DeshamanyaPhilip Revatha Wijewardene, better known as Ray Wijewardene, (Sinhala:පිලිප් රෙවත විජයවර්ධන) (20 August 1924 - 18 August 2010) was a Sri Lankan engineer, aviator, inventor, and Olympic athlete.[1] He was an expert on tropical agriculture and natural resource management, subjects that he created a logical system to study. He invented devices to assist small farmers in developing countries.
Wijewardene worked with Sri Lanka's business, research, and policy communities in his areas of expertise. He held appointments such as Chairman of the Tea Research Board, Commissioner Sri Lanka Inventors Commission and was a member of public sector bodies concerned with agriculture, science and technology. He was Chancellor of the University of Moratuwa (2002–2007).
Professional achievements
In 1955, Wijewardene designed a two-wheeled, walking tractor to help small farmers in the tropics to mechanise their work. In an early attempt to mechanise farm labour during the Green Revolution, it was manufactured and marketed worldwide by the Landmaster company.[2] He promoted the tractor with farmers in Africa, Asia, and Latin America for a decade. Wijewardene later questioned its value for poor farmers cultivating small holdings in the developing world.
His lifelong interest was to help small farmers to grow more food with fewer external inputs. He searched for natural ways to manage soil fertility and weeds.[3] He promoted a soil conservation technique called Sloping Agricultural Land Technology (SALT),[4] originally developed in the Philippines. SALT involved land terracing, the use of leaf mulch, and re-introducing trees into rain-fed farming.[5]
After returning to Sri Lanka in 1980, Wijewardene spent the rest of his years researching and promoting ecologically sustainable agriculture and renewable energy technologies. He experimented with rain-fed farming and agroforestry methods on his coconut estate in Kakkapalliya, in Sri Lanka's Intermediate Zone. He did field tests for dendro[6] thermal power, the generation of electricity from firewood. This technology is increasingly used by industry. He introduced inter-cropping gliricidia with coconut, vastly increasing coconut yields.
Sporting accomplishments
Wijewardene engaged in the water sports of rowing and sailing and represented Sri Lanka in international competitive events. He competed in the Olympic Games in Mexico in 1968,[7] and won a Silver medal[8] at the 6th Asian Games in Bangkok in 1970. He was a member of both the Colombo Rowing Club and the Ceylon Motor Yacht Club.
In 2014, a postal stamp honouring him was released in Sri Lanka.[10][11] The Ray Wijewardene Charitable Trust was established in 2011 to support and reward Sri Lankan engineers.[12]
Family
Wijewardene's father was Don Edmund Wijewardene (brother of D. R. Wijewardena) and his mother was Corin Amanda Jennings, both of whom were gynaecologists.[13] In 1949 Wijewardene married Seela, the daughter of Benjamin de Mel (a brother of Sir Henry De Mel) and Marjorie Perera Abeywardene (a granddaughter of Sir Charles Henry de Soysa).[14][15][16]Anoma, Roshni and Mandy are their daughters. Anoma is an artist, and Mandy is married to prominent Sri Lankan author Suresh Mudannayake (known as Ashok Ferrey).[17] His cousins were Upali Wijewardene and Junius Richard Jayewardene.[17]
Publications
Systems and energy in tropical farming, American Society of Agricultural Engineers, 1978
Letters: Exploding ‘roaches, New Scientist, 5 December 1992
