University of Peradeniya

About: University of Peradeniya is a education organization based out in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 5970 authors who have published 7388 publications receiving 197002 citations.

Nitrogen mineralization of Sesbania sesban used as green manure for lowland rice in Sri Lanka

Abstract: Sesbania sesban was evaluated as green manure crop for lowland rice in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka. The legume was grown during a fallow period before lowland rice (Oryza sativa) and ploughed under just before transplanting. Weight loss and nitrogen content in litterbags containing leaves, stems and roots of the legume were monitored. Comparisons were made between rice yields from 20 m2 plots after green manuring in combination with different nitrogen fertilizer levels (0, 2.4, 4.8 and 7.2 gm−2) and nitrogen fertilizer (9.6 gm−2) alone. Above-ground biomass ofS. sesban was 440 gm−2 (dry wt) when ploughed under after 84 days growth. N-content in leaves, stems and roots was 3.76%, 0.41% and 0.73%, respectively. This gave a N-input fromS. sesban of 9.2 gm−2 (8.3 g from above-ground parts and 0.9 g from roots). The corresponding K and P inputs were 7.3 and 0.6 gm−2 respectively. The nitrogen rich leaves, which contained 88% of the nitrogen in the above-ground parts, decomposed and released its nitrogen much more rapidly than the stems and roots. After only four days the leaves had released 5.3 g Nm−2 and after 14 days they had released 6.4 g Nm−2. The highest rice yield (505 gm−2) was obtained usingS. sesban and 4.8 gm−2 of N-fertilizer. The yields with only N-fertilizer or onlyS. sesban were 442 gm−2 and 396 gm−2, respectively. Due to the rapid decomposition of the nitrogen rich leaves,S. sesban did not behave as a slow release fertilizer. Thus, it is not necessary to apply nitrogen fertilizers as a basal dose.

Histopathological diagnosis of myocarditis in a dengue outbreak in Sri Lanka, 2009

Abstract: Background In 2009, an outbreak of dengue caused high fatality in Sri Lanka. We conducted 5 autopsies of clinically suspected myocarditis cases at the General Hospital, Peradeniya to describe the histopathology of the heart and other organs.