Introduction
Myanmar is an agricultural based country and the agriculture sector is the backbone of its economy. The agriculture sector contributes 34% of GDP, 23% of total export earnings, and employs 63% of the labour force. About 75% of the total population reside in rural areas and are principally employed in the agriculture, livestock, and fishery sectors for their livelihood. The Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation (MOAI) is well set up with 14 departments so as to successfully and systematically develop the sector. The Myanmar Agriculture Service (MAS) is one of the departments of MOAI and is composed of 9 divisions. The Agricultural Extension Division (AED) is one of the divisions of MAS and absorbs a large portion of total strength of MAS, having 11081 staff. The agricultural extension service in Myanmar was started in 1927 by the Department of Agriculture.