MORE than 18,000 agricultural production cooperative societies have been formed nationwide, and support has been provided to over 900,000 farmers to enable the cultivation and production of more than 1.6 million acres of crops, including paddy, ground­nut, sesame, sunflower, pigeon pea, green gram, cotton and vegetables, using funds owned by the cooperatives as well as state budget allocations, accord­ing to the Ministry of Coopera­tives and Rural Development.

In addition, for seed produc­tion, 31 seed production cooper­ative societies have been estab­lished in 21 townships across 11 regions and states, producing high-quality and pure seeds on 1,835 acres.

These seed production co­operative societies have also enabled the government to pro­vide 1,549 member farmers with financial assistance equivalent to agricultural inputs, such as quality seeds, organic fertilizer, chemical fertilizers (urea and compound) and pesticides, un­der a post-harvest repayment system.

Furthermore, it is reported that a seed exhibition was held in Nay Pyi Taw with the aims of promoting the wider use of high-quality seeds, strengthen­ing the network between seed users and seed producers, and enhancing Public-Private Part­nership (PPP) cooperation in the seed sector. — ASH/MKKS