Yezin Agricultural University

Yezin Agricultural University

Yezin Agricultural University (YAU) (Burmese: ရေဇင်း စိုက်ပျိုးရေး တက္ကသိုလ် ), located in Yezin about 18 km (11 mi) north of Pyinmana in Naypyidaw, is the only institution of higher learning in agriculture in Myanmar. 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. 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.

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. 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.)