Department of Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya

Department of Agricultural Engineering

The Department of Agricultural Engineering is located in the 'Rubber Triangle' at the entrance to the University of Peradeniya between Old and New Galaha roads. Being one of the oldest Departments of the Faculty, it has been playing a vital supportive role in executing the degree programmes offered by the Faculty of Agriculture right throughout. The Department has 13 highly qualified and experienced academic staff members and 18 non-academic staff members including five Technical Officers to deliver its services.

The Agricultural Engineering courses are offered in all four years of the B.Sc. Honours in Agricultural Technology and Management degree programme. The major fields of studies comprise of required technological inputs such as land development, soil and water conservation techniques, land preparation, seeding or planting, plant protection, weeding, irrigation, drainage, harvesting, post-harvest handling, transportation, structures for animal housing, storage of grain and perishables, and energy and waste management for increased and sustained agricultural production. In addition to these technological inputs, supporting fields of studies are taught on climatic data acquisition and analysis including hydrology, water quality, geographical information systems and remote sensing, water resource management and forest hydrology for effective management of watersheds. The Department also offers courses to the other degree programs on Food Science and Technology and Animal Science and Fisheries offered by the Faculty. The advanced courses offered by the Department permit students to specialize in Agricultural and Bio-systems Engineering.

The Department is closely linked with the Postgraduate Institute of Agriculture through the Board of Study in Agricultural Engineering. The Board offers M.Sc. by course work and research, M.Sc. by research and Ph.D. in three disciplines namely, Agricultural and Bio-systems Engineering, Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and Geo-informatics.The degree programs target to develop the capacities of the fresh graduates as well as the mid-career professionals of the Government and Non-government sectors. Major Government sectors includes but not limited to Department of Agriculture, Department of Irrigation, Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka and other academic, research and development institutions.

The Department has facilities to provide training in Workshop Practice, Soil and Water Engineering, Postharvest Technology, Electronics and Robotics, Farm Machineries, Engineering Drawing and Environmental Engineering which are fully utilized for both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. In addition, research and demonstration activities are conducted at the field station at Meewatura which is being managed by the Department. The Department also offers strong practical components on Land Surveying, Farm Mechanization and Irrigation and Drainage at the Dry Zone Sub-campus at Mahaillupallama.

The Department hosts an Industrial Laboratory Services Unit (ILSU) which functions as a facility for the development of new technologies for the industry. It will performance evaluation of existing industrial systems for efficiency improvement and energy saving initiatives and carry out collaborative research with agricultural and process engineering disciplines. In line with this, the Department has recently formed a students’ society for Robotics.