Recently, betel nut merchants in Linintharyi province, who ushered in a bumper harvest after the weather improved, were forced to stop work because of high transport taxes. Residents of villages in the eastern part of Towei Town said that the price of betel nut is currently unstable, and they can only suspend business in order to avoid losses.
A local betel nut farmer said that since October, the cost of transportation taxes has been roughly doubled, profits have decreased a lot after removing costs, residents engaged in the betel nut industry in rural areas have been forced to stop working, and betel nut merchants have temporarily stopped buying betel nuts.
The resident went on to say that a pulled betel nut now costs only 4,500 kyats on the market, and the transport tax is much higher than before. Betel nuts need to be transported to urban areas, and there are many checkpoints along the way, and they charge at least 10,000 kyats or more, and there is no profit left after paying taxes. In addition, the local situation is not very good, and the income of residents has decreased a lot.
A betel nut merchant said that transporting betel nuts requires a lot of documentation, and the transportation alone is very troublesome, and the procedures for each transaction are very cumbersome. In addition to tolls, there are various fees to pay. As a result of the fighting, fewer villagers are engaged in betel nut cultivation in the southern part of the town district of Kayin State.
Since June this year, Mon State and Kayin State, including Tanintharyi province, which mainly grow betel nuts, have ushered in a bumper harvest season, and farmers have increased their incomes due to foreign demand. The main betel nut cultivation areas in Myanmar are the lower half of the region, including Mon State, Tanintharyi, Yangon, Bago, The Irrawaddy and Kayin States.
It is reported that betel nut fruit can bloom and bear fruit after 7~8 years of planting, about 20 years of betel nut fruit tree production is the largest, a betel nut tree can bear fruit for more than 30 years, betel nut fruit also has high nutritional value and medicinal value, but also can be processed into betel nut dry chewing food.