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ThesisItem Open Access Exchangeable aluminium as an index of liming for the acidic upland soils of Kerala(Department of soil science and agricultural chemistry, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 1987) Meena, K; KAU; Alice, AbrahamAluminium toxicity is the major factor limiting crop production in the acidic soils and the usual practice of alleviating aluminium toxicity is liming* / The present investigation was carried out to find out the distribution of water s dluhle and exchangeable aluminium in the acidic upland soils of Kerala and to test the suitability of exchangeable aluminium as an index for liming them* It was further programmed to find out the growth, yield and nutrient uptake pattern of two acid sensitive crops namely cowpea and fodder maize in soils under different levels of exchangeable aluminium brought out by the use of different levels of lime* Chemical analysis of eighty soil samples representing the five major upland soil types of Kerala viz* laterlte, alluvial, red loam, sandy and forest a oil have indicated the highest amount of exchangeable aluminium and percentage aluminium saturation in the laterite soils* The soil with 3 high level of exchangeable aluminium and percentage aluminium saturation was selected for conducting a pot culture experiment to test the suitability of using exchangeable aluminium as an index of liming* The exchangeable aluminium content of this soil was maintained at different levels by applying different levels of lime and the performance of these crops in this soil was compared by making biometric observations and by chemically analysing plant and soil samples* From the results of the study it was seen that higher levels of exchangeable aluminium adversely affected the growth, yield and nutrient uptake In cowpea and fodder maize* Maintenance of exchangeable aluminium at 1*26 me/100 g with a corresponding percentage aluminium saturation valua of around 30, by the use of 500 kg lime/ha appeared to be the optimum for maximising the yield of cowpea* But in fodder maize this level of lime was found to be insufficient and complete elimination of aluminium toxicity appeared to be essential for maximising production* Since the critical levels of exchangeable aiuainiua appears to be different for different crop3, it is desirable that lias levels to reduce exchangeable aluminium to such a critical level alono be applied. The results of the present study thus point to the advantage in adopting the exchangeable aluminium level of soil as a better index of liming for various crops grown in the upland acidic soils of Kerala.ThesisItem Open Access Forecasting models for crop yield in cashew (anacahdium occident ale l.)(Department of Statistics, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, 1987) Usha, Menon R; KAU; George, K CThesisItem Open Access Economics of coconut cultivation in Calicut district(Department of Agricultural Economics, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1987) Premaja, P; KAU; Mukundan, KA study on the economics of coconut cultivation in Calicut district was conducted during the period 1985-86, to evaluate the costs and returns, capital productivity, resource use efficiency of yielding plantation, the problems of coconut cultivators and the impact of incentives given by different agencies for coconut cultivation. Three stage random sampling was adopted for the study and data were collected from a sample of 120 cultivators by personal interview method. Coconut was cultivated mostly in small holdings and the average area under coconuts in the sample was 0.24 hectare. Most of the holdings were rainfed. Total cost of cultivation for 16 years was estimated to be Rs. 91,311 for the district, in terms of 1985-86 prices. The major item of expenditure was human labour constituting about 50.49 percent of the total cost. Fertilisers including farm yard manure accounted for 24.16 percent and harvesting charges for 9.90 percent of the total cost for 16 years. The total cost of bringing one hectare of coconut plantation up to bearing stage (initial 7 years’ expenditure) was estimated as Rs.38,773 and the maintenance cost per hectare per year was Rs.5,853. The average annual production of nuts per hectares during the stabilized period was estimated as 10049 nuts. Cost of production per nut was calculated as Rs.1.12. The estimated net returns on investment per hectare per year come to Rs.13,835 based on 1983-84 prices. Pay back period was found to be 13.18 years. Benefit cost ratio was calculated as 1.44. Net present worth was Rs.24.454 and internal rate of return was calculated to be 16.39 percent. The factors age, labour, fertilizer and plant protection were found to have significant influence on the gross income obtained from a coconut garden. High input costs, poor irrigation facilities and difficulties associated with marketing were some of the general problems faced by the sample farmers. The study showed that in general, incentives and subsidies given by different agencies have had very little impact on coconut cultivation in the study area.ThesisItem Open Access Productivity of capital finance in technological changes in agriculture in Trivandrum district(Department of Agricultural Economics, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1987) Jayan, K; KAU; Prabhakaran, TThis study on capital productivity and role of finance in technological changes in agriculture was carried out using data collected from sample holdings selected from the second and fifth wards of Chettivilakam panchayath and first and fourth wards of Ulloor panchayath under Trivandrum Rural Block in Trivandrum district, Kerala, through multistage random sampling technique. Two samples of size 35 each were selected, the first being that of beneficiaries of agricultural loans and the second being that of non-beneficiaries. The data collected from the two samples were analysed size group wise using production function analysis and Linear programming to estimate the productivity of capital and to generate optimum crop plans under existing and improved technologies. Fertilizer followed by irrigation came out to be the most productive forms of capital. Labour was found to be less productive. Productivity was found to be more in the smaller farms of the beneficiary category. Optimal crop plans developed using Linear programming had shown the potential for increasing the farm income even under the existing technology, by the re-allocation and judicious use of the existing resources. Provision of additional dose of capital showed the possibility of increasing the net farm income in substantial levels even in the existing level of technology. Adoption of improved technology with adequate capital has shown much higher potential for increasing the farm income and this increase was more in the non-beneficiary category. The credit gap for the adoption of the improved technology was also found to be more for the non-beneficiary category and in both the categories the credit gap was found to be the highest for the smallest size group.ThesisItem Open Access Response of modern varities of rice to nitrogen in kole lands(Department of Agronomy, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1987) Premkumar, J; KAU; Sreedharan, CAn experiment was carried out in Kole lands during the Kole season of 1985 (December-January to March-April) to ascertain and compare the nutritional requirement of short duration rice varieties and pre – release culture 10-1-1. The treatments consisted of factorial combination of 3 varieties ( Jyothi, Culture 10-1-1 and Triveni) and 5 levels of nitrogen (50,70,90,110 and 130kg N ha-1) in Randomised Block Design, replicated thrice. It was found that the pre-release Culture 10-1-1 had significantly higher plant height, tiller number, leaf area index, dry matter production, number of panicles per m2 and thousand grain weight over other varieties. Triveni recorded the highest filled grains per panicle and weight per panicle. There was no variation in grain yield among the cultivars tested. Culture 10-1-1 registered the highest straw yield and nutrient uptake. Culture 10-1-1 also recorded the highest net income over the varieties tested. Application of nitrogen increased the vegetative characters and yield attributes of rice viz., plant height, tiller production, number of panicles per m2, panicle length, panicle weight, filled grains per panicle and thousand grain weight. The highest grain yield and net income was obtained by Jyothi at 110 kg N ha-1 and that for culture 10-1-1 and Triveni at 90 kg N ha-1. Straw yield and dry matter production were increased upto 110 kg N ha-1. The uptake of nutrients were also influenced positively by nitrogen fertilization. The per day production of Jyothi, culture 10-1-1 and Triveni was found to be 42.65, 51.63 and 49.88 kg, respectively at 90 kg N ha-1. The present investigation revealed that the optimum level of nitrogen fertilization to be 103.74, 97.48 and 93.07 kg ha-1 for Jyothi, Culture 10-1-1 and Triveni, respectively. It was also observed that the field duration of culture 10-1-1 was only 77 days compared to that of 79 and 91 days of Triveni and Jyothi respectively. Benefit cost ratio was highest for Culture 10-1-1 thus indicating the scope of popularizing this cultivar as a short duration variety in Kole land.ThesisItem Open Access Training programmes of Kerala agricultural university krishi vignan kendras- an analysis(Department of Agricultural extension, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1987) Sanjeev, K V; KAU; Thiagarajan Nair, GA study was conducted in Palghat and Wynad district to analyse the training programmes undertaken by Krishi Vignan Kendras at Pattambi and Ambalavayal. Impact of training with respect to the knowledge about, attitude towards and adoption of improved paddy cultivation practices was assessed. The study also aimed at identifying the motivational pattern of farmers for participation in training, their perception about training, suggestions for future trainings, and their training needs. Ex-post-facto design was used for the study. Data were collected from 80 trained farmers and 80 untrained farmers from Palghat and Wynad. Statistical analysis was done using non-parametric procedures. The study revealed that participation in training improved the knowledge of farmers about improved paddy cultivation practices, created favourable attitude towards improved paddy cultivation practices and there was increased adoption of the various practices. Of the eight independent variables considered in the study, only farming experience was found to be significantly related to the impact variables and that too only to the knowledge of farmers. Major motives of farmers in attending the training were economic motive, innovativeness, prestige motive and affiliation motive. Among tribal farmers in Wynad, affiliation motive was found to be stronger than prestige motive. Majority of the trained farmers perceived the training to be satisfactory with regard to the time of training, venue of training, use of audio-visual aids, opportunity for field visit and arrangements made at the venue. Training in the farmer’s field was proffered by majority of the farmers to institutional training. They preferred discussion method to lecture method. They wanted to have more of method demonstrations and issue of printed notes and preferred a training duration of one day. Areas in which farmers needed further trainings were high yielding varieties of paddy and their characters, fertilizers and their application and use of plant protection chemicals.ThesisItem Open Access Analysis of the inservice training programme for the personnel of the department of agriculture conducted by the Kerala agricultural university(Department of Agricultural extension, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1987) Santhi, C U; KAU; Menon, A G GA study was undertaken to analyse the selected inservice training programmes conducted by the Kerala Agricultural University for the extension personel of the State Department of Agriculture to assess, 1. the impact of selected inservice training programmes on the professional knowledge of the trainees 2. the perception of the trainees about the treatment and utility of the selected inservice training programmes 3. the perceived effectiveness of training methodology followed in the inservice training programmes and factors related to it 4. the constraints experienced by the trainees, trainers and Course Directors of inservice training programmes conducted by the Kerala Agricultural University. Three selected training programmes namely ‘Training in plant protection for Agricultural Demonstrators’, ‘Training in pulses and oilseeds production technology for Agricultural Officers’ and ‘Training in audio-visual aids and techniques for Assistant Directors of Agriculture were evaluated with the objectives mentioned above. The study revealed that all the three categories of trainee-respondents namely, Agricultural Demonstrators, Agricultural Officers and Assistant Directors showed significant gain in knowledge due to the training programmes. The gain in knowledge due to training was the highest for Assistant Directors of Agriculture, followed by the Agricultural Officers and Agricultural Demonstrators. The independent variables namely; ‘education’, ‘number of previous trainings undergone’, ‘attitude towards extension profession’ and ‘job satisfaction’ of Agricultural Demonstrators were found to be significantly associated with their gain in knowledge. In the case of Agricultural Officers and Assistant Directors none of the independent variables showed significant association with their gain in knowledge. Among the three training programmes the ‘training in plant protection for Agricultural Demonstrators’ had the highest treatment-utility index (58.43), followed by the ‘training in pulses and oilseeds production technology for Agricultural Officers’ and ‘training in audio-visual aids and techniques for Assistant Directors’ for which the treatment – utility indices were 58.27 and 51.42 respectively. Both the Agricultural Demonstrators and Assistant Directors had the highest perception about the training methodology aspect namely ‘Timeliness of information about the training’ where as the Agricultural Officers had highest perception about the ‘Selection of subject matter for training’ in the pre-training stage. ‘The competency of the trainers in general’ was the training methodology aspect which was highly appreciated by the Agricultural Demonstrators in the in-training stage. ‘Opportunities for clarification of doubts’ and ‘opportunities for trainees participation’ were given highest perception scores respectively by the Agricultural Officers and Assistant Directors in the in-training stage. In the post-training stage all the three categories of respondents namely the Agricultural Demonstrators, Agricultural Officers and Assistant Directors had the highest perception about the ‘Monitoring and evaluation of training’. The Agricultural Demonstrators were constrained with the ‘Poor lodging facilities and poor boarding facilities’ provided for them. The ‘Lack of skill practice’, ‘Inadequate practicals’ and ‘Lack of field visits’ were the serious constraints experienced by the Agricultural Officers. The Assistant Directors perceived the ‘Insufficient transportation facilities’ and ‘Non-supply of training literature’ as serious constraints. Both the trainers and Course Directors felt the ‘inadequacy of transportation facilities’ as serious constraint.ThesisItem Open Access Effect of different levels of nitrogen phosphorus & potassium on the growth & yield of vegetable cowpea var. kurutholapayar grown as an intercrop in the coconut gardens & in the open(Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 1987) Rajesh, Chandran; KAU; Abdul Salam, MField experiments were conducted at the college of Agriculture, Vellayani during 1986 to study the effect of three levels of nitrogen (10,20 30 kg/ha), three levels of phosphorus (20, 40, 60 kg P2 O5 /ha) and three levels of potassium (10,20 and 30 kg K2 O/ha) on the growth, yield and quality of vegetable cowpea Var. Kurutholapayar grown in the coconut gardens and in the open. The experiment was laid out in a 33 factorial experiment with two replications confounding NPK in replication I and NP2 K2 in replication 2. The same experiment was simultaneously laid out, both in the open and in the coconut garden. The abstract of the results is presented below. Nitrigen application upto 30 kg/ha or phosphorus application upto 60 kg P2O5/ ha increased the vine length, leaf number per plant, dry matter production, number of pods per plant and number of seeds per pod. Application of 30 kg N/ha or 60 kg P2 O5/ ha resulted in the highest uptake of nitrogen and phosphorus. The highest potassium uptake was noticed with the application of 20 kg K2 O/ ha. The fresh bhusa yield of vegetable cowpea var. Kurutholapayar increased with N application upto 30 kg/ha or P application upto 60 kg P2 O5/ha. Application of potassium had no significant effect on the fresh pod yield of vegetable cowpea in the red loam soils of vellayani containing medium amounts of potassium. A maximum net income of Rs. 11,044.80 was obtained from the plants raised in the open by the application of “30 kg N along with 60 kg P2 O5 and 30 kg K2 O/ha”. In general, vegetable cowpea grown in the open showed a much better performance compared to those raised under the partial shade.ThesisItem Open Access Phenotypic stability analysis in bacterial wilt resistant lines of brinjal (Solanum melongena L.)(Department of Olericulture, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1987) Ushamani P, P; KAU; Peter, K VTwenty six genotypes of brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) were grown continuously in two seasons each under two contrasting environments in a randomised block design. Observations were recorded on yield and seven of its component characters. Significant variations among the genotypes were observed. G x E interaction was significant for plant height, primary branches/plant, percentage of productive flowers, fruits/plant, average fruit weight and yield/plant. The 26 lines were classified as suited to low, medium and high yielding environments. SM 6-6 M, SM 6-4 PL and SM 6-2 SP were suited to average environments; SM 6-6 PL and SM 6-3 SP suited to high yielding environments and SM 6-8PL and SM 6-1 SP suited to low yielding environments. The path analysis revealed fruits/plant and primary branches/plant having maximum direct effect on yield. The 26 lines were grouped into 4 clusters in each environment based on Mahalanobis D2 statistics. The intra and inter cluster distances and genotypes within clusters differed in the four trials. The stable lines were moderately resistant to bacterial wilt. They had root galls caused by Meloidogyne incognita. Root volume was positively correlated with yield. Survey conducted on preference to color and shape showed that white long and purple long fruits were the most preferred. The stable brinjal lines possessed this economic value also.
