The Facebook Farmers: How Social Media is Modernizing Agriculture in a Tech-Starved Myanmar Village

Two brothers-in-law were at the mercy of unpredictable rainfall until they found a community of forward-thinking farmers online

The farmland surrounding Khaing Taw Lay village in Magway region is a mismatched patchwork of different crops grown by a multitude of smallholders.

Decades of economic isolation means hardworking families here have learned to be resourceful with limited technology and few modern farming techniques.

Yields are low and uncertain, pests are persistent, and much of the work is done by hand. That includes digging ditches to supply water to the fields.

But on a five-acre plot owned by brothers-in-law Ko Hlaing Min Aung and Ko Win Htike Soe, modern farming has arrived.

Cucumbers hang in neat, tight rows supported by frames and wires; plastic sheeting minimizes weeds and keeps moisture in the soil, which the pair have tested so they know it’s the right acidity.

Elsewhere on the plot they grow roses, chillies, tomatoes, eggplants, onions and gourds. Everything is regimented and highly organised: it’s obvious they’ve done their research.

The cucumbers are watered with a Yetagon drip irrigation system, which feeds moisture through an underground tube directly to the roots, while Yetagon mister sprinklers supply other crops.

If pests or disease strike, one of the pair takes out his phone, snaps a picture of the damaged crop, and posts it to a Facebook group full of other farmers and agronomists, who diligently reply with advice.

Facebook, in fact, is where they learned about most of the techniques and products that set their farm apart from the rest of the village, including Proximity’s Yetagon systems.

Until SIM cards became widely available just a few years ago, there was no way for most farmers to access this valuable information.

“When I first got internet, you had to pay 10,000 kyat to buy a Facebook account from someone at the phone repair store,” says Ko Hlaing Min Aung with a chuckle.

His account came with a profile picture of a famous actor, an old-timey name that sounded like a character from a novel, and about 10 pre-loaded “friends” who he had never met.

These accounts are now a gateway to a wealth of information long denied to Myanmar’s farmers — on how to boost yields, how to fertilize crops organically, and even real-time market prices in neighboring towns.

Ko Win Htike Soe and Ko Hlaing Min Aung are leading the way in putting this to good use.

Just a year ago their plot was only one acre. They grew sesame and ground nuts and relied on rainfall, leaving them at the mercy of fickle weather.

“If you didn’t get any rain you could lose everything,” says Ko Hlaing Min Aung.

So the pair delved into Myanmar’s online farming community for answers. They decided that by investing in irrigation and growing a variety of horticultural crops, they could cut out much of the risk.

Some conversations with fellow farmers turned into real-life meetups and even friendships — one farmer from nearby Pwintpyu now visits their farm every couple of months to chat and exchange ideas.

Without making these connections, said Ko Win Htike Soe, the pair would have had to rely on advice from neighbors. “So our farm would have just been a replica of the way they were planting in the village.”

While deciding how to irrigate their land, they travelled to other farms to see the Yetagon system in action. Online research is a powerful tool but sometimes, they decided, there’s no substitute for learning from others face-to-face.

That’s why they chose Yetagon: “the field staff came in person directly to us and helped us install it, gave us advice on good irrigation and helped us when we had problems,” said Ko Win Htike Soe.

The results have been so successful that the pair plan to expand again next year. “It’s only bigger things from here on out,” said Ko Hlaing Min Aung.