Being the Economics and Management arm of the Faculty of Agriculture, the Department of Agricultural Economics and Business Management is committed to produce competent professionals in the field.  The forte of the Department is the internationally qualified academic staffs who are involved in a variety of research and outreach activities through extensively developed local and international collaborations.

The academic programme of the department combines the richness of theory and practice that is well designed to meet the demands of the emerging job market. The curriculum is structured in such a way that, during the core programme of the B.Sc. (AT&M) degree, the Department offers courses on Applied Agribusiness, Principle of Economics, Development Economics, Business Creation and Management, Project Analysis and Socio-economic aspects of Natural Resource Management to provide students with a broad exposure to the field of Agricultural Economics and Business Management.

The majoring module 'Applied Economics and Business Management' at providing students with comprehensive knowledge and skills related to the applied aspects of Economics, Natural Resource Management and Business Management.  A number of compulsory and optional courses, including Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Marketing Management, Resource and Environmental Economics, Quantitative Techniques for Business & Economics, Research Methods for Business & Economics, Business Psychology, Agricultural Marketing, Financial and Management Accounting, Advanced Development Economics, Production Economics, International Business and Trade, Financial Management, Entrepreneurship, Policy Analysis, International Agribusiness, Advanced Project Analysis and Business Strategy, are offered during this advanced programme. Further students’ problem solving, technical, interpersonal and other professional skills are also developed during this programme.  The training provided to the students at the majoring module enables them to independently carryout research projects either in the department itself or through outside organizations in the public, private and NGO sectors.  Students majoring in the department get added opportunities to also participate in research and outreach programmes carried out by the academic staff through the Agribusiness Centre, which is the outreach arm of the Faculty of Agriculture.
The research areas of the department can be broadly grouped into the following themes: environmental valuation, development issues, agricultural production systems, marketing and trade, agribusiness, and business psychology. Research carried out in the department provides insights into critical issues pertaining to economics and management that improve the information basis of policy makers, bureaucrats and farmers while facilitating sustainable development of the agricultural sector in Sri Lanka.

Through two Boards of Study in Agricultural Economics and Business Administration of the PGIA, postgraduate degree programs in Business Administration (M.B.A., D.B.A), Agricultural Economics (M.Sc., M.Phil., Ph.D.), Natural Resources Management (M.Sc.), and Environmental Economics (M.Sc.) are offered. The Department works very closely with the Sri Lankan Agricultural Economics Association (SAEA). The Association annually publishes a refereed journal “Sri Lankan Journal of Agricultural Economics”.  The Annual Research Forum organized by SAEA provides a stage for young academics to present their findings related to Agricultural Economics and Business Management.