Groundnut, sesame, soybean, and sunflower crops are grown across Myanmar. Nationally, 15 percent of farmers were engaged in oilseed cultivation in the post/pre-monsoon 2023 season, while 17 percent of farmers planted oilseeds in the 2022 monsoon season. Among the agro-ecological zones, the Dry Zone had the largest share of farmers growing oilseeds as their most important non-paddy crop. At the same time, the percentage of farmers who grew oilseeds as their most important non-paddy crop in 2023 declined overall and in the Dry Zone compared to the post/pre-monsoon seasons of 2022 and 2021.
In the post/pre-monsoon 2023 season, 7 and 6 percent of the farmers grew sesame and groundnut, respectively. Only 2 percent of farmers grew soybeans while 1 percent grew sunflowers. Groundnut, sunflower, and sesame were mainly grown in the Dry Zone, while soybean was mainly grown in the Hills and Mountainous Region. The farm size of oilseed growing households was slightly larger than that of the average crop growing household, 5.7 acres compared with 4.7 acres. Most oilseed farmers specialize in oilseed production and plant more than half of their cultivated acres to oilseeds. Oilseed farmers grew oilseeds on 64 percent of their cultivated acres in the 2023 pre/post monsoon season and 36 percent of their cultivated acres in the monsoon season.
Groundnut, soybean, and sesame farmers relied on seeds saved from last year’s harvest, while 67 percent of sunflower farmers purchased seeds from ag-input retailers or the government. Between post/pre-monsoon 2022 and post/pre-monsoon 2023, fertilizer prices increased significantly. Despite the rising cost of fertilizer, the share of sesame and sunflower farmers applying fertilizer increased in the 2023 post/pre-monsoon season compared to a year before. On the other hand, fewer groundnut and soybean farmers applied fertilizer in 2023, compared to 2022.
Seventy-one percent of oilseed farmers hired labor for their farming activities in the 2023 dry season. Despite a rapid increase in mechanization, cattle and buffalo were still important for oilseed crop production. In the 2023 post/pre-monsoon season, 21 percent of farmers used hired draught animals, while 37 percent used their own draught animals. The use of owned draught animals declined significantly between the 2022 and 2023 post/pre-monsoon seasons. Nevertheless, draught ownership remains important for oilseed production, especially in the Dry Zone. Fifty-eight percent of oilseed growing households in the Dry Zone owned draught animals compared to 51 percent for all oilseed growing households and 28 percent for any crop growing household.
Nationally, over half of oilseed farmers took out loans from the MADB. But the number of farmers taking loans from the MADB decreased in 2023. Instead, there was a significant increase in the share of oilseed farmers borrowing from agricultural input suppliers between 2022 and 2023. Among the different sources of extension, private sector agents including agents from input companies, traders, and ag-input suppliers, were the most common extension providers. Around 20 percent of oilseed growing households received extension services from these private sector agents. NGOs and cellphone applications were the second most common extension provider for oilseed growers in 2023.
The yields of groundnut, sesame, and sunflowers were lower than neighboring countries, indicating the need for productivity increases for these crops. This would require a combination of access to quality seeds, credit, and extension, as well as greater fertilizer use. At the same time, the gross margins of groundnut were relatively high compared to rice and pulses in the 2023 post/pre-monsoon season. Although soybean prices did not increase over the 2022/2023 period, gross margins for soybeans remained competitive compared with pulses. Soybean yields are equivalent to yields in neighboring countries, around 678 MMK/acre. Sunflower and sesame gross margins are lower than gross margins for rice and major pulses. While sesame and sunflowers have similar total expenditure per acre compared to the other oilseed crops, they have relatively lower total value per acre, and hence lower gross margins. If prices for sesame and soybean continue to rise, these crops could be comparatively lucrative as well.
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