are turning to tech to address the knowledge gap in a country where two thirds of the workforce are employed in agriculture.
The sector accounts for some 28 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product, but yields are low with farmers cut-off from modern technology under decades of isolationist junta rule.
For people like San Hla, apps could be the answer. They are providing farmers with up-todate information on everything; from weather, climate change, crop prices to advice on pesticides and fertilisers.
The “Green Way” app is the brainchild of two former agricultural students, who in 2011 set up a website for farmers, often working through the night to keep it updated.
But at the time, few farmers had Internet access, recalled Yin Yin Phyu, 28, explaining the “idea just didn’t take off ”.
Then smartphones arrived and everything changed. As Myanmar opened its doors, telcos rushed in to grab market share, thrusting Myanmar beyond the era of desktop computers and old-style mobile phones.
The cost of sim cards, once the tightly-controlled reserve of the well-connected, or special branch spies, plummeted from an unattainable US$3,000 (RM1,168) in 2005 to US$1.50 in 2013.
Mobile penetration stood at just seven per cent in 2012. By the end of last year, smartphone penetration had rocketed to 80 per cent.
Farmers, many among the country’s poorest, today find themselves with a mobile computer in their hands — a gamechanger for the entrepreneurs behind “Green Way”, who launched their app in 2016 and now employ 18 full-time staff.
“‘Green way’ is my dream to link farmers and experts,” Yin Yin Phyu said. “The farmers can get help whenever they need.”
Some 70,000 farmers have already downloaded the app although she hears far more are accessing it through phone-tophone sharing.
Greater productivity at Myanmar’s farms could reshape both its economy and society, said 71year-old agricultural expert Myo Myint.
“Many workers migrate to other countries because they can’t make enough money to live from agriculture in Myanmar,” he said.
“Farmers need technology and investment.”