Monitoring the impact of COVID-19 in Myanmar: Mechanization service providers - May 2020 survey round

Download or read book Monitoring the impact of COVID-19 in Myanmar: Mechanization service providers - May 2020 survey round written by Takeshima, Hiroyuki and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2020-06-09 with total page 9 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Agricultural mechanization service providers (MSP) are crucial to enabling smallholder farmers to undertake a range of power-intensive farm and post-harvest operations in a timely manner. These operations are important for food production and farm income. MSPs are capital-intensive operations. The economic viability of these businesses is highly sensitive to capacity utilization, which generates the cash flow needed to repay equipment loans; to prices of imported capital goods, including machines, equipment, and fuels; and to the availability of machine operators, among others. Hence, the operations of MSPs are sensitive to restrictions on mobility and trade. The COVID-19 pandemic in Myanmar, the restrictions imposed as policy responses to control the spread of the virus, and the associated market disruptions affect the operations of MSPs across the country. However, the specific impacts MSPs experience depends on factors specific to different regions and states. Measures to support MSPs and to ensure farmer access to their services should be guided by an understanding of the situation on the ground.