Department of Agriculture to open call centre
Department of Agriculture to open call centre
Myanmar Times, 18 Jan 2017
URL: http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/national-news/mandalay-upper-myanmar/24583-department-of-agriculture-to-open-call-centre.html
The Department of Agriculture has plans to open a call centre aimed at quickly answering agricultural questions from farmers throughout Myanmar.
While the Department of Agriculture’s main task is to provide educational support to rural farmers, problems arise when sending individual staff members to conduct field inspections on land plots as large as 1000 acres.
Ideally, the call centre employees operating the hotline and staff in the field will work together to answer farmers’ questions and concerns, said U Ye Tint Tun, the director general of the Department of Agriculture.
“We are trying to open the call center by mid-February or early March,” he said yesterday.
Call center employees have already undergone an intensive training by the directors of sub-departments within the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation.
The 50 employees are trained to respond to any situation, from answering questions about top-soil fertiliser to what to do when crops become infested with insects.
All of the employees have graduated with a Bachelor in Agricultural Science at least; many hold masters and PhD degrees.
“The educational staff will go to the field and assess the situation and then solve the problem as quickly as possible. If they can’t find a solution, they must connect with experts for guidance,” said U Ye Tint Tun. “We discussed this plan with over 300 staff just yesterday to ensure the best possible support.”
While the Department of Agriculture’s main task is to provide educational support to rural farmers, problems arise when sending individual staff members to conduct field inspections on land plots as large as 1000 acres.
Ideally, the call centre employees operating the hotline and staff in the field will work together to answer farmers’ questions and concerns, said U Ye Tint Tun, the director general of the Department of Agriculture.
“We are trying to open the call center by mid-February or early March,” he said yesterday.
Call center employees have already undergone an intensive training by the directors of sub-departments within the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation.
The 50 employees are trained to respond to any situation, from answering questions about top-soil fertiliser to what to do when crops become infested with insects.
All of the employees have graduated with a Bachelor in Agricultural Science at least; many hold masters and PhD degrees.
“The educational staff will go to the field and assess the situation and then solve the problem as quickly as possible. If they can’t find a solution, they must connect with experts for guidance,” said U Ye Tint Tun. “We discussed this plan with over 300 staff just yesterday to ensure the best possible support.”