30 October
Imports of foreign green garden peas into Mandalay has caused a decline in prices of local garden and green gram peas, buffeting the local market and bringing hardships to local farmers and pea millers, according to U Soe Win Myint of the Soe Win Myint brokerage agency.
As consumers replaced green gram peas with green garden peas, the price of green gram peas also decreased, and almost half of all green gram mills in Mandalay have stopped operations.
The green garden peas from China came onto Mandalay market via Yangon waterway.
“The peas coming into the Mandalay market are called Ukraine green garden peas. We do not export our green garden peas, as we Myanmar people traditionally eat them. The production of local peas is sufficient for our local consumption, and it is also good for health,” said U Soe Win Myint.
Those peas coming from foreign countries need to be tested to ensure they are suitable for health.
Local green garden peas are grown in Sagaing Region, Ayeyawady delta areas, Kachin State and in Shan State as a winter crop.
(Translated by Kyaw Zin Lin)
