Abstract:The study was designed to assess the total phenolic content (TPC), free radical scavenging activity, antimicrobial property and in vitro starch digestion rate of three traditional rice varieties grown organically and non-organically in Sri Lanka. The 70% ethanol extractions of rice were subjected to TPC, DPPH -free radical scavenging assays to determine antioxidant activity, and antimicrobial susceptible test against three bacteria, namely, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi and Staphylococcus aureus to determine antimicrobial properties. Starch digestion of cooked rice samples were evaluated under in vitro conditions. Both TPC and free radical scavenging activity was significantly higher (P<0.05) in organically produced traditional rice while the non-organically produced traditional rice samples showed a significantly higher (P<0.05) antimicrobial activity against S. typhi and S. aureus. There was no significant difference (P>0.05) in the in vitro starch digestion rate between the two groups. Though the study only considered traditional rice varieties, the results suggested that organically produced traditional rice samples performed better than those non-organically produced, with regard to the antioxidant properties such as TPC and free radical scavenging activity. The Madathawalu cultivar performed superior role in total phenolic content, free radical scavenging activity and Glycemic Index compared to that of two other traditional rice varieties, namely, Suwandel and Handiran.

As an alternative fuel for diesel engines, Plant originated biodiesel are renewable. It will certainly become an important part of the future energy sector with the increasingly drying up of the terrestrial fossil fuel. The focus of this study was to identify the potential of the different non edible oil seeds to produce biodiesel. Rudolf Diesel tested and demonstrated hisvery first engines with peanut oil over 100 years ago. The five types of non utilised oil seeds which are named as Kaneru (Strychnos micrantha Thw), Telambu (Sterculia foetida L), Kottamba (Terminalia catappa L) Rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum L) and Imbul (Eriodendron anfractuosum Dc) were used for extracting the plant oil. The plant oil were extracted in a soxhlet extractor with ether as the solvent. The sample were collected randomly and replicated three times. All seeds were air dried to reduce the moisture content. The properties of the oil were measured for testing the suitability of oil for biodiesl production. The free fatty acid value of the oil was estimated if the value is too high for alkaline transesterification as it can react with the catalyst to form soap which can inhibit methyl ester yield. The highest oil content was observed as 49.6% (db) in Kaneru and lowest oil contents were observed as 35-37% (db) in Imbul and Rambutan. It was found that the lowest free fatty acid value of the oil was observed in Kottamba and Kaneru. Imbul had higest amount of free fatty acid content and it can inhibit methyl ester yield. Oil from Thelambu has high viscosity. The extracted oil from Kaneru and Kottamba has high potential to produce biodiesel.

Chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) is one of the most valuable cash crops in Sri Lanka. The purpose of the study was to develop a chilli growing domestic model by synergizing effects of growth media and fertilizers on the growth and yield performances. This experiment was carried out for chilli variety MICH 3 and the study was laid out using a randomized complete block design with two factors, namely, grow bag packages and fertilizers, with four replicates. The grow bag packages consisted of two levels, i.e., commercial coco peat grow bag and multilayer gunny bag, and fertilizers consisted of two levels, i.e. Albert's fertilizer and compost tea. Both growing medias were characterized for desirable physical and chemical properties.Multilayer gunny bag showed significantly different (p<0.05) growth performance and higher yield compared to the commercial coco peat grow bag. Albert's fertilizer resulted significantly best growth performance compared to compost tea. However, yield performances were similar in both fertilizers. The combination of multilayer gunny bag and compost tea can be recommended for chilli growing domestic model

Geographic Information System (GIS) has been known as a powerful tool to analyze spatial data and this technology is recently applied to agricultural sector in Sri Lanka. This study aimed to apply the GIS technology to manage information in efficient way to develop the paddy sector under Kamburupitiya Divisional Secretariat (DS), Sri Lanka. An extensive field survey was conducted to collect 77 soil samples at a depth of 5-20 cm and GPS locations were recorded for each sample. The information related to Machineries used in Paddy production was collected by a survey using a questionnaire. Yield data were collected from Agrarian Services Centers. The pH meter, Walkley & Black rapid titration method and Kjeldhal method were used to determine soil pH, organic carbon and soil nitrogen content respectively. ArcView GIS 3.3 software was used for the spatial analysis and mapping. Results of the study revealed that land areas with suitable pH and soil organic carbon are 3936.96ha and 791.99ha respectively. Soil Nitrogen content was very low. The yield per unit area vary from 1,111.3 to 4,769kg/ha/year. There are considerable usages of machineries for rice cultivation including two wheel tractors, four wheel tractors, threshers, harvesters and sprayers.