Faculty of Agriculture

The Faculty of Agriculture is located at Mapalana, 16 kilometers north of Matara and 2 kilometers south of Kamburupitiya.  The Faculty premises of 50 hectares include several academic and administration buildings which house lecture theaters, laboratories, the library, student recreational facilities, canteen, auditorium, etc., supporting instructional and research programmes. The Faculty Farm is also located within its premises, integrating farm activities with teaching, research and out-reach programmes.  Plans are being drawn up to expand the premises of the Faculty by acquiring another 50 hectares from the adjacent rubber estate.
The Faculty has Seven Departments of Study: Agricultural Biology, Soil science,Food Science and technology,Agricultural Economics and Extension, Agricultural Engineering, Animal Science and Crop Science.  The B.Sc. (Agriculture) degree is of 4 years duration. The annual enrollment grew from 15 in 1978/79 to 150 in 1997. Thus, approximately 600 undergraduate students have been accommodated   in year 2000.  Student population at the end of year 2001 will be 750 with the accommodation of a double batch in year 2001. In addition to the B.Sc. (Agriculture) degree course, the Faculty offers M.Phil. and Ph.D. degree programmes, to promote higher education and specialized training and to further scholarly research. Equipment and laboratory facilities for teaching and research at both undergraduate and post-graduate levels are available in each Department of Study.
The staff strength and student intake of the Faculty has increased progressively since the inception and now the Faculty has 54 permanent and about 15 temporary academic staff, including eight Professors.  In addition, the Faculty has made every endeavor to obtain the services of outstanding agricultural scientists, administrators, policy makers, planners etc. in the country to supplement and enrich the academic program. The number of visiting lecturers in the Faculty presently exceeds 50, who come from the Faculty of Agriculture of University of Peradeniya, Coconut Research Institute, Rubber Research Institute, Tea Research Institute, Industrial Technology Institute, Export Development Board, Department of Agriculture, Department of Export Agriculture, Science Faculty of University of Kelaniya, etc. While fostering national interest in education, the Faculty is becoming increasingly committed to community and regional development. The former Affiliated University College site at Karagoda-Uyangoda has been acquired for the expansion of the field teaching programmes, practical training and out-reach activities. The Faculty is strongly committed to contributing significantly towards Southern Area development and to foster the University-Industry links. To this end, many academics of the Faculty are serving as consultants and resource persons in a number of national and international institutions and agencies. Under the new curriculum implemented in the year 2000, Faculty has get in to the semester system of study with 15 weeks duration of each course of study.  The 5th semester of the B.Sc. (Agriculture) degree program consists of practical farm training conducted at the Faculty Farm and at Karagoda Uyangoda.  The students are also taken on visits to carefully selected farms, research centers and other institutions during the course of studies. In addition, the students are given training in plantation crops conducted at nearby estates. A Farm Mechanization Training Course is conducted at the Karagoda Uyangoda Site. Each student, during the last six months of the degree programme follows a compulsory course in the application of computers in Agriculture, statistics and biometry and Technical writing and then specializes in a selected field of study. For the specialization course, the students are required to conduct a research project and submit a project report, in addition to the theoretical course. An opportunity will be made available soon for students showing competence in computer science to proceed   for a Certificate Course in Computer Science and Information Technology. This is being organized in collaboration with the Computer Center at the Wellamadama Campus.
The Faculty established a post-graduate program leading to M.Phil. degree in 1985 which was extended for doctoral studies in 1995. The Faculty has already produced several postgraduates and presently, it has over 20 post-graduate students, including doctoral candidates pursuing higher studies in various disciplines of agriculture.
The staff of the Faculty has excelled in research as well, and have been successful in securing many competitive and prestigious research grants from agencies . The Faculty has submitted a proposal in this year in order to enhance its teaching, training, research and out-reach programs. Regarding the out-reach programs, the Faculty proposes to use the recently acquired AUC premises at Karagoda-Uyangoda and relevant programs are already being jointly developed with the National Institute of Education, UNDP Matara chamber of commence, SDA etc
An analytical service laboratory to help farmers industry and other interested organizations has commenced its operation recently
The Faculty has embarked upon publishing an International Journal titled “Tropical Agricultural Research and Extension”, and is now in its fourth year of publication. An unprecedented interest has been shown by researchers working in the tropics to publish in the journal. A monthly newsletters will also be launched in August 2001, giving news of the Faculty to the university community, alumni and others interested in the faculty affairs. The students have the opportunity of furthering their talents in sports, arts and in many other areas by taking part in various extra-curricular activities organized by the University as well as through student societies. In addition to free higher education, financial assistance through several scholarship schemes are available. The hostel facilities are also subsidised, providing equal opportunities for students to peruse higher education. This Handbook has been prepared with the objective of providing information pertaining to teaching, research and development activities of the Faculty of Agriculture. It is also meant to provide the students of the Faculty with the basic guidelines for their career in the Faculty.

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