The Department of Agricultural Biology is an ideal learning environment, driven by a close-knit group of academics, researchers, and students, covering both the theoretical and applied aspects of disciplines related to Agricultural Biology. We offer to shape the next-generation of young minds to launch into a career in biological sciences and beyond.
The program provides knowledge and extensive hands-on training on Agricultural Biology related laboratory and field work. The students are provided with the opportunity to familiarize themselves with acclaimed research undertaken in relevant disciplines, with access to modern equipment and facilities, both at undergraduate and postgraduate level.
The Department offers four modules for the advanced program of Agricultural Technology & Management degree, covering key areas of Agricultural Biology. Through the advanced modules the students will be groomed for their prospective postgraduate studies and future professions.
Advanced Modules Offered:
Economic and Applied Entomology
Genetic Improvement of Plants
Molecular Biology and Biotechnology
Plant Pathology and Microbiology
17-Nov-2022
Prof. Devika M. De. Costa, Chair of Plant Protection, Department of Agricultural Biology has published a book on ‘Samodanitha Shaka Roga Palanaya’ to enhance the awareness of farmers and extensionists on principles and potential of integrated plant disease management. This book has been published in Sinhala and Tamil languages and funded by the National Research Council (Research Grant 17-010). The Tamil version is co-authored by Mr. K. Prasannath, Department of Agricultural Biology, Faculty of Agriculture, Eastern University, Sri Lanka.
Prof. K.S. Hemachandra, Professor in Entomology, Department of Agricultural Biology together with Mr. M.D. Darshana Sigera, the Chief Executive Officer of Pest Solutions (PVT) Ltd., has published a book on ‘Basics of Household Insects: Biology, ecology and management’. This book provides the key elements of the biology and ecology of pest species in relation to population management. The insects species considered in the book include cockroaches, mosquitoes, house fly, bed bugs, fleas and ants that has an importance in public health.
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11-Jan-2023
Title: Investigation of Morphological and Molecular Marker Segregation of an F2 Population of Coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) and Deriving Marker-trait Associations
About the Research: This research aimed at the genetic improvement of coconut, an economically important perennial plantation crop in Sri Lanka. Traditionally, conventional plant breeding methodologies have been used for nearly a century of research in coconut improvement. However, the need for using novel molecular breeding tools for enhancement of plant breeding in this perennial plant has been long felt. The current research aimed at confirming the phenotypic and molecular segregation of an F2 population of coconut. The population was identified to be sufficiently segregating at both phenotypic and genotypic levels. The feasibility of using the said population for QTL analysis, genome mapping leading to marker assisted selection, several important marker trait associations were derived. Use of molecular markers in coconut breeding and QTL analysis was demonstrated. Furthermore genome mapping and marker assisted selection in important crops is still new in Sri Lanka and specifically this study is one of the pioneering records in developing marker trait associations of a perennial tree crop in Sri Lanka.
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11-Jan-2023
Title: Bioinformatic Analysis of CRISPR-Cas System in Enterobacteriaceae
CRISPR-Cas System is anadaptive immune system which is present in most archaea and bacteria. I selected four strains of Enterobacteriaceae as one Enterobacter cloacae and three Enterobacter hormaechei strains were used for my study. Using four bioinformatic tools such as CRISPRCasFinder, CRISPROne,CRISPR Recognition Tool and Piler-Cr, CRISPR sites in thsese selected strains were identified. The types which those CRISPR-Cas systems are belonging to and their locations were detected. Then primers were designed for detected CRISPR arrays using Ptimer3Plus tool. Then a workflow was designed using KNIME software to analyze CRISPR-Cas data of this bacteria family.
Conclusions
All selected strains consisted of CRISPR-Cas systems and they were belonging to type I-A and IV-A systems.
CRISPRCasFinder can be recommended as an accurate tool to detect CRISPR arrays while CRISPROne can be recommended to detect Cas genes present in a genome. The KNIME Software is an ideal tool to design workflows to obtain desired outputs.
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13-Jan-2023
Four Academic staff members of the Department of Agricultural Biology, received Annual Research Excellence Awards at the Faculty of Agriculture Undergraduate Research Symposium 2021/22 for the excellent research that they conducted in year 2020.
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15-May-2023
Students from the Department of Agricultural Biology, Faculty of Agriculture joined with Bee Protection Society in the removing process of rock bee hives from Akbar bridge.
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20-May-2023
The Department of Agricultural Biology proudly organized World Bee Day, a global initiative to raise awareness about the importance of bees and other pollinators on 20th May 2023. The event includes engaging activities such as exhibitions, workshops, and educational talks to educate attendees of all ages. The event concludes with inspiring attendees to become ambassadors for bee conservation in their communities.
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11-Feb-2022
The Department of Agricultural Biology has organized a workshop on ‘Microscope Handling and Care’ in order to enhance the awareness of the participants regarding the proper handling of microscopes. The event was held on 11th February 2022 and was coordinated by Mr. Nadun Perera, Technical Officer, Department of Agricultural Biology. Mr. K.P. Caldera from Brightfield Internationals (Pvt) Ltd, Colombo served as the resource person of this event.
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02-Jun-2022
The blood donation program, organized by the Biology Guild, Faculty of Agriculture was held on 2nd of June 2022 at the faculty premises. The guilders completed the event successfully with the contribution of over 100 blood donors. The program was sponsored by the Lion’s Club of Kurunegala and in addition to the members of the Guild, many students of the faculty helped in numerous ways to make this event successful. The medical staff of the Peradeniya Teaching Hospital facilitated the event with dedication taking gentle care of the donors which was truly appreciated.
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11-Jan-2023
Title : Effect of 2b Protein of Cucumber Mosaic Virus on Life History Traits of Myzus persicae
Many kinds of viruses constantly attack plants and these viruses have evolved not only with their host, but also the vectors contribute to transmit them. To ensure the maintenance and survival of these viruses in the ecosystem, transmission from host to host by vectors plays a significant role. As a mean of transportation, most plant virus species (88%) use arthropod vectors. Aphids are among the most important arthropod vectors of plant viruses. Cucumber Mosaic Virus (CMV) is one such important virus which is vectored over 70 aphid species. Among them best studied vector is Myzus persicae. Effect of infection of CMV on life history traits of Myzus persicae is well studied. Greater understanding about the underlying mechanism behind this virus transmission process will be important in determining how these forces has shaped the evolution of this virus in the ecosystem as well as this knowledge can be used to formulate sustainable pest management practices thereby control the vector born virus diseases. We investigated the effect of 2b protein of CMV on aphid vectors using 2b transgenic Nicotiana benthamiana. The estimated survival percentages of aphids 30 days after the introduction to 2b transgenic and wild-type plants were 60% and 22.5%, respectively. The total population over a 30-day period was significantly (P=0.00) higher in aphids on 2b transgenic plants compared to that of wild-type plants. The mean fecundity over a 30-day observation period was 24.5 and 10.4 for aphids grown on 2b transgenic and wild-type plants, respectively. However, there was no significant difference (P=0.117) in the intrinsic rate of increase (mr) of the aphids grown on 2b transgenic plants and wild-type plants. The longevity of aphids was significantly higher on 2b transgenic plants compared to that of wild-type plants (P=0.012). Similarly, 2b transgenic plants are significantly more susceptible to M. persicae in terms of time for 1st probing (P=0.004) and duration of phloem sap-feeding (P=0.011). According to our results, we conjecture that the CMV 2b protein plays a significant role in modification of life history traits of M. persicae. Therefore we can suggest aphid control as an important management strategy to control Cucumber mosaic virus from our crop ecosystem.
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23-Nov-2022
The department of Agricultural Biology organized a Pirith Chanting Ceremony in order to commemorate late Prof. J.M.R.S. Bandara and late Dr. H.A.M. Wickremasinghe and also to wish peace and harmony to past and present department members, their loved ones and the country. The event was held on 16th June 2022 at the department premises.
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23-Nov-2022
The Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya is in the process of establishing an apiary to strengthen its honeybee related research and teaching. The apiary will also be helpful to provide beekeeping technologies to a wider community both inside and outside the university. Mr. Jagath Randeniya who is living in Germany visited the faculty on 31st August 2022 to discuss possible collaborations to develop beekeeping in Sri Lanka. He also donated an observation hive to the faculty. An observation hive allows to study the behaviour of the honeybees inside the colony. Prof. S. S. Kodithuwakku, the dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, Dr. N. U. Jayawardana, the Head of the Department of Agricultural Biology and Dr. W. H. Jayasinghe participated this event. As per the expectation of the Department of Agricultural Biology, the apiary of the university will be established in the near future in order to popularizing beekeeping and to facilitate honeybee related research.
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23-Nov-2022
The Department of Agricultural Biology has conducted two webinars and one seminar under the theme “Technological and Strategic Advancements for Agricultural Sustainability” targeting a wider audience including university students, professionals and other interested parties in the country. Resource persons representing both foreign and local organizations contributed to those workshops. The Department expects to conduct more activities in the future in the same line.
The details of the Webinars/Seminar are as follows.
|
Date |
Name of the Webinar/Seminar |
Resource Person |
|
30 May, 2022 |
Webinar- “Next Generation Plant Breeding: Integrated Multi-Omics Technologies in Predictive Modelling” |
Dr. Prabha Amarasinghe, Molecular Biologist, MOgene, USA |
|
02 May, 2022 |
Webinar- “Citrus Huanglonbing; A Pathogen Triggered Immune Disease and its Implications in Disease Management” |
Prof. Nian Wang, Department of Microbiology and Cell Science, Citrus Research and Education Center, University of Florida, USA |
|
18 August, 2022 |
Seminar- “Troubleshooting in Home Gardening; Pest and Disease Problems” (Sinhala Medium) |
Mr. H.K.M.S. Kumarasinghe, Extension and Training Division, Department of Agriculture, Peradeniya |
23-Nov-2022
The Department of Agricultural Biology organized the “AgBio Champs T- Shirt Design Contest - 2021” for the first time with the aim of enhancing the creativity among the undergraduate students of the Faculty during the pandemic period. This contest was opened to all our students of ATM, BFST and ASF degree programmes.
The students were given the challenge to design a collard, unisex-shirt with an attractive slogan that best represent the Department of Agricultural Biology.
A panel of judges representing all tiers of the Faculty, has chosen 04 champs fin the 04 major categories. The Most Popular Design was selected based on the number of ‘likes’ on the entries in the Ag Bio Champs Facebook page.
The Champs have received fabulous cash prizes and certificates.
The Champs are,
Category 01 - The Most Popular Design - B.U.R. Wijemanna (AG/15/108)
Category 02 - The Best Logo - M.J. Damsara (AG/ASF/18/009)
Category 03 - The Best Slogan - P.R.K. Perera (AG/16/124)
Category 04 - The Most Creative Design - B.U.R. Wijemanna (AG/15/108)
Category 05 - The Most Relevant Design to Agricultural Biology - R.G.B. Dananjaya (AG/16/032)
The event was coordinated and organized by the AgBio Champs Team, Department of Agric. Biology and sponsored by Avon Parmo Pvt Ltd.
Read More15-May-2023
Students from the Department of Agricultural Biology, Faculty of Agriculture joined with Bee Protection Society in the removing process of rock bee hives from Akbar bridge.
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Copyright ©2022 Faculty of Agriculture - University of Peradeniya.
All Rights Reserved
Copyright ©2022 Faculty of Agriculture - University of Peradeniya.
All Rights Reserved
