Lankan scientist gets prestigious Canadian award

Albert J. Fernando

Dr. Ranjith Mapa, Professor of Soil Science, University of Peradeniya, received the prestigious 2007 International Partners Award from Agricultural Institute of Canada (AIC) that held its annual award ceremony in Edmonton, Canada on November 6.

The ceremony, attended by about 300 leading agricultural experts from around the world, was held at Edmonton's Crown Plaza Chateau Lacombe. The Award was presented to Dr. Mapa by Dr. Graham Gilchrist, President of the Agricultural Institute of Canada.

According to the citation, this prestigious award was given "in recognition of his significant contributions to capacity building and agricultural research in Sri Lanka, and his impact on farmers, field workers, students, researchers, academics and policy makers alike."

The citation also states that Dr. Mapa was a founding member of SRICANSOL, the twinning project between the Canadian Society of Social Science and the Science Society of Sri Lanka and he has provided leadership for the project for the past 12 years.

SRICANSOL has produced publications on the Wet Zone, Dry Zone and Intermediate Zone of Sri Lanka, Fact Sheets of the Benchmark Soils, a GIS database and related maps.

In 2004 Dr. Mapa received the 'National Award of Excellence in Agricultural Research,' as team leader of SRICANSOL project, from the Sri Lankan President. He donated all the award money towards funding the SRICANSOL Centre. This amount was further matched by the Canadian Fund for Local Initiatives in Sri Lanka making the Centre a reality.

Also at this ceremony, Robert Eilers from Winnipeg, Manitoba, received the International Recognition Award for his contribution to developing countries during the past three decades, notably in Sri Lanka.

Dr. Ranjith Mapa from Kurunegala has a B.Sc. (Agriculture) from Sri Lanka and a Ph. D from the University of Hawaii, USA.