Department of Animal Science

Department of Animal Science plays a vital role for development of livestock sector in Myanmar. It is a key department that trains subjects related with animal husbandry in the University of Veterinary Science since 1957. The first Head of Animal Science Department was Dr. R.B. Griffith.

In 1983, under the Head of Department, Dr. Than Htay, there was a livestock farm for demonstration of animal husbandry practices to the students. However, in 1996 according to the arrangement of Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department, the demonstration livestock farm of the University was handed over to Livestock Feedstuff and Milk Product Enterprise except cattle farm which was kept in the hand of University for demonstration purpose for the students.

After that the Ministry considered to install better teaching facilities by establishing a demonstration farm for the University in collaboration with private livestock companies. As a result, in 2010, demonstration farms for poultry (both Layer and Broiler) and cattle were constructed for the University. The construction of these farms and expenses were mainly sponsored by Myanmar CP Livestock Company Limited and managed by the University.  In 2016-2017 fiscal year, dairy cattle demonstration farm and 2020-2021 fiscal year, pig demonstration farm were constructed respectively and used for demonstration purposes for the students. In addition, the University was collaborated with Japfa Company Limited to expand the cattle fattening farm and establishment of 7 acres pasture land for the cattle in 2017. These facilities are very useful for the undergraduate and postgraduate students for researches.

There are three basic needs for the survival of human being; food, shelter and clothing. Of these, food is the critical requirement for the survival of living things. Food is very important not only for the survival but also for the healthy performance of a living thing. For the fulfillment to the requirements of health, a human being has to take nutritious food which contains enough protein, fat, carbohydrate, vitamins and minerals in a daily basis. In this regard, protein (meat), milk and eggs are mainly provided for human being through animal husbandry practices.

Therefore, every country in the world and almost all communities have to try livestock production, produce technicians for livestock production and try to improve animal husbandry practices. As said, the Animal Husbandry practices were trained to produce technicians of livestock production since in the very first Veterinary School of Myanmar, which was established in 1957. I’m so proud to be a Professor/Head of such very important subject in the University of Veterinary Science since 2011 until now.

As the government of Myanmar realized the importance of animal production for the fulfillment of food requirement for the people of Myanmar, in 2014, a specific degree for Animal Science (BASc) was created to produce specialized livestock production technicians. This is a very important step for the improvement of livestock sector in Myanmar and BASc candidates will play a critical role to improve livestock production in Myanmar and subsequent fulfillment of food security. In fact, without skillful technicians for livestock production, no significant improvement could be achieved and subsequent accomplishment of food security. As the population of all countries in the world including Myanmar is increasing every day, the demand of food, milk and egg for the people is also increasing in a daily basis. The technicians for livestock production play in a critical role for the partial fulfillment of the food security of the communities in Myanmar. Subsequently, the role of Animal Science Department in the University of Veterinary Science is also crucial for the production of livestock technicians for partial fulfillment of food, milk and egg requirements of the communities. In other word, Department of Animal Science will be a piece of sand or a brick in the construction of prosperous Nation in the world.