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Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur

The history of agricultural education in Kerala can be traced back to the year 1896 when a scheme was evolved in the erstwhile Travancore State to train a few young men in scientific agriculture at the Demonstration Farm, Karamana, Thiruvananthapuram, presently, the Cropping Systems Research Centre under Kerala Agricultural University. Agriculture was introduced as an optional subject in the middle school classes in the State in 1922 when an Agricultural Middle School was started at Aluva, Ernakulam District. The popularity and usefulness of this school led to the starting of similar institutions at Kottarakkara and Konni in 1928 and 1931 respectively. Agriculture was later introduced as an optional subject for Intermediate Course in 1953. In 1955, the erstwhile Government of Travancore-Cochin started the Agricultural College and Research Institute at Vellayani, Thiruvananthapuram and the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences at Mannuthy, Thrissur for imparting higher education in agricultural and veterinary sciences, respectively. These institutions were brought under the direct administrative control of the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Animal Husbandry, respectively. With the formation of Kerala State in 1956, these two colleges were affiliated to the University of Kerala. The post-graduate programmes leading to M.Sc. (Ag), M.V.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees were started in 1961, 1962 and 1965 respectively. On the recommendation of the Second National Education Commission (1964-66) headed by Dr. D.S. Kothari, the then Chairman of the University Grants Commission, one Agricultural University in each State was established. The State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) were established in India as an integral part of the National Agricultural Research System to give the much needed impetus to Agriculture Education and Research in the Country. As a result the Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) was established on 24th February 1971 by virtue of the Act 33 of 1971 and started functioning on 1st February 1972. The Kerala Agricultural University is the 15th in the series of the SAUs. In accordance with the provisions of KAU Act of 1971, the Agricultural College and Research Institute at Vellayani, and the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, were brought under the Kerala Agricultural University. In addition, twenty one agricultural and animal husbandry research stations were also transferred to the KAU for taking up research and extension programmes on various crops, animals, birds, etc. During 2011, Kerala Agricultural University was trifurcated into Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (KVASU), Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS) and Kerala Agricultural University (KAU). Now the University has seven colleges (four Agriculture, one Agricultural Engineering, one Forestry, one Co-operation Banking & Management), six RARSs, seven KVKs, 15 Research Stations and 16 Research and Extension Units under the faculties of Agriculture, Agricultural Engineering and Forestry. In addition, one Academy on Climate Change Adaptation and one Institute of Agricultural Technology offering M.Sc. (Integrated) Climate Change Adaptation and Diploma in Agricultural Sciences respectively are also functioning in Kerala Agricultural University.

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1965 - 196921980 - 19828
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Subject: Agricultural Economics × Author: KAU × End date: 1982 ×
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Now showing 1 - 9 of 10
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Socio-economic study of farmers in Irinjalakuda block in the command area of Peechi irrigation project
    (Department of Agricultural Economics, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1982) Latha Bastine, C; KAU; Rajendran, D V
    The study was undertaken with the following objectives, viz., to study the methods and practices followed for cultivation, the general, social and economic characteristics of the farmers in the study area, cost and income structure of the farm business, the resource use; and the savings, investment, assets and debts pattern. One hundred farm families were selected by two stage random sampling, from whom the relevant data were collected using a well structured schedule. The methods and practices followed for cultivation of different crops were found to be more or less the same in different parts of the block. Generally, two crops of paddy (Mundakan and Puncha), coconut, arecanut and banana were the major crops grown. Dependence on hired labour was high in the area. Tractor power was substituted for bullock power to a limited extent. Dependence of family labour was more in smaller size groups. The utilization of fertilizers was below the recommended levels. The per hectare use was found to decrease with increase in the size of the holdings and increase with increase in income. The cost of cultivation for Mundakan season was found to be lower than that of Puncha, mainly due to differences in cultivation operations. Eventhough yield was slightly higher, the cost per quintal was also higher during Puncha than Mundakan. Thus the study showed that Mundakan paddy was more profitable than Puncha due to lower cost of cultivation. Eventhough cost of cultivation was found to decrease with increase in size of holding no clearcut association was found between family income and cost of cultivation. Though the cultivation of coconut and banana resulted in high net returns they involved heavy investment also. Arecanut cultivation in the area was found to be in a declining stage. Expenditure on food did not show much difference among different holding size groups and income groups except in the highest income group and largest holding size group. Expenditure on costly food items like, fish, meat and milk showed a positive relationship with the size of holding and gross income of the families. Only the farmers in the higher income groups were able to meet the household expenditure from the net income obtained from crop production and livestock. The infrastructural facilities in the area were found to be satisfactory. There were sufficient credit, communication and marketing facilities in the area. But in some parts of the block, transport facilities are yet to be developed.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Economics of rubber cultivation by small holders in Kottayam district
    (Department of Agricultural Economics, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1981) Elsamma, Job; KAU; Mukundan, K
    An investigation on economics of rubber cultivation by small holders was conducted in Kottayam district during the period 1980-81, to evaluate the cost and returns, capital productivity, the resource efficiency of yielding plantations and to study the problems of small growers. Stratified two stage sampling was adopted for the study and data were collected from a sample of 100 cultivators selected randomly. Average size of family for the sample was found to be 5.89. Majority of the sample holdings were under the size group of 0.50 to 1.00 hectares. Total cost of cultivation per hectare for establishing rubber i.e., for seven years was estimated at Rs.11054 in terms of 1980-81 prices. More than one half of this was accounted for by labour. Net returns per hectare was Rs.3234 during the eighth year and Rs.7193 during the 12th year – the year of yield stabilization. Cost of production per quintal of sheet rubber was estimated at Rs.305 during stabilized yield period. Payback period was 9.51 years. Benefit-cost ratio was 2.04 and internal rate of return 24.20 per cent. No serious problems were seen to be faced by the small growers.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Production and marketing of pineapple in Trichur District
    (Department of Agricultural Economics, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1982) Jesy Thomas, K; KAU; Mukundan, K
    A study on the production and marketing of pineapple in Trichur district was conducted during March-April, 1982 to evaluate the costs and returns of pineapple production, the marketing costs and price spread as well as the problems faced by the cultivators. Simple random sampling was adopted for selecting the sample and fifty cultivators were surveyed by personal interview method. The total cost of cultivation per hectare of pineapple for four years for the district was found to be Rs.30334.92 and cost was highest for the first year being Rs.13289.92 (42.55 per cent).The major item of expenditure was human labour constituting about 59.32 per cent (Rs.17995) of the total costs. Expenditure on fertilizer accounted for 24.25 per cent (Rs.7356) and that for suckers 6.78 per cent (Rs.2056) for the district. With regard to the operation-wise cost of cultivation, manuring and earthing occupied a major share of 39.48 per cent (Rs.11976) and for weeding the expenditure was Rs.6656 (24.04 per cent). Pineapple starts yielding in the second year and maximum returns was found to obtain in the third year with Rs.18934 per hectare for the district. The returns in the second and fourth year were Rs.11626 and Rs.12476 respectively. Cost of production per quintal of pineapple fruits was highest in the second year (Rs.79.26) and lowest in the third year with Rs.54.82 for the district. The pay-back period was 2.77 years, with a benefit cost ratio of 1.31, net present worth of Rs.8258.09 and internal rate of return of 43.37 per cent. The number of suckers per hectare was the factor which was found to be significant in the regression analysis. The main marketing channel in the case of pineapple was producer Commission/agent wholesaler ----Retailer ---- consumer channel. The marketing efficiency assessed on the basis of price-spread and marketing costs revealed that there was a high price spread of Rs.94 per quintal and the producers got only 51.79 per cent of the consumer’s price, while wholesalers and retailers got 17.69 per cent and 20.77 per cent margins respectively. Pineapple was marketed as fresh fruit commonly, but the canning industries in Trichur make a number of canned products such as squash, slices, titbits etc. High cost of inputs, fluctuation in prices and improper marketing facilities etc. are the problems faced by the cultivators in this district. Non-availability of sufficient fruits to factories become a serious problem in the case of canning units.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Socio-economic study of farmers in Puzhakkal Block in command area of Peechi Irrigation Project
    (Department of Agricultural Economics, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1982) Santha, A M; KAU; Rajendran, D V
    An investigation on the socio- economic status of farmers in Puzhakkal block, forming a part of command area of Peechi Irrigation Project, was conducted in 1982. The main objectives were to study the methods and practices followed for cultivation, understand social and economic conditions of the farms, farm business structure and infrastructural facilities. Two stage random sampling was adopted for the study and data were collected from a sample of 100 farmers by personal interview. The data were tabulated and classified according to the size of holding and also gross income of the study. The size of holding worked out to 1.04 hectares on an average. The family size was found to be 6.35. The family members consisted of 51.18 per cent males and 48.82 per cent females. The literacy was found to be 96.53 per cent. The cropping intensity worked out to 135.68. The area irrigated was 68.94 per cent of the net area owned. The average investment on land, livestock, buildings etc. worked out to Rs.146, 534.20 per farm. On an average an amount of Rs. 1338.17 was invested per farm on implements and machinery. It was observed that local varieties were grown during Virippu and Mundakan. Punja is the major crop of paddy grown in ‘kole’ lands with larger area under high yielding varieties. The high yielding varieties in Punja recorded the highest cost of cultivation of Rs. 4869.33 per hectare and yield of 31.14 quintals on an average. Whereas for local varieties the highest yield recorded was 24.91 quintals in Punja with a cost of cultivation of Rs.4625.50. The cost of production was lowest for Virippu, Rs.87.70 per quintal and highest for local varieties in Punja, Rs. 119.80 per quintal. In terms of net returns from paddy cultivation, Mundakan recorded the highest Rs. 1542.81 per hectare. The utilisation of labour and fertilizers were more for high yielding varieties. The annual cost of maintenance of coconut was Rs. 9027.81 per hectare with a net income of Rs. 5261.49 per hectare. For arecanut the maintenance cost was Rs. 4575.74 per hectare per annum with a net income of Rs.3028.8 per hectare. The cost of cultivation of banana worked out to Rs. 26069.45 with a net profit of Rs. 12442.24 per hectare. The cost of maintenance of cross bred animals was worked out to Rs. 1874.50 per animal per year with an annual milk yield of 976 litres. Whereas for desi cows the annual maintenance cost was Rs. 1088.80 with a milk yield of 527.80 litres. The minimum area required by a typical farmer to live on agriculture as main occupation had been estimated as 1.83 hectares. The total annual household expenditure worked out to Rs.15661.10 per family having an average family size of 6.35. The gross income of the family was Rs.22132.51 on an average. The total savings per annum was worked out to Rs. 6471.41 per family on an average.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Inter-regional comparision of farm labour productivity as revealed through the " Studies in the economics of farm management"
    (Faculty of the Post-Graduate School, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, 1965) Syamasundaran Nair, K N; KAU; Sirohi, A S
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Socio-economic study of farmers in Ollukkara block in the command area of Peechi Irrigation Project
    (Department of Agricultural Economics, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1982) Venkateswara Rao, K; KAU; Radhakrishnan, V
    This investigation was conducted in Ollukkara Block ituated in the commad area of Peechi Irrigation Project, with the following objectives, viz., to study methods and practices followed for cultivation, to assess the availability and use of resources, cost and income structure of the farm business savings investment, assets and debts, to study general social-economic conditions-education, consumption pattern, standard of living, etc. and to study the infrastructure facilities available. One hundred households were selected by adopting two stage random sampling technique and the required information was collected from them by using a pre-tested schedule, through personal interviews.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Studies on the resource efficiency in the paddy farms in Kuttanad and Onattukara regions in Alleppey District
    (Regional Post- Graduate Training Centre, Agricultural College and Research Institute, Coimbatore, 1967) Samuel, T V; KAU; Srinivasan, M
    The main objectives of this study are the investigate the distribution of various input factors and their efficiency in the production of paddy and to estimate the unit cost of production of paddy in the two paddy growing tracts in Alleppey district viz., "Kuttanad" and " Onattukara". Kuttanad taluk represents the major part of the Kuttanad region in Alleppey district and hence this taluk was selected to represent the Kuttanad tract. Mavelikkara and Karthigappally taluks which represent the Onattukara tract in Alleppey district were selected to represent the region.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Resource use efficiency of paddy cultivation in Kuttanad
    (Department of Agricultural Economics, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1982) Joseph, K J; KAU; Rajendran, D V
    An investigation on the resource use efficiency and economics of paddy cultivation in Kuttanad region of Kerala State was conducted to measure the extent of resource use, resource use efficiency and to estimate the cost and returns of paddy, during 1980-81. Data were collected from a sample of 100 farmers selected at random. All the respondents were cultivating high yielding paddy varieties. The average per hectare use of human labour was 128.80 man days, out of which, family labour contributed only about ten percent.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Production and marketing of vegetables in Malappuram district
    (Department of Agricultural Economics, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1982) Selvin, Jebaraj Norman; KAU; Mukundan, K
    The present investigation on the production and marketing of vegetables (pumpkin and ashgourd) in Malappuram district was undertaken during the year 1981-82 to estimate the cost of cultivation, cost of production, benefit-cost ratio, price spread and to identify the marketing channels. The study was also aimed at identifying the problems of the farmers. Stratified multistage random sampling was adopted for the study. Costs A1, CostsA2, Cost B and Cost C per hectare were Rs.3457.39, Rs.4439.65, Rs.4984.49 and Rs.7898.16 respectively for pumpkin and Rs.3075.75, Rs.4072.80, Rs. 4603.25 and Rs.7324.97 respectively for ashgourd. The largest single item of input was human labour for pumpkin and ashgourd. In both the cases in terms of costs of operation irrigation was the most important item. The output of pumpkin was 14227.61 kg per hectare and it was 17201.03 kg per hectare for ashgourd. At the prices at which farmers sold these products, gross value of output was Rs.9796.66 for pumpkin and Rs.11362.13 for ashgourd, respectively. Cost of production per kilogram of pumpkin based on Cost A1, Cost A2, Cost B and Cost C were Re.0.21. Re.0.31, Re.0.35 and Re.0.56 respectively. For ashgourd they were Re.0.17, Re.0.24, Re.0.27 and Re.0.43 in the same order. Benefit-cost ratios based on Cost A1, Cost A2, Cost B and Cost C were 2.83, 2.21, 1.97 and 1.24 for pumpkin and 3.69, 2.79, 2.47 and 1.55 for ashgourd respectively. Farm business income for pumpkin was Rs.6339.27 per hectare and for ashgourd it was Rs.8286.38. Owned farm business incomes were Rs.5367.01 and Rs.7289.33 for pumpkin and ashgourd respectively. Family labour income for the production of pumpkin and ashgourd were Rs.4812.17 and Rs.6758.88 respectively. Net income for pumpkin was Rs.1898.50 and for ashgourd Rs.4037.16. Farm investment income for pumpkin and ashgourd were Rs.2443.74 and Rs.4567.61 respectively. Return over variable cost of ashgourd were Rs.3566.01 and Rs.5696.73 respectively. The predominant marketing channel was producer- wholesaler- retailer- consumer. About 50 per cent of the consumers’ rupee went to the middlemen in the marketing of both of pumpkin and ashgourd and hence the price spread was high. It was also found that the profit margin of intermediaries were very high, indicative of marketing inefficiency.