Sunflower crops to produce extensively in Ayeyawady region

A coordination meeting to expand cultivation of sunflower in the Ayeyawady region was held in the Irrigation and Water Utilization Management Department, Pathein Township, Ayeyawady Region on 13 March.
The coordination meeting was attended by Ayeyawady Region Chief Minister U Tin Maung Win, Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation Ministry Deputy Minister Dr Aung Gyi, region government ministers and the departmental officials. At the meeting, they discussed the development of the oil industry and arranged the necessary support for the farmers to have higher yields and more income.
According to the statistics of the 2020-21FY, Myanmar cultivated over 7.6 million acres of edible oil crops including over 2.8 million acres of peanut, about 3.8 million acres of sesame, and about 600,000 acres of sunflower. Only peanut oil and sesame oil are mainly consumed in the country. Annually, the country imports about 200,000 metric tons of palm oil from abroad because the low-income people consume them mixed with palm oil. In order to fulfil the need of the domestic demand for edible oil in the short term, they have planned to cultivate about 1.5 million acres of sunflower plants across the country.
Ayeyawady region will expand its sunflower cultivation to over 200,000 acres as winter crops. It is learnt that negotiations will be made to cooperate with the relevant organizations for the production of oil during the harvest season.
In the evening, Deputy Minister Dr Aung Gyi and official inspected the shrimp hatching camp in Chaungtha village, Shwethaungyan sub-township, Pathein township in Ayeyawady Region and Talokhla fishing camp in Maubin township. They have discussed with officials the production of the quality hatchlings required for domestic shrimp farming.
Then, the deputy minister and his officials inspected the strength of the Mezali sluice gate and the maintenance work in Nyaungdon Island, Maubin district. — MNA