Mizzima-Nov 28
Very few people in Myingyan District are still engaged in agriculture, leaving most locals unemployed and struggling to survive, according to residents. Locals say the situation is widespread across Myingyan, Natogyi, and Taungtha townships due to ongoing artillery shelling and advances by junta columns. Farming has sharply declined for multiple reasons, including large-scale displacement, the burning and destruction of fields and storage barns, the refusal of traders to offer advance capital, soaring input costs, and buyers forcing down prices. “Right now, there is hardly any farming or livestock rearing left. The capital cost of one viss (1.6 kg) of onions is 1,500–2,000 kyats (US$0.71-US$0.95), but the current market price is only about 500 kyats (US$0.24). We are losing 1,000 kyats per viss. Farmers who used to grow three crops – summer, monsoon, and winter – can no longer do so. Everything has become uncertain, and even those who stored crops are losing money. Last year, I personally lost more than 6 million kyats (US$2,856) from just two acres of onions,” a local resident told Mizzima. He said the cultivation of key crops such as sesame, groundnut, red and white onions, and rice has dramatically decreased. Although locals estimate that the number of people engaged in farming has fallen by up to 80 percent in 2025, Mizzima has not been able to independently verify the figure. Residents also report that livestock rearing of goats, sheep, cattle, and pigs has nearly disappeared. “Even if we manage to grow crops, we don’t dare go to the market because of the risk of being arrested, extorted, or even killed. Last year, some people had to abandon their cattle and flee. At that time, some owners sold a goat for just 30,000 kyats (US$14.28), and a cow worth 2 million kyats (US$952) was sold for only 700,000 (US$333). These things really happened,” another resident said. An official from the Myingyan Township Humanitarian Committee said most locals are unable to farm due to military operations. Farmers in Natogyi Township say a small number of people are still growing groundnuts and betel leaves, but falling prices mean they cannot recover costs. Betel leaves that once sold for 20,000 kyats (US$9.52) per viss now fetch only around 7,000 kyats (US$3.33). Locals continue to flee to safer areas as junta forces carry out daily artillery shelling, aerial bombardments, attacks using motorized parachutes, and arrests and killings of civilians across Myingyan District. Read more at: https://eng.mizzima.com/2025/11/28/28610
