Profile
Nationality : Sri Lankan
Keywords : Livestock and environment, Livestock waste water treatment, Aquatic biota, Cyanobacteria, Fresh water algae Electrooxidation
Research advisor : Prof. Takeshi Fujino
Why I entered GSC program
Since my school time, I had a habit to experience greenish landscapes and natural eco-systems of Sri Lanka and capture them in photographs. I have imagined to work in up country tea estate of Sri Lanka to experience the beauty of green virgin environment and natural water bodies because, it brings me a kind of peace in my mind. It automatically forced me to do my higher studies in "Biology" stream and finally ended up by completing "Agriculture Resource Management and Technology" BSc. degree and "Agricultural Biosystems Engineering" MSc, in Sri Lanka where help me to go for my final goal to be a qualified Environmental Engineer. In searching further, for post graduate studies, I found GSC program of Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Saitama University and identified as one of best place to achieve my future goals in a disciplined environment in Japan. Availability of modern laboratory equipment, improved infrastructure facilities and the complaisance of Japanese people motivated me further in applying this program. As a person who has studied for few months under GSC program, I highly admire the facilities and opportunities available under the program, academic freedom that course provides to students and the guidance provide to accomplish our future goals under a dynamic academic environment.
Research title
Excessive use of synthetic livestock feed additives,veterinary medicine and their impacts on fresh water aquatic eco-systems
Research abstract
Cattle farmers adopting number of strategies to minimize the increasing gap between consumer demand and supply of dairy and beef products by enhancing the productivity of livestock farming operations. Several approaches have introduced by researchers to reduce the Green House Gas (GHG) emissions by enteric fermentation of cattle and by poor manure handling in farms. Introducing feed additives to alter the nutritional composition of feed, using modifiers to alter rumen fermentation, introducing growth promoting agents to feed, improving welfare facilities for animals and feeding compounds to alter composition of natural biota in the guts are some of key principles that are generally followed. Excessive use of feed additives may tend to expose them to outer environment through urine, manure and feed wastes. When using these manures as organic fertilizer for farming fields, these compounds washout with rain or irrigation water and collected in to natural fresh water ponds and streams. These compounds may alter the equilibrium of natural aquatic environments. Cyanobacteria are kind of photosynthetic organisms who are living in water. They produce toxic and odorous substances and also, they become prominent as algal blooms when the found the optimum conditions. My study is focused on several synthetic feed additives, that are used to feed cattle as growth promoters and methane production inhibitors. Bovaer, Monensin and Lasalocid are kind of popular commercial products that are used to alter rumen fermentation of cattle. The study will identify the environmental effects of these chemicals, by means of the growth, toxic production and odour compound formation rates of specific cyanobacteria species Microcystis aeruginosa, Pseudanabaena foetida and Phormidium ambiguum under laboratory conditions.
Graphical abstract
