Hle Gu, Myanmar – Saw Htoo Baw is a young farmer from Tha Bite Kone village, Hle Gu Township in Myanmar. In 2015, the Agricultural Farmer Federation of Myanmar (AFFM) visited his area and met with him. Saw Htoo Baw expressed his concern about the increasing use of synthetic and chemical inputs amongst farmers in this region. He is aware of the damages of this practice to the environment—destroying soil structure and also an increasing financial burden to the farmers.
It has been difficult to increase rice farming from the current system of rice farming method due to a lot of chemical fertilizers that have been used in the rice field. With conventional methods, only by using expensive chemical fertilizer, pesticides, and hybrid seeds can farmers increase their production. It is increasingly difficult for ordinary farmers to afford all these expensive things. It is also known that using chemicals is harmful to the environment and health.
“Farmers in our area are poor and living a miserable life. They are struggling to provide for their day-to-day needs. I would like to improve their standard of living,” he said.
Saw Htoo Baw was aware that returning to natural traditional farming was the long-term sustainable solution and he was looking for learning opportunities. He expressed how there was a lack of information and training on these subjects, especially on alternative farming techniques. The AFFM team recognized his potential and selected him to attend a ten-month intensive training program at Network for Environment and Economic Development (NEED) Myanmar, with support from the AFOSP-MTCP2 Programme. NEED-Myanmar is an eco-village farm school.
At the end of his training at NEED, Saw Htoo Baw said, “The ten months I spent at the farm school is unforgettable. I had a lot of hands-on practice and learned about solutions to various challenges in farming as well as social change. I feel that I now have the tools for changing destructive agricultural practices and enhancing the lives of my fellow farmers. I will apply this knowledge and techniques on my farm. I am confident to start organic agriculture practices and low-cost farming techniques.”
After graduating in March 2016, he immediately went to work on his family land that largely consists of rice paddy. The first major change and foundation he implemented was creating and using high-quality organic compost on-site. This method was combined with SRI (System of Rice Intensification) for cultivation. The SRI was extended to 3 acres of family farmland.
SRI is a method of growing rice that uses local seeds and organic compost to increase rice production. In SRI, less seed is required (2 kilograms per acre) and there will be fewer plants per unit area (25×25 cm) as opposed to the general rice cultivation technique that requires 20 kilograms of seed per acre. SRI requires less expenditure on fertilizers as it does not apply chemical pesticides because the animal system is in place. SRI uses animal manure and farm waste to increase rice production. Among the benefits of the SRI technique are increased rice production, requires fewer seeds and other inputs, and less water, thereby requiring a lower monetary investment.
Saw Htoo Baw did not keep his newfound knowledge a secret and discussed his plans with 5 neighboring farmers. It was challenging for him as many farmers were not keen on trying the new technique. Still, he encouraged them to learn from his experience in composting, using all available raw material and by-products from the cultivation. Out of these five farmers, four had adopted a certain SRI technique in the first year itself bringing a total of 20 acres of paddy cultivation under the SRI method.
U Ba Aye, one of the farmers that adopted the SRI technique said, “I am really grateful to Saw Htoo Baw who brings us good luck. We will be trying to develop this method, learning from our experience. I believe that the SRI method will solve a lot of the problems we are facing.”
Even with modest changes, they were able to earn a reasonably higher income than what they used to get. These results are promising and would be of interest to many farmers and also to government agricultural departments since it requires low input, easy to learn, and improves income in a relatively short time without burdening the system or the environment. The natural method of farming protects biodiversity and the environment because organic fertilizers and pesticides are used to replace expensive and harmful chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Farmers can also use local or traditional seeds in this technique.
Another important part of Saw Htoo Baw’s farm management is the introduction of animal systems to be able to achieve the goal of being a fully organic and natural farm. Due to intensive chemical farming, a lot of the beneficial predators in the farm disappeared with a huge increase in crop-damaging pests like snails. Therefore, without some form of pest control, farmers will lose all their crops. To address this, Saw Htoo Baw has steadily increased the number of animal systems on the farm. As of July 2017, he has 150 ducklings that are very young and will grow in relation to the growth of the crop as well. Ducks are the best control for snails in a garden and with this system, he can demonstrate to other farmers that there is no need for chemical pesticides once the animal systems are in place. Additionally, he also has 30 turkeys and a mix of geese and chicken that roam the farm and deposit nutrient-rich manure all over while also turning the soil and consuming pests. Saw Htoo Baw wants to emphasize that partnering with animals can be done without the need of investing in commercial animal food and in turn animals provide food, labor, manure, and even income.
While most farmers in the region today have sold off their cows, Saw Htoo Baw has bought 8 cows and hopes to encourage the traditional way of farming paddy instead of using machines. He has approached farmers that already own machines for cultivation (e.g. for ploughing) so that they maintain at least a pair of cows even if they don’t use them for ploughing. Saw Htoo Baw understands the importance of cows in an agricultural environment and the multiple benefits they provide such as manure, milk and labour for maintaining grasslands and that without this, farmers will not be able to progress beyond a certain point.
Saw Htoo Baw understands that the transition will be gradual. He practiced a steady reduction in the use of synthetics while consistently increasing the output of organic compost and farmed areas. He feels confident that in the next few years, the land will regenerate such that it will not need many inputs even in the form of organic compost due to the natural techniques being adopted.
Aside from paddy cultivation, Saw Htoo Baw also uses techniques like no-till beds in growing organic vegetables during the winter or non-rainy season. He shared these techniques like using rice husks, biochar, etc. with other farmers to encourage their participation in organic farming and improving their off-season yield.
Saw Htoo Baw was able to share what he learned from NEED-Myanmar not only among his neighbors but also to farmers outside his community. In 2017, the number of farmers in the village using SRI techniques increased from 5 to 7 and the area of cultivation from 20 to 70 acres. The farmers all follow the organic composting method and its application for cultivation, although not all of them strictly practice the SRI method. Instead, they adopt certain techniques to be able to compare and see the benefits. Saw Htoo Baw feels this is a positive transition for farmers to slowly make changes without risking too much of their crop and thus gaining confidence to make bigger changes.
Furthermore, Saw Htoo Baw also encourages farmers to maintain records of their activities (including the finance aspect) so that they can reflect and understand their progress and position as compared to other years and techniques. According to him, his next challenge is that of marketing and presenting the product to consumers. The farm to customer logistics is important to ensure that more farmers can adapt and succeed in natural farming, otherwise, farmers will not have the final incentive to make the change to alternative farming.
Seeing his success, Saw Htoo Baw is motivated to continue improving and using these natural techniques and share his experiences with other farmers. He feels that small changes on the community level like his should be supported by the government through education initiatives.
About AFOSP-MTCP2
AFOSP-MTCP2 is a capacity building program funded by the European Union (EU) with co-financing from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). The program is being implemented in seven ASEAN countries through the consortium Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA) and La Via Campesina (LVC). AFOSP-MTCP2 supports the strengthening of national farmers’ organizations (FOs) and their national platform towards improving their institutional capacity to deliver economic services to their members as well as to effectively engage them in policy processes. At the ASEAN level, the consortium AFA – LVC works in partnership with the ASEAN Foundation in expanding the spaces for the engagement of FOs in ASEAN processes.
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