Prof. G.V.T.V. Weerasooriya
DeanFaculty of Agriculture, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka was established in 2001 at Puliyankulama, about three kilometers (03) away from the ancient city of Anuradhapura and about ten (10) kilometers away from Mihintale where the main administration building complex is located. The faculty was established with three departments at the beginning and now it consists of four departments namely,
- Department of Agricultural Engineering and Soil Science
- Department of Agricultural Systems
- Department of Animal and Food Sciences
- Department of Plant Sciences
The faculty of Agriculture, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka is the leading institute responsible for higher education in Agriculture for the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka. The faculty of Agriculture was mainly established at Puliyankulama to develop sustainable agricultural systems particularly focusing on the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka by utilizing rural farm settings and natural resources effectively. Today, we are proud to be one of the dynamic faculties teaching Agriculture in the country. The faculty is today enriched with necessary facilities such as human and physical resources to support the academic programs as well as the outreach activities. The faculty is capable of providing sound practical training in Agriculture through the Faculty Farm. The faculty farm has a land extent of 32 acres located closer to the faculty main premises at Puliyankulama, Anuradhapura and is mainly used for student training programs on crop production, animal production and research works of undergraduates and academic staff. The faculty farm also provides beneficial input to uplift the knowledge on the farming activities of neighboring farmers so as to favor the dissemination of agricultural knowledge. In addition, six acres of land have been developed as the Sustainable Agrofood Production and Value Addition Model Farm.
The faculty presently offers a four-year degree namely Bachelor of Science Honours in Agriculture as a special degree. The annual student intake to the faculty through the UGC is 175 and the total student population in the faculty is about 550.A semester-based course unit system is adopted to run the academic program. The faculty is well empowered with human resources to ensure the best quality of teaching and training. Our graduates are fitted to a wider range of disciplines because of the multi-disciplinary nature of the academic program. In addition to the subject knowledge, a balanced training in communication skills, computer and IT skills and life skills development to meet the needs of the modern society is included in the academic program. The faculty offers formal advisory and counselling programs, financial support for needy students and many other forms of student support. The employability of our graduates is high because of the versatile curriculum (a wide range of curricular) and the unique training that are offered. According to my experiences, our graduates compete with the other agriculture graduates and always dominate in the job market and do not find much difficulty in finding employment both in private and public sectors. Now, our graduates are employed everywhere in the country covering almost all the sectors. I wish you all the best for your journey in the field of Agriculture and career path ahead.
Prof. G.V.T.V. Weerasooriya