| Yezin Agricultural University (YAU) | |
|---|---|
| ရေဇင်း စိုက်ပျိုးရေး တက္ကသိုလ် | |
| Motto | Uplift the Nation through Agriculture |
| Established | 22 December 1924 |
| Type | public |
| Rector | Dr. Tin Htut[1] |
| Admin. staff | 661[2],[3] |
| Students | 300 per intake[3],[2] |
| Location | Yezin, Pyinmana Naypyidaw, Myanmar |
| Affiliations | Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation (MOAI) |
| Website | http://www.moai.gov.mm |
Yezin Agricultural University (YAU) (Burmese: ရေဇင်း စိုက်ပျိုးရေး တက္ကသိုလ်, pronounced [jèzɪ́ɴ saiʔpjójé tɛʔkəθò]), located in Yezin about 18 km (11 mi) north of Pyinmana in Naypyidaw, is the only institution of higher learning in agriculture in Myanmar.[2] The Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation administered university offers primarily a four-year Bachelor of Agricultural Science (BAgrSc) program in addition to small master's and doctorate programs.[4][5] Starting from the 2009 academic year, third-year and fourth-year undergraduate students have to select one crop as a specialized subject and study off campus at one of seven designated farms of the Myanmar Agricultural Service.[4]
YAU produces about 250 bachelor's degree graduates and a small number of master's and doctoral graduates each year. As of 2008, YAU has produced a total of about 140 master's graduates and 15 PhDs since the graduate programs' inception.[4] The small number of YAU graduates continues to be "dismally low" to adequately meet the needs of Myanmar's agricultural sector. (The country with a population over 50 million had only about 7500 agricultural scholars in 2006.)[5]
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Agricultural education at college level in Myanmar began in 1924 with the establishment of the Agricultural College and Research Institute of Mandalay, offering a 3-year diploma course. In 1938, the college became a constituent college of Rangoon University. Students who had passed the Intermediate of Science examination of the Rangoon University were admitted to the agricultural course and were conferred BSc (Agriculture) degree after two year period of study. In 1947, the college was upgraded to the Faculty of Agriculture in Mandalay under the administration of Rangoon University. The two-year agricultural course was extended to three-year course in 1955 and BSc (Sericulture) degree was also awarded in that year. The Faculty of Agriculture was further upgraded to a separate university known as the Institute of Agriculture in 1964.[2]
An expansion program moved the institute from Mandalay to Yezin in 1973 with the aim of training more students and providing more practical experience. In 1993 it was transferred from the Higher Education Department, Ministry of Education, to the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation. It was renamed Yezin Agricultural University in 1998.[2][3]
The university began a master's degree program in 1978 and a doctorate degree program in 2001.[3]
YAU accepts only 250 first-year undergraduate students a year. Admission criteria to YAU are based primary on college matriculation exam marks and Burmese citizenship. The school accepts additional 30 third-year students from a pool of top students with a Diploma in Agriculture from one of State Agricultural Institutes.
YAU offers a four-year Bachelor of Agricultural Science (BAgrSc) degree program, a three-year Master of Agricultural Science (MAgrSc) degree program, and a doctorate (PhD) program.
Starting from the 2009 academic year, third-year and fourth-year undergraduate students have to select one crop as a specialized subject and study off campus at one of seven designated farms of the Myanmar Agricultural Service. The aim is to "expose students to their specialized crop and do more research in order to become crop specialists". The farms growing the specialized crops are: paddy in Hmawbi in Yangon Region; maize and cereals in Aungban in Shan State; pulse and oil crops in Magway in Magway Region; cotton in Nangyaw in Mandalay Region; sugarcane in Nyaungbintha in Bago Region; perennial crops in Hpa Auk in Mon State, and horticultural crops in Hlegu in Yangon Region. Fourth-year students must take one elective subject from among agronomy, agricultural botany, agricultural chemistry, entomology, plant pathology, horticulture and agricultural economics. Each crop will have 27 students and they will be chosen based on their second-year examination marks. The university will send nine teachers to the farms.[4]
YAU is administered by the Ministry of Agriculture of Myanmar. In 2005, YAU maintained a staff of 600 including a 140 academic staff of whom 75 per cent have received training overseas.[3]
The university comprises nine major academic departments and four supporting academic departments.