"Overall, we added 15,087 new customers during the quarter, which was well below our target. A combination of regulatory disruptions in our lending operations and depressed demand due to price increases in our irrigation business contributed to this disappointing result. Year-to-date, we have added 71,630 new customers. During this quarter, we launched one new agronomy service and have design teams working on two new services. Farm Tech We sold 6,543 irrigation products this quarter, led by our drip and sprinkler products. Year-to-date sales are up 13 percent over last year and we project being able to reach our year-end target of 28,000 sales. However, this quarter’s sales came in below our targets due to the effects of a significant price increase we introduced on 1 January 2018 and some new competition in the market. Sales revenues for the quarter totaled US$218,000. We have 86 sales reps (who achieved a 15 percent closing rate), 96 agro-dealers in our network and 220 active village agents who helped 1,622 customers install their new irrigation products. We’ve always viewed our strategy as a ‘market-maker’ for micro irrigation in Myanmar — and for the first time, we’re seeing several local irrigation manufacturers and sales organizations enter the market. This has led us to focus on introducing new irrigation technologies — such as our ‘mister’ product and low-cost, solar-powered irrigation pump. To meet our affordability goals, we’re making our Yangon manufacturing plant operations more efficient and sourcing more components from low-cost manufacturers. Agronomy Services During Q3 we added 6,217 new farmers, a 54 percent increase over the same period last year. These farmers adopted at least one of the crop production techniques we promote across Myanmar’s Delta and Dry Zone regions. The most popular service this quarter was advice on improving fertilizer application and management. Year-to-date, 44,104 new farmers have been acquired and we anticipate reaching our target of 48,400 by the end of our fiscal year in June. Since 2016, we’ve served 101,950 rice farmers. The primary sales and service delivery channel is through village group meetings organized by our 98 field agronomists. During this quarter, 1,954 village group meetings were held, attended by 19,997 farmers. At the initial meetings, we’re able to achieve 30 percent adoption rates. Over several seasons in a given township, this rate typically increases to over 50 percent. To lower our unit costs to serve, we have introduced an SMS messaging service. This quarter, we have 6,208 digital subscribers. We trialled IVR (Interactive Voice Response) messaging with a leading technology company but came to the conclusion that Myanmar’s telecom infrastructure is not ready for it..."