Overview

Soil Science has been taught at the University of Peradeniya since the inception of higher education in agriculture in 1948 and a fully-fledged Department dedicated to the discipline of soil science was established in 1986. Being the only Department having more than 30 years of experience in teaching and research in Soil Science in the higher education system in Sri Lanka, the Department is heavily involved with capacity building and providing consultancy and advisory services to regulatory and policy-making bodies of Sri Lanka. Soil Science discipline is taught at the core programs B.Sc. in Agricultural Technology and Management (Ag. Tech. & Mgt.) and B.Sc. in Animal Science and Fisheries as well as in the advanced module of Soil and Environment of Ag. Tech. & Mgt. degree. Courses of the core program for the B.Sc. in Ag. Tech. & Mgt. are designed to build up the knowledge progressively starting from Soil Formation to Soil Management. The advanced module in Soil and Environment is designed to address environmental issues providing in-depth knowledge on the soil as a natural resource and theoretical aspects that are essential to developing the technologies to accomplish sustainable land management. The department is also involved in teaching and academic administration of postgraduate degrees through the Board of Study in Soil Science at the Postgraduate Institute of Agriculture. The Department has a strong research culture and a number of research programs related to soil productivity and environmental quality aspects are being conducted. The laboratories of the department are well equipped with modern soil analytical equipment exposing undergraduate and postgraduate students to high-end technologies. The department also shares the facilities of the Soil Survey Laboratory and SRICANSOL, Resource Centre which was developed with the partnership of Soil Science Society of Sri Lanka.