Written by Mekong Institute

The Mandarin orange (Citrus reticulata Blanco) is one commercially important species of citrus and a potential important agriculture commodity that may drive rural economic growth in Myanmar. The objectives of the study are (1) to develop a mandarin value chain map, (2) to identify the major stakeholders in the mandarin value chain and (3) to determine the problems, constraints, strengths and weakness faced by marketing participants at each level of the value chain for mandarin oranges. The research questions are (1) What is the value chain of mandarin in Myanmar? (2) Who are the major stakeholders in the mandarin value chain? and (3) what are the problems/constraints faced by various stakeholders within the value chain of mandarin? The qualitative method was applied by using in-depth interviews and semi-structure interviews to collect the primary data, while the quantitative method was used to estimate the cost and margin, and profits of actors at each level of the value chain.Marketing margin analysis and SWOT analysis were used in this study.

It was found that there were many actors in the mandarin value chain such as input providers, growers and wholesalers. The major constraints for mandarin growers are diseases, insects, lack of technical knowledge, and high price of inputs, lack of market information, unorganized marketing and high transportation costs. The major constraint for wholesalers was low access to financial possibilities. Therefore, financial constraints need to be simultaneously solved at all levels of the value chain. The study showed that mandarin farming is a profitable and potential business in the study area. It can conclude that there is an immense need for facilitators (NGOs and other agencies) to increase productivity, improve the quality of the production system and marketing through the cooperative society for efficient marketing.