Many farmers in Arakan State suffer from the lack of labour, low mechanisation and poor market access for farm produce.

Farmers locked in a land dispute with Burma’s armed forces pledged to renew their fight after being released from jail on Friday, in a case testing leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s resolve to challenge the military’s economic interests.

At a remote farm about two hours away from Loikaw, capital of Karenni State, farmers scrape out raw opium from the poppies they’ve grown.

Scores of farmers in southern Shan State’s Taunggyi township, who were facing trial after the Burmese military pressed criminal trespass charges against them over a land confiscation dispute, were sentenced to one month in prison on Thursday.

In recent years, farmers in Irrawaddy Division have come under pressure to modernise, as labour costs rise and productivity of the delta’s soil declines.

The move to help rice growers struggling with falling prices comes as farmers become the new battleground between the junta and the opposition.