Long bean growers make profits under intercropping system

The prices of long beans are rising, and those growers who practise onion-long bean intercropping in Kyaukpadaung Township, Mandalay, are making profits during the harvest season, said U Tin Tun Aung, a grower from Legwa village, Kyaukpadaung Township.
The growers from most villages near Kyatmauktaung dam in Kyaukpadaung primarily cultivate onions in an intercropping system. After the onions are harvested, they treat the long bean plants with fertilizer and provide adequate irrigation. As growers are worried about a poor yield of onions in intercropping, they provide sufficient water for the long beans only after the harvest season of onions.
The long beans fetch K1,800 per viss (a viss equals 1.6 kg) during the early season, whereas the price stands at K1,000 per viss during the abundant harvest season. As a result, the growers involved in the intercropping system are doing well financially, U Nay Myo Tun from Moatgon village explained.
Onions are worth only K500 per viss, while the long beans are offered K1,800-K2,000 per viss. The growers can cover the cultivation cost on account of the high prices of long beans.
The onion-long beans intercropping practices are found in Legwa, Nyaungpyupin, Letpanai, Gonte, Setpyarkyin, Moatgon, Kinmonchoan, Magyeetine and other villages in Kyaukpadaung Township.
After the long beans are harvested, the plants are utilized as the feedstuff for cattle. — Ko Htein(KPD)/GNLM