The Faculty of Agriculture Undergraduate Research Session (FAuRS) -2014 was successfully staged on 23rd December 2014, with the participation of 420, which includes 232 students, 122 invitees and 66 academic staff members of the Faculty of Agriculture. The event was graced by Prof. Janaka de Silva, Chairman of the National Research Council, as the chief guest and the invited speaker of FAuRS-214, and delivered the speech on "Scientific Research in Sri Lanka". The event was also graced by the Acting Vice Chancellor, Prof. M.D. Lamawansa.

Technical sessions

Twenty seven oral presentations were held in three parallel sessions under the themes of

• Food production and Product Development (nine presentations)
• Natural Resources and Technological Interventions (eleven presentations)
• Agricultural markets, Institutions and Economic development (seven presentations)

Twenty seven poster presentations were held as a single session.

Publication

Two hundred and forty three abstracts were compiled and published in the proceedings of the Faculty of Agriculture Undergraduate Research Symposium-2014 (FAuRS-2014) (ISSN 2420-7683). Five hundred copies of the proceedings were produced and the publication was sponsored by the University of Peradeniya.

Awards for the best presenters/ researchers

All-together twelve best presenters were rewarded by cash awards and certificates representing three parallel sessions and poster session (three from each session). A gold medal for the overall best presenter was awarded by the A. Baur & Company, which is pledged to be continued in future FAuRS events as well. Three special cash prices and certificates were awarded to three best research projects with innovative impacts by Hybrid Technologies Pvt Ltd., and these awards will also be continued in future FAuRS events. All the paper and poster presenters were awarded a certificate of participation at FAuRS-2014.

Symposium dinner

The FAuRS-2014 was followed by the fellowship dinner. The main sponsor of the dinner was A. Baur & Company and the dinner was participated by around 500 including students, stakeholders and academics. The musical night at the fellowship dinner was successfully conducted by the Arts Circle of the Faculty of Agriculture.

Organizing Committee

• Prof. K. Samarasinghe	Dean/ Faculty of Agriculture
• Prof. HW Cyril	Chairperson/ Research Committee
• Prof. Pradeepa Silva	Coordinator/FAuRS-2014
• Prof. LHP Gunratne	Representative/ Dept. of Ag. Economics & Business Mgt. and PIC- HETC project (AgTech&Mgt program)
• Prof. Swarna Wimalasiri	Representative/ Dept. of Food Science & Technology
• Dr. SMC Himali	Representative/ Dept. of Animal Science
• Dr. Venura Herath	Representative/ Dept. of Agricultural Biology
• Dr. A. Karunaratne	Representative/ Dept. of Agricultural Engineering
• Dr. Lalith Suriyagoda	Representative/ Dept. of Crop Science
• Dr. Saman Dharmakeerthi	Representative/ Dept. of Soil Science
• Ms. Madhavee Wijeratne	Representative/ Dept. of Agricultural Extension
• Prof. DKNG Pushpakumara	Member for Fund Raising activities
• Dr. Janak Vidanarachchi	Member for Fund Raining activities
• Dr. Niranjan Rajapakshe	PIC – HETC project (BFST program)

Acknowledgement

The organizing committee would like to keep in records its heartfelt gratitude to all the members of academic, academic support and non-academic staff of the Faculty of Agriculture, the student community and all those who supported in making FAuRS-2014 a success. A special word of appreciation is placed for Prof. Buddhi Marambe, Prof. Jeevika Weerahewa, Dr. Rohith Prashantha, Dr. Shamala Kumar, Dr. R.H.G. Ranil, Dr. Janakie Mohotti, Dr. Chalinda Benaragama, Dr. Pradeepa Bandaranayake, Dr. T. Madhujith, Dr. Barana Jayawardena, Dr. Suranga Kodithuwakku, Mr. Ajith Premachandra, Ms. Thushani Madhubhashini and Ms. J. Brasathe for shouldering different tasks in staging the FAuRS-2014