Faculty of Agriculture, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka was established in 2001 and incepted at Puliyankulama, about three (03) kilometres away from the ancient city of Anuradhapura and about ten (10) kilometres away from Mihintale, where the main administration complex of the university is located. Faculty was established with three departments at the beginning, which has now evolved to four departments namely; Department of Agricultural Engineering and Soil Science, Department of Agricultural Systems, Department of Animal and Food Sciences, and Department of Plant Sciences.
The Faculty is the leading institute responsible for higher education in Agriculture for the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka. It was established at Puliyankulama to develop the 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 enriched with necessary facilities such as human and physical resources to support the undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. We continue to spend heavily, which now stands at almost one billion rupees for next three years, to uplift the teaching and research capacity of the faculty to materialize the teaching, research and development agenda envisioned by our academic staff that we are proud about.
In this background, inauguration of postgraduate degree programmes; Master of Agriculture, Postgraduate Diploma in Rural Development and Master of Philosophy in Agriculture, are the harvest that we reap nearly two decades of experience in teaching and research in agriculture in Sri Lanka. Doctor of Philosophy and Master of Science in Agroecology postgraduate degree programmes will be introduced soon. All these postgraduate programmes have been specially designed for the graduates who wish to obtain a postgraduate qualification within the broad discipline of agriculture and rural development. The programmes offer blended opportunity to specialize in various sub-disciplines through research projects. We also accept credits from other programmes as appropriate and progression pathways are set towards achieving Master of Philosophy degree programme. The faculty is committed to provide a conducive environment for postgraduate studies and research. Our strategic goal is to focus on the quality of the degree programme while developing the quality of students and ultimately enhancing their employment prospects. Finally, I would like to extend my best wishes with your studies and with the new higher learning experience that you are going to gain at the Faculty of Agriculture, RUSL.
Best compliments from,
Dr. G. V. T. V. Weerasooriya
Dean
Faculty of Agriculture
Rajarata University of Sri Lanka
