Prof. Kapila Yakandawala

Professor & Chair of Horticulture and Landscape Gardening

Department of Horticulture and Landscape Gardening
Faculty of Agriculture & Plantation Management
Wayamba University of Sri Lanka,
Makandura, Gonawila (NWP

Office: +94 3122 99704
Mobile: +94 718129794
Email: kapilay@wyb.ac.lk ,  yakandawalakapila@gmail.com

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Prof. Kapila Yakandawala

Prof. Kapila Yakandawala graduated with a BSc (Honours), majoring in Botany, University of Peradeniya, MSc in Horticulture, University of Reading, UK and PhD from University of Colombo in Plant Sciences. Prof. Yakandawala is currently working in the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Gardening in the Faculty of Agriculture and Plantation Management, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka as a Professor in Landscape Horticulture. He has served as the Head, Department of Horticulture and Landscape Gardening for 6 years and in many other committees in the Wayamba University and other institutes. Currently he is serving as the Chairman, Research Development and Higher Degrees committee of the Faculty. He served as a visiting lecturer in many institutes including PGIS and PGIA of University of Peradeniya. To his credit, he has 25 publications in refereed journals, over 60 publications as extended abstracts and over 70 abstracts.

Curriculum Vitae

  • Member-International Society for Horticultural Sciences (ISHS)
  • Member-Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG), UK
  • Member-Sri Lanka Association for Advancement of Sciences
  • Member-Horticulture Society, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka
  • Member-Nature Team, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka
  • Member-Board of Study in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.Postgraduate Institute of Science, University of Peradeniya. 2010-2017.
  • Member – Cashew Research and Management committee, Sri Lanka Cashew Corporation. 2012-2017.
  • Member Board of Study-BSc Plantation Management External Degree, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka. 2010-2017.   
  • Member Board of Study Diploma in Food Business & Marketing. 2014-todate.
  • Member – Board of study – M.ATEM, Faculty of Agriculture and Plantation Management. 2019
  • Landscape gardening
  • Environmental horticulture
  • Plant propagation
  • Medicinal plants
  • Biodiversity conservation and management
    • Fulbright Professional Scholar Award 2019/2020
    • Merit award for research, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka, 2017
    • Nepal Horticulture Society (NHS) fellowship, 2016
    • European Weed Research Society (EWRS) Young Scientist Fellowship, 2009

      Selected publications in refereed journals

      • Ramanayake, S.M.S.D and Yakandawala, K. (1997). Micropropagation of the Giant bamboo (Dendrocalamus giganteus Munro) from nodal explants of field grown culms. Plant Science 129:213-223.
      • Ramanayake, S.M.S.D and Yakandawala, K. (1998). Incidence of flowering, Death and Phenology of Development in the Dendrocalamus giganteus Munro. Annals of Botany 82: 779 – 785.
      • Yakandawala, K.  and Dissanayake, D.M.G.S. (2010). Mayaca fluviatilis Aubl. : An ornamental aquatic with invasive potential in Sri Lanka. Hydrobiologia. 656 (1): 199-204
      • Yakandawala Deepthi, Yakandawala Kapila, Saturusinghe Anura and Gunasekera Samantha (2013). The blooming ornamental aquatic plant industry: A threat to the aquatic ecosystems of Sri Lanka? The Sri Lanka Forester. Volume 35. Pp 1-106.
      • Guruge Shashika, Yakandawala Deepthi and Yakandawala Kapila (2017). A taxonomic synopsis of Nymphaea nouchali Burm. f. and infraspecific taxa.  Journal of National Science Foundation Sri Lanka. 45(3), pp.307–318

      Conference proceedings

      • Yakandawala, K. and Kodikara, K.A.L.R. (2011). Unrealized potential of hedge plants to reduce air pollution in urban landscaping. Proceedings of the. 3rd International Conference on Landscape and Urban Horticulture. Nanjing, China. 109-110
      • Yakandawala, K., Weerasinghe, M.D.C.P. and Wijesinghe, S.A.E.C. (2013). Osbeckia octandra: A Potential Shrub for Urban Environment. Acta Horticulturae. 999: 301-306
      • Yakandawala, K. (2016). Strategic analysis for the aquatic cut flower industry. Proceedings of the III International Conference on quality management of supplies chains of ornamentals. Acta Horticulturae. Number 1131. Pp 105-110
      • Wijesinghe, S.A.E.C., Yakandawala, K and Karunarathne, W.A. I. P. (2016). Promoting wild plants in urban landscaping: A case study from Sri Lanka. Acta Horticulturae. 1189. 431-434.
      • Wijesinghe, E., Yakandawala, K and Karunarathne, I.  (2016). Designing with wild plants for maximizing insect richness in urban areas. Acta Horticulturae. 1189. 497-500.

        Books and book chapters

        • Member, panel of authors & editorial board: Agrotechnology book volume I & II. (1997).  Published by the Department of Agriculture. (කෘෂි තාක්ෂණ විෂය සංග්රහය. පළමු සහ දෙවන කොටස).
        • Udaya Silva, Dayani Karunananda and Kapila Yakandawala (2009). Ornamental plants. Publisher: The Open University of Sri Lanka. Pp 112. ISSN 978-955-23-1094-2
        • Kapila Yakandawala and Deepthi Yakandawala (2014). ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ජාතික පුෂ්පය  – නිල් මානෙල්. Author publication Pp 26 ISBN 978-955-41322-0-7
        • K. Yakandawala (2015). Botany of Crops. Publisher: Faculty of Agriculture and Plantation Management, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka Pp. 89
        • කපිල යකන්දාවල (2017). බෝතල් උද්‍යාන (ටෙරාරියම්) නිර්මාණ කලාව  විද්‍යාත්මක  හා කලාත්මක පසුබිම Publisher: Aashirwada Publishers Pp 45 ISBN 978-955-697-190-3

          Principle Investigator:

          • Title: Introduction and propagation of Helicteres isora as a potential landscape plant. Council of Agriculture Research Policy. Completed in 2004.
          • Title: Investigation of Mayaca fluviatilis as a potential invasive aquatic plant. Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Completed in 2008.
          • Title: Dust interception ability of hedge plants used in landscaping. Wayamba University Research Grant. Completed in 2010.
          • Title: Ludwigia sedioides: An ornamental aquatic with invasive potential in  Sri Lanka. Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources. Completed in 2010.
          • Title: Low maintenance planting designs of wild and ornamental species to enhance aesthetics and insect diversity in abandoned lands. Wayamba University Research Grant. Completed in 2013.
          • Title: Ludwigia sedioides: Threats to the aquatic ecosystems of Sri Lanka. Wayamba University Research Grant. Completed in 2013.
          • Title: Low maintenance planting designs to enhance pollinator diversity in abandoned lands. Ministry of Environment and Renewable Energy. Completed in 2013.
          • Title: Controlling unidentified weeds in the Wayamba Province. Provincial Department of Agriculture. Completed in 2016.
          • Title: Conservation of threatened Lagenandra species in Sri Lanka. Wayamba University Research Grant. Ongoing since 2018.

          Co-Investigator

          • Title: Identification of Causal Organisms of Common Diseases on Foliage Plant Grown in NWP and Development of Control Measures. Wayamba University Research Grant. Completed in 2010.
          • Title: Taxonomic Study on Nymphaea nouchali Burm.f. and the identification of hybrid taxa using molecular techniques. National Science Foundation (NSF). Completed in 2012.
          • Title: Characterization of Mountain Papaya in Comparison with Carica papaya Cultivars using Morphological, Inter-simple Sequence Repeat and Simple Sequence Repeat Markers. Wayamba University Research Grant Completed in 2013.
          • Title: Clonal propagation of threatened Nymphaea nouchali Burm.f. The national Flower of Sri Lanka, to prevent its extinction. National Research Council. Completed in 2015.
          • Title: Clonal propagation of threatened Nymphaea nouchali Burm.f. The national Flower of Sri Lanka, to prevent its extinction. Wayamba University Research Grant. Completed in 2015.
          • Title: Taxonomic study of Sri Lankan species belonging to Family Elaeocarpaceae. National Science Foundation (NSF). Ongoing since 2019.

            Postgraduate Supervision

            PhD degrees

            • Geographical distribution & genetic diversity of Vanda tessellate (Roxb) Hook.ex G. Don in Sri Lanka. Institute: Wayamba University of Sri Lanka. Ongoing since 2018.

            M.Phil degrees

            • Taxonomic Study on Nymphaea nouchali Burm.f. and the identification of hybrid taxa using molecular  techniques. Institute: PGIS, University of Peradeniya. Completed in 2017.

            • Vegetation Management: A tool to design the entrance area of the Kaudulla National Park. Institute: Wayamba University of Sri Lanka. Completed in 2017.

            • Low maintenance planting designs of wild and ornamental species to enhance aesthetics and pollinator diversity in abandoned lands. Institute: Wayamba University of Sri Lanka. Completed in 2018.

            • Ludwigia sedioides: Threats to the aquatic ecosystems of Sri Lanka. Institute:   Wayamba University of Sri Lanka. Completed in 2019.

            Editorial work

            • Member Editorial Board: Agro Technology, volume I. Published by the Department of Agriculture, (කෘෂි තාක්ෂණ විෂය සංග්රහය. පළමු කොටස).
            • Member Editorial Board: Agro Technology, volume II. Published by the Department of Agriculture, (කෘෂි තාක්ෂණ විෂය සංග්රහය. දෙවන කොටස).
            • Editor-in-chief. Proceedings of the Wayamba International Conference (WinC 2014)   
            • August 2014, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka.
            • Member Editorial Board. Proceedings of the Wayamba International Conference (WinC 2016). August 2016. Wayamba University of Sri Lanka.
            • Member Editorial Board: Proceedings of the Agricultural Research Symposiums. In years 2016, 2015, 2013, 2011-2007 and 2003. Wayamba University of Sri Lanka.

              Reviewer

            • Journal of Food and Agriculture, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka. 2013, 2018 and 2019.
            • Journal of Environmental Professionals Sri Lanka. 2013 – 2016.
            • Proceedings of the National Symposium on Invasive Alien Species (IAS 2014). November 2014.
            • Journal of Agricultural Sciences. AGRIEAST.  Eastern University 2017.
            • Journal of the National Science Foundation. 2015 – 2017.

            Keynote speech

              •   Keynote speech – 3rd International Symposium on Quality Management in Supply Chains of Ornamentals. Title: Aquatic Cut Flower Industry. Organized by the International Society of Horticultural Sciences (ISHS) and Azad University. 1-3 May 2015, Kermanshah, Iran.
              • Invited speech – The country report on Horticulture sector in Sri Lanka in the SAARC session. Organized by the Horticulture Society of Nepal from 8-11th April 2016, Kathmandu, Nepal.