Dr Thandar Nyi | Myanmar

With more than twenty years’ experience in soil research under her belt, Dr Nyi is a deputy director in the Land Use Division, Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation, Myanmar.

As head of the soil, water, plant and fertilizer testing laboratory, Dr Nyi’s research focusses upon improving fertilizer efficiency in crop production.  Her work plays an important role in combatting excessive uses of chemical fertilizers that cause serious environmental and health problems. Responsible for a number of national and international projects, Dr Nyi is currently focussed upon improving the testing of fertilizers at border entries.

Her core skills include research innovation, designing and developing research themes, team building and supporting the career development of junior staff and researchers into rewarding careers in soil and agriculture sciences.

Over 2015 to 2017 Dr Nyi took the lead in developing and publishing the Guidelines on ASEAN Soil and Nutrient Management providing policy recommendations and sustainable practices to enable practitioners to guide and assist smallholder farmers to cope with threats posted by climate change in increasing their adaptability and resilience.

This has led to her membership of the GIZ-SAFI project working committee, in which she assists with the normative development of the MyanGAP, strengthening the capacity of the Ministry to improve the framework conditions for a food sector geared towards quality and safety under theGIZ SAFI-Sustainable Agricultural Development and Food Quality Initiative Project.

After completing a Master in plant nutrition at the at Leibniz University Hannover, Germany with the support of an DAAD scholarship, Thandar went on to gain her Ph.D at the University of Kenyatta University, Kenya in 2014. Her research focussed upon improving the agronomic efficiency in cassava-based farming systems in the Democratic Republic of Congo under the Integrated Soil and Fertilizer Management (ISFM) program of the Tropical Soil Biology and Fertilizer research area of CIAT-TSBF.

To relax and enjoy time with her family Dr Nyi likes to spend time in the garden and loves to share her home-grown produce with neighbours and colleagues.