Myanmar will send 150 government employees to Israel later this month to undertake a year-long agriculture diploma course as part of its bid to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the sector, according to sources at the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation Monday.

The present batch of Myanmar trainees, sent to Southern Israel' s Arava International Center for Agricultural Training, will bring the total to more than 280 in the diploma course since 2003 when the first batch were dispatched for the course. Before that such training was only meant for on-the-job training, the sources said.

The diploma programs on agriculture include subjects such as advanced farming techniques, economics, marketing, post-harvest technology, animal husbandry and computer use, it added.

The bilateral cooperation program has been funded by Israel since 1994.

With a population of about 54.3 million now, Myanmar stands as a country with agriculture as the mainstay of its economy. The agricultural output value takes over 40 percent of the gross domestic product and its export represents about 20 percent of the total.

The country has a cultivable land of 18.23 million hectares, of which 10.12 million are under crops, the figures from the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation show.

Meanwhile, Myanmar and Israel have been seeking economic and industrial cooperation. Israel's investment has reached 2 million US dollars so far in Myanmar.

Source: Xinhua