U Min Zaw owns a 25-acre rice farm in Tei Tei Ku village, Kyaiklat Township, Ayeyarwady Delta. During the 2017 monsoon season, he attended IFDC’s farmer training, where he first learned about urea deep placement (UDP). Afterward, he wanted to test the technology for himself and learn the differences between UDP and farmer practices. As a well-established rice farmer, IFDC selected him as a lead farmer to demonstrate UDP versus farmer practice on a plot on his farm. At harvest, IFDC held a farmer field day in his field to show the differences between the two fertilizer application practices. From that demonstration plot, he continued to apply UDP to his 2018 summer rice. We recently caught up with Zaw to hear more about his experience.
| IFDC | Why do you continue to apply the UDP in this season? |
| U Min Zaw | Because I like the results of the demonstration plots. The demo plots are small plots to show farmers the differences. I’d like to know the results of applying UDP on a large area. |
| IFDC | So how many acres did you apply in this summer season? |
| U Min Zaw | I applied UDP on 5 acres using a machine applicator. |
| IFDC | How is it doing? |
| U Min Zaw | Good! I like the way the technology is performing on that paddy. |
| IFDC | What makes you say it is good? What are your favorite reasons for using UDP? What will be the immediate reply if you be asked what is UDP? |
| U Min Zaw | Number 1: I use less urea. |
| Number 2: I spend less time applying fertilizer because I only need to apply UDP one time instead of the 3 or 4 times needed for prilled urea. | |
| Number 3: The main point is that it can increase the yields! | |
| IFDC | How much urea did you reduce this year? |
| U Min Zaw | Usually I use 2.5 bags [50kg per bag] for one acre. With UDP I used only 1.5 bags. Thus, the UDP saved 50 kg of urea per acre for me this season. |
| IFDC | How about the paddy yield this season? |
| U Min Zaw | It increased 20 baskets per acre. My harvested yield from the UDP plot was 120 baskets per acre but only 100 baskets per acre from non-UDP plots. |
| IFDC | Great! What is the paddy price these days? |
| U Min Zaw | It is 5700 kyats [equivalent to US $4.20] per basket right now. But I am not going to sell right now. I will store it until the price is high. |
| IFDC | I am happy to hear that. How about for the upcoming season? Are you willing to continue using UDP? |
| U Min Zaw | Why not?! I don’t know about the other farmers, but I will use it forever! |
U Min Zaw is a beneficiary of IFDC’s FSI+ project, which is graciously funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development.
