Farmers in Waingmaw are in trouble due to the loans for farm expenses have requested earlier than last year

Pajau Media Channel

According to farmers, farmers in Waingmaw Township, Kachin State are facing difficulty because the district administration has asked them to come and repay the crop loan which they took from the government and pick the mortgaged farm receipt for crop loan from the ward administration by January 15th.

“This year’s political and military confrontations happened during the harvest of rice, so in some fields, they had to start harvesting after the clashes stopped. In some fields, even they have not harvested yet and before their rice hasn’t arrived, they have to pay off the loan, so it becomes one of their difficulties” said U San Paung, a farmer.

Since the beginning of January, those who have taken a loan from the government for farm expenses have asked to repay the loan and their farm receipts along with the loan until the middle of this month, so it is difficult for those who cannot harvest rice due to the current political instability and the farmers who are making losses.

In previous years, farmers used to pay off the loan from the government between March and April after the rice are harvested, but this year, in addition to being told to pay in the middle of the first month of the year, it is also a time of year when the crops cannot be harvested on time and are making losses, so it is difficult to repay the loan even at the beginning of the year.

According to U Dai Lum, a farmer who works on 10 acres of land in N-Myang Yang, “Even the rice has not yet been yielded, yet we have to repay the loan. As usual, we don’t need to pay the loans in a rush, but now they asked us to repay the loans immediately, so it is difficult for us,” he said.

Farmers borrow 150,000 kyats per acre from the Government Agricultural Bank every year with 0.5 percent interest. And the farmers said that they have to pay back the loan by the end of April after selling their harvested rice.

In previous years, there was no difficulty in repaying the loan. But this year the cost of rice harvesting was higher than last year due to the militia’s recruitment and arrests occurred at harvest time, many people fleeing due to the clashes between the two armed-forces and the shortage of workers.

Therefore, Pajau media inquired about the request for a loan earlier than last year to an unnamed district administrator of Waingmaw Town. “It is just an order from above,” he said. Locals are also analyzing that it is possible that they are collecting loans due to the political crisis.

News – Lay Pyay

Photo - Burma News International