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Biography of Dr. Senaka Lalith Dharmasri Amarathunga

"Asia Best Innovative Researcher in Agricultural Extension -2024”

Asia Awards 2024 is powered by the World Research Congress and the United Research Council.

Dr. Senaka Lalith Dharmasri Amarathunga is a distinguished Agricultural Extensionist and Environmentalist renowned for his unwavering dedication to promoting sustainable agricultural practices. He hold with a Ph.D. in Agricultural Extension specializing in Public-Private Partnership Extension in the tea sector from the University of Peradeniya (2015), a  M.Sc. in Environmental Science focusing on climate change impacts on tea productivity from the University of Colombo (2000), and a B.Sc. in Agricultural Sciences from the University of Ruhuna, his academic journey is marked by excellence and a profound commitment to research.

Being recognized as "Asia Best Innovative Researcher in Agricultural Extension - 2024" under the Asia Research & Scientist & Professor & Teaching Academic Awards category is a testament to his lifelong dedication to academic excellence. This award encapsulates years of commitment, hard work, and passion devoted to advancing academia, research, and pioneering technology transfer in Agricultural Extension. He is honoured to participate in the prestigious “Asia Awards 2024,” powered by the World Research Congress and the United Research Council.

He was joined as Senior Lecturer, Department of Export Agriculture, Faculty of Animal Science and Export Agriculture in 2020, at Uva Wellassa University, located in the scenic Badulla District of Sri Lanka; Dr. Amarathunga plays a pivotal role in shaping the future of agricultural extension education and research and development.

Uva Wellassa University is the first Entrepreneurial University, providing education to students focusing on employers’ needs and entrepreneurship. The new course driven structure of education facilitates interdisciplinarity, generates the knowledge base for education and practically enlightens their path. Value addition to the national resource base caters for the nation's sustainable development. Uva Wellassa University's theme provides the necessary emphasis that should pervade the system within to pursue a vision clearly giving us a direction on Value Addition to the National Resource Base. It is also the only Entrepreneurial University in Sri Lanka.

The degree programs deliver knowledge and skills required by employers in industry and commerce for value addition. All academic degree programs are multidisciplinary and focused on producing well-rounded, employable, technocratic, and entrepreneurial graduates. The programs cover resource areas of Aquatic, Export, Tea, Palm, Latex, Minerals, Tourism, Hospitality & Events Management , IT, Entrepreneurship, Management, Science and Technology and Medicin. The net result of this strategic theme effectively produces graduates readily employable both in the state and the private sector.

Dr. Amarathunga is currently working as Head of the Department of Export Agriculture at the Uva Wellassa University. Under his leadership, the Department of Export Agriculture offers four-degree programs focusing on excelling in teaching, learning, and research. The programs strongly emphasize adding value to export-oriented agricultural crops such as horticultural crops, fruits, and plantation crops like tea, rubber, and coconut using modern, scientific, and technological approaches.  

Dr. Amarathunga's extensive career spans academia and the private sector, enriched by impactful roles such as Senior Manager Extension at Tea Smallholder Factories PLC (TSFL) from 2010 to 2020 prior to joining Uva Wellassa University. Here, he spearheaded strategic initiatives to enhance the productivity and sustainability of tea smallholdings, significantly impacting the agribusiness landscape. He Facilitated the conversion of 120 ha uneconomical tea smallholdings into productive tea lands by introducing tea smallholder assistance replanting programs with GAPs and quality nursery plants - "Tea smallholding Vidusaviya"

His tenure at the Tea Research Institute (TRI) from 1991 to 2010 Prior to joining to TSFL, saw him rise from Agricultural Extension Officer to Officer-in-Charge Advisory Officer and Senior Advisory Officer, where he played a pivotal role in advancing technology dissemination and sustainable agricultural practices in tea cultivation to Tea Growers attached to Regional Plantation Companies, Propritory holdings and over four hundred thousand smallholdings in Sri Lanka through pioneering research and adaptive trials.

Throughout his illustrious career, Dr. Amarathunga has been actively engaged in collaborative research, development projects, and international training programs aimed at enriching agricultural practices and sustainability. His research endeavours have culminated in the publication of 4 textbooks, 18 peer-reviewed articles, and 28 abstracts/extended abstracts, complemented by 5 scientific blog articles. He has also contributed significantly to the scholarly community as a reviewer and editor for esteemed local and international journals.

A proud member of several prestigious organizations, including the Association of International Agricultural Extension and Education, Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services, Sri Lanka Institute of Agriculture, National Extension Network of Sri Lanka, Agricultural Extension Association of Sri Lanka and  Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science etc.  Dr. Amarathunga continues to play a pivotal role in advancing agricultural knowledge and fostering sustainable development practices. His involvement in community-oriented livelihood projects across Sri Lanka and South Asia underscores his commitment to making a lasting impact on agricultural communities.

In addition to his academic and research pursuits, Dr. Amarathunga remains actively involved in curriculum development, technology dissemination, and evaluating agricultural community-oriented livelihood development projects. His leadership and vision have shaped the academic landscape at Uva Wellassa University and facilitated innovative strategies in agricultural extension and environmental management, bridging the gap between research outcomes and practical applications.

He engaged in Multifaceted tasks in both public and private sectors, including providing lectures, supervising field research for students at different levels of education, developing curriculum for B.Sc. and M.Sc. degree programs, and facilitating for developing technology dissemination approaches and Assessing and evaluating agricultural community oriented livelihood development local and international driven projects in Sri Lanka as well as south Asia, and following are details of few project which he was involved.

• Team Member Sustainability Needs Assessment (SNA 2024) ) for Strengthening Sustainability of the Tea Industry project for the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI).
• Team Leader of a Community Participatory Collaborative Pilot Project on Food Resilience & Energy Sustainability for the Household Security (FRESH) of the Plantation Community through Green Livelihood Transformation In Verallapatna Estate, Madulshima plantation and Ethical partnership collaborative project from 2024 onwards.
• Team Leader in Uva Wellassa University's Integrated Community Development Project, focusing on applying the Farmer Field School Approach to disseminate technology for beekeeping management, value addition, and entrepreneurial capacity development since 2023. The project aims to create a public-private producer partnership for an entrepreneurial agribusiness called "4Ps Eco Bee Biz."
• Team Member, Fruit and Vegetables for Sustainable Healthy Diets (FRESH) Project (2023) Constraints and Opportunities to Ensure Safe and Sustainable Production of Vegetables throughout the Year in Sri Lanka.
• Team Member on development of a digital app for the tea sector for technology transfer and networking supply change and sharing market information for the tea sector 2023.
• Technical working committee member appointed by Sri Lanka Tea Board for Registration of prestigious Geographical Indication (GI) certification for Ceylon Tea, collaborating closely with the French Government
• He was the founder and coordinator of the Uva Wellassa Integrated Community Development Project, aiming to foster a steadfast relationship between Uva Wellassa University and Uva Agricultural Community to generate mutual benefits in a sustainable manner since 2022, Under his direction, Faculty of Animal Science and Export Agriculture, Uva Wellassa University launched 5 Million valued community participatory extension programme for “Empowering of Youth as Agri-Entrepreneurs” with the collaboration of the Smallholder Agri-business Partnership  (SAP) and the participation of all stakeholders of the UWU-Integrated Community Development Project (UWU-ICDP) at Agrarian Services Center, Kumbalwela on Thursday the 27th October 2022.   
• Worked as a coordinator of the Food and Agriculture Organization-funded project on impact assessment of Rehabilitation of Degraded Agricultural Lands conducted by the Faculty of Animal Science and Export Agriculture in 2021
• Worked as a co-coordinator of the collaborative project of the Faculty of Animal Science and Export Agriculture and Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka on the livelihood development of Moragahakanda and Rambakenoya systems since 2021
• Worked as a Research Partner on the project of “Assessment of the impact of an adaptation of climate change in the tea plantation sector-Asia Pacific climate change assessment project-2002/4”.
• Worked as a Research Partner on the Land suitability classification and Mapping of Low-grown tea smallholdings area -Ratnapura-2004/6.
• Worked as ADB Project on the Preparation of extension audio/video aids for tea technology dissemination and Training program, and Committee member of a working group of 5 video programs on tea cultivation practices, Two interactive CDs on Mechanization tea cultivation practices and rainfall and yield trends Analysis Project 2004 and  also developed 13 Paper and Journal articles and 14 leaflets, pamphlets, and guidelines on tea cultivation practices special reference to small holding sector. Developed “Field Handbook on Tea and Rubber Intercropping system”- for Small/Medium scale tea and Rubber growers
• Worked as Committee member of Curriculum Development of Training Program of National Institute of Plantation Management-2015/16
• Contributed as a committee member of the Smallholding sector directed Cost of Production (COP ) assessment for developing green leaf rate detection formula -2008/9
• Facilitated as committee member of two tea census assessment projects of corporate sector tea estate -2003 and 2008
• Contributed as a Working committee member for following collaborative projects undertaken with other organizations by the Tea Research Institute of Sri Lanka for the tea smallholding sector from 1996 to 2000. Accordingly, he have Coordinated to establish multiple cropping system models in small/medium-holding tea lands by working collaboratively with relevant authorities in Ratnapura, Kegalle, Kalutara, and Matara districts. Tea smallholdings - Hadabima Program – Balangoda, Integrated Rural Development Project – Ratnapura, Sinharaja Forest Conservation Project – Ratnapura, Self-help group tea nursery program - Samurdhi – Ratnapura, Gamideriya and Gamanaguma programs for tea smallholder land development – Ratnapura,- Commercial tea smallholder nursery programs for IFAD funded tea smallholding development project in Kandy and Gampola areas during above specified period.

Dr. Amarathunga's distinguished career achievements, scholarly contributions, and unwavering commitment to sustainable agricultural practices make him a deserving candidate for the "Asia Best Innovative Researcher in Agricultural Extension – Asia Awards 2024" powered by the World Research Congress and the United Research Council.  His dedication to advancing academia and fostering sustainable agricultural practices serves as a beacon of inspiration for aspiring researchers and agricultural professionals globally.