Achieving Food and Nutritional Security of Urban and Semi-urban Communities in Sri Lanka under a Changing and Variable Climate through Smart Vertical Farming Modules in Collaboration with Department of Agriculture, Sri Lanka.

Project Team

Nuwan Kumarasinghe
Project Manager /Project Coordinator (Engineering)

Dr. B.V.R. Punyawardena
Project Coordinator (Research & Development)

K.H.M.S. Premalal
Project Coordinator (Technology Dissemination and Training)

N. Ekanayake
Water Management Expert / Project Officer

R.D. Siripala
Agri- Communication Expert / Project Officer

D.A. Jayasinghearachchi
Project Officer

N.S. Kandage
Assistant Engineer

S.W. Jayanath
Assistant Project Officer


Principal Technical Team Members

Eng. Nuwan Kumarasinghe -
Project Manager / Project Coordinator (Engineering) C.Eng, B.Sc Eng. M.Sc. Eng., Post Dip. in Satellite Communication


Eng. Nuwan Kumarasinghe is a Chartered Electrical Engineer. Former Chief Electrical Engineer, Department of Meteorology and presently working as an ICT Expert in World Bank/ADPC Project in Bangladesh; “Strengthening Meteorological Information Services and Early Warning Systems (Component A) under Bangladesh Weather and Climate Services Regional Project (BWCSRP)” and he is a Freelance Consultant in lightning protection. Obtained his B.Sc. Engineering (Electronics) and M.Sc Engineering (Integrated circuits and power) degrees from Technical University of Jose Antonio Echeverria, Havana, Cuba. He holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Satellite Communication from Space Application Centre, Ahamedabad, India. He has served more than 27 years as an Electronics Engineer in the government sector and more than 6 years as a Production Engineer, Maintenance Engineer and Production Manager in the private sector in Sri Lanka. Currently he is a Technical Advisory Member for lightning protection at Arthur C. Clark Institute for Modern Technologies, Moratuwa. He is an Executive Committee Member of South Asian Lightning Network (SALNET). He has served as the Chairman of Standards Preparation Committee for Lightning Protection Standards SLS 1472 and SLS 1473 and also served as a committee member for preparation of Guide Line for Communication Towers, Telecommunication Regulatory Commission Sri Lanka (TRCSL). Designer of more than 100 lightning protection systems in government sector and cooperate sector institutes in Sri Lanka. He published more than 15 national and international research papers on lightning protection and automatic weather stations. Conducted more than 100 workshops, seminars in Sri Lanka and Bangkok, Thailand. Designed an Automatic Weather Station under the project funded by National Science Foundation- Sri Lanka. Project Grant Number RG / 2003 / P / 01. Key author of “Lightning Protection & Earthing Solutions” Book –ISBN 978-624-96739-0-8.


Dr B.V.R. Punyawardena -
Project Coordinator (Research & Development) Ph.D. (Climatological Modelling), M.Phil. (Soil Science), B.Sc. (Agric.).Hons. FSLIAg


Graduated in 1984 with honors degree in B.Sc Agriculture and then M.Phil degree in Soil Science in 1991, both from the University of Peradeniya. In 1998, he obtained his Ph.D from prestigious Lincoln University, New Zealand on Agro-climatology. After completing 33 years in the government service, as a scientist, research administrator, advisors to several Ministries and Development partners such as UNDP, WFP, FAO, UNICEP, World Bank, ILRI – Kenya, ADPC – Thailand and RIMES - Thailand and several local NGOs, he retired from the government service in October 2021. During his tenure at the government service of Sri Lanka, he was instrumental in re-demarcating the agro-ecological zone boundaries of Sri Lanka (2003) and identification of district-wise spatial variations of climate vulnerabilities in Sri Lanka (2013). Meanwhile, he has over 150 scientific publications to his credits which include, Books, Book chapters, Peer reviewed research papers in both in international and national journals and Conference/symposium proceedings, Research reports and Newspaper articles. At present, he is the Chairman of the National Steering Committee on Climate Change, Ministry of Environment, Government of Sri Lanka and a freelance consultant on Climate Change, Adaptation, Vulnerability and Disaster Risk Reduction.


Mr. K.H.M.S. Premalal -
Project Coordinator (Technology Dissemination and Training) M.Sc. (Meteorology), M.Sc. (Physics), B.Sc. Special (Physics)


K.H.M.S. Premalal obtained his bachelor’s degree in physics Special (1980 – 1984) and M.Sc (Physics) at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. He joined the Department of Meteorology (DoM) as a Meteorologist in 1988. Obtained his second M.Sc in Meteorology from University of Reading -UK(1993). He has held several positions in the Department of Meteorology. During his career at DoM, he served as an expert on Seasonal Weather Prediction and Climate Change activities. He was an external supervisor for post graduate and under graduate students in universities. He rendered his services as a consultant expert for preparing number of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) reports and national and international research projects. He is an author of number of research papers on Climate Change, Weather, Seasonal Weather Prediction and Disaster management. Mr. Premalal joined SAARC Meteorological Research Centre (SMRC) in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2012 as a scientist. He retired from the government service in October2018 after serving as Director General of Metrology and Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka with the World Meteorological Organization. After his retirement, he has served as a consultant to the UNDP for developing project proposal for Green Climate Fund and Resource Person for the (on going project) “Wev Gam Pubuduwa (වැව් ගම් පුබුදුව)”. He was a Technical Expert for “Last Mile Climate Service) at UN World Food Programme. Consultant to the Huddersfield University, United Kingdom, for developing “Tsunami Standard Operation Procedures”. He was the former Secretary to the “Association of Disaster Risk Management Professional (ADRiMP).


Mr. R.D.S. Siripala -
Research Officer / Agri-Communication Expert B.Sc.(Agriculture), M.Sc. ( Television for Development)


Mr. R.D. Siripala obtained his B.Sc degree in Agriculture from the University of Peradeniya in 1884. Master degree in Television for Development from University of King’s Alfred Collage (Affiliated to the University of Southampton-UK) in 1994. He entered agriculture service in 1986 as Lecturer in Animal Husbandry at School of Agriculture Pelwehera. Later he served as a Deputy Director of Agriculture (Training) at In-service Training Institute, Bindunuwewa,Bandarawela from 2011 to 2013. He was an Additional Director (Communication) at Audio Visual Centre, Gannoruwa, Peradeniya. Mr. Siripala also served as Additional Director (Information & Communication) at National Agriculture Information & Information Centre. He rendered his services to SAARC Agriculture Centre, Dhaka, Bangladesh during 2005-2008 period. Presently he is working as Principal Agronomist (Information & Communication) at Natural Recourses Management Centre.


Mr. D.A. Jayasinghearachchi -
Awareness Programme Coordinator/ Project Officer M.Sc. (Meteorology), B.Sc. Special (Physics)


He graduated in 1983 with honors degree in B.Sc (Physics) from the University of Peradeniya. In 1995 he obtained his MSc in Weather, Climate and Modeling from the University of Reading, United Kingdom. He joined several universities in Sri Lanka, as an Assistant Lecturer, and in 1989, he joined the Department of Meteorology as a Meteorologist. He retired from the Department of Meteorology as a Director of Meteorology in 2017. He has been involving in projects with development partners such as UNDP, WFP, RIMES (Thailand), ADPC (Thailand), since 2018. He introduced CLIMSOFT database management system to the Myanmar Meteorological Department and conducted 3 training programmes under ADPC projects.