Over 300,000 acres of edible oil crops thriving in Magway Township

Under the supervision of Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation, Department of Agriculture in Magway Township has set a target of cultivating more than 300,000 acres of edible oil crops such as groundnuts and sesame this year rainy season.
Sesame and groundnut are grown on coarse sand area, and oilseeds are thriving throughout the township, said local people.
“There are sandy soils in our Magway Township as the weather is hot. Sesame and peanuts are growing well on the hot and sandy soil. It is said that some villages need rain. Sesame and peanuts do not like heavy rain. Such kind of plantation needs just a few showers. The year 2021 is a year of good sesame and peanut production,” said a veteran farmer from Thityakauk village, Magway Township.
Currently, sesame and groundnut fields are being added. Weeding is done by local workers, earning about 10,000 kyats a day.
“Weeding costs are 500 kyats per hour. There are also intermittent weeds. A person earns at least 10,000 kyats,” Ma Shwe Yi, a weeding leader from Kyakan village, Magway Township, said.
The Township Department of Agriculture is applying GAP farming methods to ensure healthy and nutritious crop plantations in each camp area in Magway Township. Demonstration plots are being carried out in each camp to cultivate good quality sesame seeds.
The Department of Agriculture in Magway Township stated that it cultivates good varieties of crops with high yield and weather resistance.
In Magway Township, 183,562 acres of monsoon sesame, 113 acres of winter sesame, 253 acres of summer sesame and 117,082 acres of groundnuts are cultivated against the target of over 300,000 acres of oilseeds and sesame.
Local edible oil, black sesame, white sesame and groundnut are being exported to Japan, China and Korea every year, said U Lin Myat, Director of Magway Region Department of Agriculture.—Win Maung (Magway)/ GNLM