ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Nang Hseng
Hom, Rector, Dr. Soe Soe Thein, Pro-Rector (Academic), and Dr. Kyaw Kyaw Win, Pro-
Rector (Administrative Affairs), Yezin Agricultural University (YAU) for their kind
permission and administrative support to this study.

Secondly, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to Dr. Khin Thida Myint, Professor
and Head, Department of Horticulture, YAU, for her kind attention, valuable advice, critical
reading of the manuscript and make suggestions to improve this thesis.

My respectful acknowledgement and appreciation go to my supervisor, Dr. Yi Yi Soe,

Associate Professor, Department of Horticulture, YAU, for her supervision constant
guidance, benevolent encouragement throughout the preparation and invaluable editorial
work in finalizing of my thesis.

It is a great pleasure to express my special thanks to Dr. Khin Thida One, Associate
Professor, Department of Agronomy, YAU, the member of supervisory committee, for her
keen interest and making suggestion to improve this dissertation. I wish to extend my sincere
thanks to my supervisory committee member, Daw Ei Hay Man, Assistant Lecturer,
Department of Horticulture, YAU for her comments, valuable suggestions, and critical
reading in this manuscript.

I would like to express my heartfelt thanks and gratitude to the external examiner, Dr.
Hla Hla Myint, Head of Postharvest Research Institute, Horticulture and Plant Biotechnology
Division, Department of Agriculture, for her invaluable comments for this thesis.

I would like to thank the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation,

Department of Agriculture, for giving the permission to leave for YAU and to conduct MSc
study. I am also thankful to U Patrick View, Staff Officer and all staff of Department of
Agriculture, Nyaung Shwe Township, for taking care of my safely stay at Nyaung Shwe. And
also, I would like to thank the collaborative farmers for helping me to conduct the field
experiments.

I wish to express my deep gratitude to Yuntianhua Group for financial support to

conduct my research work. My thanks also go to all staff and postgraduate students from the
Department of Horticulture, YAU, for their assistance during this study.
 I convey my special thanks to my colleagues, Ko Nay Zaw Aung, Ko Thurein Linn
amd Ko Thaw Zayar Min for their cooperation in conduction experiments, helpful support
and encouragement during in time of need.

Finally, my deepest and greatest dedication is to my beloved parents, U Soe Win and
Daw Than Than Wai, my elder sister, Ma Thet Hnin Wint for their eternal love,
encouragement, understanding, moral supports and a lot of help whenever I need through
entire academic journey.