HOUSE OF THE WEEK
Unfinished project in South Okkalapa tsp
THIS two-storey house in South Okkalapa township represents unfinished business. more
Organic villages coming
(Volume 26, No. 512)
“ORGANIC villages” will soon help boost Myanmar’s export earnings, agriculture officials are promising.
The Myanmar Agriculture Service, under the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, said the ministry would set up three organic villages in April.
“We are planning to form three organic villages in Nay Pyi Taw, Mandalay Division and Yangon Division. We will find villages that are interested in organic farming, and give them training. Finally we will try to establish a market for them to sell their produce,” an official from the MAS told The Myanmar Times.
According to the plans, the villages will start to produce organic food after three years.
In the meantime, officials will invite supermarkets and hotels in Myanmar to sell these products. Diplomatic families are also seen as potential buyers for organic products.
Many people favour organic products, either because they fear chemical residues can affect their health, or because they believe organic methods are environmentally friendly. Myanmar Fruit and Vegetable Producer and Exporters Association is the only organisation in Myanmar that issues organic certificates.
“We have developed organic guidelines based on the standards set by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM),” said Dr Kyaw Nyein Aye, the secretary of the group.
IFOAM is an international umbrella group for organic organisations established in 1972 that currently unites 750 members in 108 countries.
The association said the interest of Myanmar farmers in organic farming was growing gradually, with more and more farmers and producers applying for certificates.
“We have issued an organic certificate to the Shan Maw Myae company for organic fertiliser. In March, we will issue the first organic certificate for herbal plants to Fame Pharmaceuticals company,” said Dr Kyaw Nyein Aye.
The association is going to hold a workshop on organic farming in Yangon in March and organic certificates will be awarded to two successful applicants, Fame Pharmaceutical and the Supreme Group of Companies.
“We’re currently inspecting the applications of a number of farmers who have applied for organic certificates,” said Dr Kyaw Nyein Aye. These include five paddy farmers, four fruit growers and four fertiliser producers, he said.
