ACADEMIC QUALIFICATION:

PhD in Plant Science, Collage of Sciences, School of Agriculture & Environment, Massey University, New Zealand (2021)

M.Sc. in Crop Science, Postgraduate Institute of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka (2016)

B.Sc. (Hons.) in Agricultural Technology & Management, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka (2013)

KEY RESEARCH EXPERTISE:

• Agronomy and physiology of pasture, cereals, root, tuber crops
• Plant stress physiology
• Crop improvement techniques- Plant quantitative genetics

International Journal Publications & Conference Proceedings

1. Weerarathne, L.V.Y., Jahufer, Z., Schäufele, R., Lopez, I., Matthew, C. 2023. A Comparative Analysis of Agronomic Water-Use Efficiency and its Proxy Measures as derived from Key Morpho-Physiological
and Supportive Quantitative Genetics Attributes of Perennial Ryegrass under Imposed Drought, New Phytologist (submitted: NPH-MS-2023-43467).
2. Weerarathne, L.V.Y., Madhavi R.A.D.U., Madara G.V.R., Kankanmge P.S., Alahakoon A.H.M.Y.T., Amarasena N.G., De Silva N., Marambe B., Weerasinghe L.K., Abeythilakarathna, P.D. 2023. Morpho-physiological Trade-offs between Dehydration Tolerance and Avoidance Strategies of Potato across Key Phenological Growth Phases in Drought, in preparation.
3. Visna Weerarathne, Larissa Garcia, Roberta Carnevalli, Bingzhe Fu & Cory Matthew. 2021. Discerning component traits contributing to specific water use in perennial ryegrass, New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research, DOI: 10.1080/00288233.2021.1957945.
4. Weerarathne, L. V. Y., Marambe, B., & Chauhan, B. S. 2017. Does intercropping play a role in alleviating weeds in cassava as a non-chemical tool of weed management?–A Review. Crop Protection, 95, 81-88.
5. Weerarathne, L. V. Y., Marambe, B., & Chauhan, B. S. 2017. Intercropping as an effective component of integrated weed management in tropical root and tuber crops: A Review. Crop protection, 95, 89-100.
6. Mayamulla, S., Weerarathne, L. V. Y., Marambe, B., Sirisena, D. N., & Suriyagoda, L. D. B. 2017. Variation in seed nutrient content, seedling growth and yield of rice varieties grown in a paddy field without application of fertilisers for forty years. Crop and Pasture Science, 68(4), 337-348.
7. Weerarathne L.V.Y., Suriyagoda, L.D.B., Marambe B. 2015. Barnyard grass (Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) P.Beauv) is less competitive on rice (Oryza sativa L.) when phosphorus (P) is applied to deeper layers in P-deficient and moisture limited soils. Plant and Soil. 391(1-2), 1-17.
8. Weerarathne L.V.Y., Dong W., Nie M., Wang Y., Lopez I.F. and Matthew C. 2018. Exploring the link between more negative osmotic potential and ryegrass summer performance. New Zealand Grasslands Acoosiation Conference Proceedings (NZGA), 6th -8th November 2018, Twizel, New Zealand.
9. Weerarathne, L.V.Y., Lopez, I., Matthew, C. 2018. Drought resistance in ryegrass involves morphological plasticity-osmotic adjustment interplay. Combio2018 Biennial Conference, 23th-25th September 2018, Sydney, Australia.
10. Weerarathne L.V.Y, Marambe B, Suriyagoda LDB. 2015. Rice roots are more plastic than barnyard grass to take up phosphorus and moisture when they are co-limited in the soils. The 25th Asian-Pacific Weed Science Society Conference (APWSS), 13th -16th October 2015, Hyderabad, India.
11. Weerarathne L.V.Y, Marambe B, Suriyagoda LDB. 2014. Competitiveness of rice (Oryza sativa L.) on weeds when grown in moisture and nutrient depleted soils. Proceedings of the Sustainable Phosphorus Summit (SPS), 1st-3rd September 2014, Montpeller, France.
12. Suriyagoda LDB, Weerarathne L.V.Y, Sirisena D, Wissuwa M. 2014. Towards the selection of phosphorus efficient rice (Oryza sativa L.) varieties. Proceedings of the Sustainable Phosphorus Summit (SPS), 1st-3rd September 2014, Montpeller, France.