http://repo.lib.sab.ac.lk:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/129 Annual Research sessions held in the year 2017 Sun, 19 Apr 2026 22:17:02 GMT 2026-04-19T22:17:02Z http://repo.lib.sab.ac.lk:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/285 7th ANNUAL RESEARCH SESSION SABARAGAMUWA UNIVERSITY OF SRI LANKA Wed, 13 Dec 2017 00:00:00 GMT http://repo.lib.sab.ac.lk:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/285 2017-12-13T00:00:00Z http://repo.lib.sab.ac.lk:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/282 Impact of Soil Fertility Improvement Strategies on Annual Crop Cultivation in Mid Country Homegarden Systems in Aluthgama Village, Nawalapitiya, Sri Lanka Wekumbura, W. G. C; Mohotti, A. J; Frossard, E The homegarden systems developed and nurtured by farmers through generations of innovation and experiment are often cited as the epitome of sustainability. The main objective of this study was to assess the impact of some different kinds of inputs on soil fertility and productivity improvement of homegardens. The study was further elaborated by addressing how to maintain crop diversity and cultivation of cash crops which affected the management of homegardens and vice versa in the Aluthgama village, Nawalapitiya, Sri Lanka, during 2014-2016. Eight homegardens, four each from the ‘improved’ and ‘nonimproved’ categories were selected. Annual crops (i.e. Phaseolus vulgaris L. and Capsicum annuum L.) were cultivated with treatments: No fertilizer, chemical fertilizers as recommended, only compost (4 MTha-1), only green manure (4 MYha-1), ½ the recommended amount of chemical fertilizer with (2 MTha-1) compost and (2 MTha-1) green manure. Crop growth and yield, and soil chemical and physical parameters were analyzed before and after each crop. In addition, crop species diversity was evaluated in 53 homegardens belonging to the two categories, and prospects and issues of homegardening and associated tea cultivation were recorded taking 100 homegardens into consideration. Data were analyzed using SAS and SPSS statistical software. The results of the total leaf area, dry weights and yield of both crops indicated that the treatments containing the artificial fertilizer and compost or green manure were giving comparable values as the artificial fertilizer alone, which were superior than other treatments. Based on the agro biodiversity, the homegardens in the area could be separated in to two clusters (Shannon Weiner Index 2.43 and 2.32, Simpson's index 0.92 and 0.88 in cluster 1 and 2 respectively) and cluster 1 superior in more species diversity. Most homegarden owners in the studied area cultivated tea in a mixed cropping system. More attention was given by the farmers to the tea lands compared to the homegardens, which had negative impacts on management of the homegardens. The study emphasizes proper management of soil fertility, biodiversity and appropriate crop cultivation as the key components of the development of homegardens. Promotion and development of tea associated homegardens can be a strong foundation and conspicuous method to secure food and income amongst smallholder farmers in the mid country. Wed, 13 Dec 2017 00:00:00 GMT http://repo.lib.sab.ac.lk:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/282 2017-12-13T00:00:00Z http://repo.lib.sab.ac.lk:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/279 Dose Regime Effect on Porcine Primordial Follicle Survival In Vitro; Perspectives of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor 165a in Culture Medium Madushanka, D. N. N; Mayurawansha, W. R. A. S; Ruwandeepika, H. A. D; Magamage, Manjula P. S Mammalian folliculogenesis is a complex process which determines the availability of viable oocyte for successful fertilization. Initiation of mammalian primordial follicle development also known as primordial follicle activation is poorly understood. Vascular endothelial growth factor 165a (VEGFA165a) is a well-known angiogenic factor which stimulate the vascular bed formation in cows with cystic ovarian lesions. Therefore, studies on VEGFA role on ovarian follicle activation are indispensable. The objective of the current study was to determine the different dose regime effect of VEGF165a on porcine primordial follicle development in vitro. This preliminary data was obtained from shortterm (72 hours) in vitro culture of porcine ovarian cortical stripes under 5% CO2 and 95% O2 with the humidified atmospheric conditions. Out of three different dose regimes, 0.1ng/ml (10-6M) has shown highest viable follicles numbers (22.40±0.16) compared to 1ng/ml (10-5 M) (22.36±0.15) and 10ng/ml (10-4M) (7.0±0.0). Dose regime 10ng/ml VEGFA165a treatment has shown the accelerated follicle degeneration (20.11±0.11). For the first time, here we reported that lower concentration of VEGFA165a provide more follicle viability in porcine tissues under short term culture conditions. All the data were analyzed using SAS 9.0 and the treatment effect was not significant among any treatment nor with the control (p>0.05). In conclusion, it was evident in this study that the lowest concentrations of VEGFA165a has increased the follicle viability while higher concentrations implicit increased follicle degeneration. Acknowledgements: This study was supported by National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka grant NSF/SCH/2015/07 and Sabaragamuwa University Research Grant, SUSL/RG/2015/06. Wed, 13 Dec 2017 00:00:00 GMT http://repo.lib.sab.ac.lk:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/279 2017-12-13T00:00:00Z http://repo.lib.sab.ac.lk:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/274 Superoxide Dismutase Gene Might Play a Major Role in Tapping Panel Dryness of Rubber (Hevea brasiliensis Muell. Arg.). Bandara, P. K. G. S. S; Perera, L. H. N; Kumara, J. B. D. A. P; Dissanayake, P. K Among the rubber producing plant species, Hevea brasiliensis Muell. Arg., commonly known as rubber tree, is almost the sole source of natural rubber. Currently, the rubber industry of Sri Lanka contributes about 1.0 % of the GDP being one of the major income sources of the agriculture sector. Over the past decades, the rubber yield has been significantly increased due to the introduction of high yielding clones. However, the latex production is seriously affected by tapping panel dryness (TPD), a physiological disorder, which ultimately results in decline or complete cessation of latex production and causes 15 % to 20 % yield loss worldwide annually. In Sri Lanka, yield loss due to TPD is increasing at an alarming rate. It is hypothesized that TPD is caused by tapping induced oxidative stress resulted from over exploitation. Under oxidative stress, plants generally increase the production of free radical scavenging or antioxidant enzymes such as, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (APX). At present, the cause of TPD is not clear. Therefore, this study was started with the objectives of studying the role of antioxidant genes on TPD. The expression differences of antioxidant genes in both TPD affected and healthy trees of RRISL 2001 rubber clone were analyzed using semi quantitative RT-PCR. Gene specific primers designed to span exon junctions were used for PCR amplifications and the amplified products were visualized on ethidium bromide stained agarose gels. The band intensities were determined by visually. The results showed that the expression of the rubber SOD gene is highly down-regulated in TPD affected trees compared to that of healthy trees. Whereas, the CAT gene is slightly upregulated in TPD affected tress leading to conclude that rubber SOD gene might play an important role in TPD. Moreover, our results support to the hypothesis that TPD is caused by inefficient scavenging of reactive oxygen species due to defects in antioxidant system of some rubber trees. Wed, 13 Dec 2017 00:00:00 GMT http://repo.lib.sab.ac.lk:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/274 2017-12-13T00:00:00Z