Myanmar farmers going against the grain with apps

Aye Ywar , Myanmar | AFP | A free app on farmer San San Hla’s smartphone is her new weapon in the war against the dreaded stem borer moth that blighted her rice paddy in southern Myanmar for the last two years.

As she watches her workers haul in this year’s harvest, the 35-year-old is in a triumphant mood, ascribing her victory over the seasonal scourge to advice received via the app about effective pesticide use.

“We used to just farm the way our parents showed us,” she told AFP, in her village of Aye Ywar west of Yangon.

“But after getting the app, I now see how we should be doing it… it’s better to use proper techniques rather than just working blindly.”

San San Hla is among a growing cohort of farmers who are turning to tech to address the knowledge gap in a country where two thirds of the workforce are employed in agriculture.

Myanmar farmers going against the grain with apps https://t.co/kNpJ88XtQH https://t.co/RAO5OHKnOa

— Fedge No (@FedgeNo) February 18, 2018

The sector accounts for some 28 percent of the country’s GDP, but yields are low with farmers cut-off from modern technology under decades of isolationist junta rule.

For people like San San Hla apps could be the answer.

They are providing farmers with up-to-date information on everything from weather, climate change, crop prices to advice on pesticides and fertilisers.

Chat forums are connecting farmers, allowing them to swap tips while experts are on hand to answer queries.

The “Green Way” app is the brainchild of two former agricultural students, who in 2011 set up a website for farmers, often working through the night to keep it updated.

But at the time few farmers had internet access, recalls Yin Yin Phyu, 28, explaining the “idea just didn’t take off.”

Then smartphones arrived and everything changed.

As Myanmar opened its doors, telecoms companies rushed in to grab market share, thrusting Myanmar beyond the era of desktop computers and old-style mobile phones.

The cost of sim cards, once the tightly-controlled reserve of the well-connected, or special branch spies, plummeted from an unattainable $3,000 in 2005 to $1.50 in 2013.

Competitors practically gave away smartphone handsets as they fell over themselves to build up brand loyalty.

Mobile penetration stood at just seven percent in 2012. By the end of 2017, smartphone penetration had rocketed to 80 percent.