Browsing by Author "Wathugala, D. L."

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Identification of Late Blight and Early Blight Diseases in Potato Using Image Processing Techniques: A Case Study
(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2020) Laksiri, P. H. P. N.; Indika, W. A.; Madushika, M. K. S.; Wathugala, D. L.
Potato is one of the highly demanded commercial crops that is cultivated majorly in the upcountry region in Sri Lanka. However, the average yield of potato is far below the potential yield as the crop is heavily affected by pest and disease attacks (Eeswaran et al., 2016). Based on several surveys under “Ruhuna Govi-Nena” project and the recent state-of-art findings, it is clearly revealed that lack of context-specific, complete and actionable information to make timely-quality decisions (Ginige et al., 2016) to prevent, detect and control pest and disease are major factors which reduces the potato yield. To check the feasibility of addressing this critical issue, this case study was conducted in selected potato fields in “Boragas” area in “Nuwaraeliya” district Sri Lanka.
Impact of different biochar and urea fertilizer ratios on soil microbial activity, growth and physiological performances of rice (Oryza sativa L.)
(Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka, 2023) Kumara, K. H. C. H.; Siriwardana, M. H. U.; Hafeel, R. F.; Withanawasam, D. M.; Fernando, K. M. C.; Wathugala, D. L.
This study investigated the interplay between biochar, urea, soil microbes, and rice growth. Biochar, a carbon-rich material, and urea, a nitrogen-containing compound, were investigated for their potential to enhance soil health, microbial activity, and rice crop physiological performance. The experiment evaluated the outcomes of varying urea levels (0, 30, 70, and 100 %) along with different biochar levels (0, 1, 2 and 3 t/ha) including a control with 0.62 t/ha partially burned paddy husk in accordance with a split-plot design. Data were collected 6 weeks after the experiment was established reveling significant interactions among urea, biochar and soil microbial activities. Soil microbial activity was measured by using carbon mineralization process, which involves the respiration of microorganisms. CO2 emitted due to microbial respiration on soil substrate was trapped by 0.1M NaOH solution and titrated with 0.1M HCl solution to determine soil microbial activity. Data were analyzed using STAR for windows version 2.0.1. It was observed that microbial activity (23.53 mg/kg) was increased with higher biochar levels (2 t/ha) especially when combined with 70 % urea. Biochar nurtures microbial communities, which then enhance nutrient cycling, organic matter decomposition and improvement of soil matrix, potentially contributing to the significant water holding capacity (64.53 %) observed at 2 t/ha biochar rate. Rice growth parameters including tiller count (717.39 m2), plant height (70.55 cm), total chlorophyll content (4.66 mg/g) and carotenoid concentration (0.77 mg/g) were also significantly improved with the combined application of 70 % urea and 2 t/ha biochar. The improvements compared to the control were 3.77, 7.20, 7.08, 2.59 % respectively. Therefore, it can be concluded that the synergistic effect of the combination of urea and biochar significantly effects microbial activity and rice growth 6 weeks after treatment application. These results highlighted the potential for biochar-urea interactions to optimize, rice crop performance after 6 weeks, offering a roadmap for sustainable agricultural practices that influence environmental conservation.
A Key Model to Provide Required Information at Farming Life Cycle of Crop Production Through A Real-Time Mobile-Based Application
(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2020) Mohamed, M. S. A.; Wathugala, D. L.; Indika, W. A.; Madushika, M.K.S.; Gunawardana, D. A. Y. K
Agriculture plays an essential role in the developing countries and is the backbone of the Sri Lankan financial system with a large number of small holdings and rural farmers (Chhachhar and Hassan, 2013; Potts, 2016). Farmers face many difficulties relating to low production, marketing, and agribusiness (Henegedara. G.M, 2015). In the digitally connected era, people are given their maximum effort to address the challenges. But the current Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from agriculture in Sri Lanka (7.4%) indicates a diminishing value (DCS, 2019) due to the designed ICT platforms which focused on a limited area of crop production instead of the whole process. Therefore, farmers require context-specific, complete and actionable information to make timely-quality decisions (Ginige et al., 2016). Identification of the factors/parameters/conditions that influence the whole farming lifecycle of crop production is vital for farmers in order to take crucial steps. Hence, mobile phones play an important role in solving collective action problems. Further, speeding up the information which is conveyed to the farmers help them to take decisions much more easily (Cieslik et al., 2018; Nyamba and Mlozi, 2012). This research contributes to identify the factors that impact on the different farming lifecycle stages of crop production and to develop a model that can be effectively addressed through the Govi-Nena mobile-based application (www.govinena.lk).