Smart Village projects involve upgrading value-added products
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Eain/Cherry (NP News) - Feb 5
Dr. Zarni Min, director of the Rural Development Department of the Ministry of Cooperatives and Rural Development, told The NP News that the implementation of Smart Village projects also includes processes to upgrade domestic products to the value-added ones.
The Smart Village project is being implemented in accordance with six major sectors, with the main objectives of narrowing gaps between rural and urban developments and reducing poverty.
“So, to make these things effective, the main thing is to have a strong economy in the villages. That is why the Smart Village project has two sectors. The sector of input and financial support, and the sector of rural economic development. These two sectors are prioritized and implemented in the project villages. When developing the economy and livelihood of these villages, we do not set any specific criteria. We base our plans on what the resources of the village are and what kind of businesses can be successful,” he said.
Services are provided based on the needs of the villages, including seed supplies, input supplies, technical training, and financial assistance in the areas of agriculture and livestock.
He added that the government is also providing financial support to further develop the agriculture and livestock sectors, intcluding providing technical training.
“The third point we do is technical training. We provide agricultural and livestock technical training. For example, we provide agricultural training on how to grow rice, post-harvest training, sunflower cultivation, etc. We provide training on how to raise livestock systematically, such as poultry farming and pig farming. We also provide training on disease prevention and control, training on how to make natural fertilizers and training related to agriculture and livestock. Another thing we do in addition to these is financial support. The main thing is that if there is no money, farmers cannot afford to grow and raise livestock. So, we provide a financial support project called the Emerald Green Project in 121 villages out of 128 villages in these project villages. The state has provided 3,630 million kyats,” said Dr. Zarni Min.
In addition, Dr. Zarni Min said that Smart Villages are also expanding value-adding processes to ensure better results for local products.
“What is special is that in some areas, we are expanding value-added businesses. For example, in Shan State (South), Kalaw, our Smart Village, produces a lot of potatoes. There is a market price for potatoes. In that case, we go to that village and help preserve these potatoes. In the Magway Region, when the weather is hot, we can’t grow many crops. We can’t grow flowers, chrysanthemums, etc. In those areas, we build greenhouses and net houses, and we grow fruits for the garden, and we grow flowers in the spring, and we help develop the economy of that village. It’s different from one region to another. Depending on the situation, there are regular agricultural and livestock activities. There are also activities to produce high-value-added products,” explained Dr. Zarni Min.
The Smart Village project was launched in 2022 and has been implemented in 128 villages for more than 2 and a half years out of the 5-year project period. As of early December 2024, a total of 1,031 out of 1,664 targeted projects had been implemented, so the completion rate as of the end of December is 88 percent.