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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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ThesisItem Open Access Socio-economic vulnerability and adaptive strategies to environmental risk: a case study of water scarcity in agriculture(Department of agricultural economics, College of horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2012) Rinu T, Varghese; KAU; Indira Devi, PWater stress is predicted as one of the most pronounced risk of climate change in countries like India. Kerala is reported as moving from wetness to dryness. Management of risks of climate change necessitates scientific estimates of the level of potential damage, accommodating for the vulnerability and adaptive mechanisms of the communities. The study entitled ‘Socio-Economic Vulnerability and Adaptive Strategies to Environmental Risk: A Case Study of Water Scarcity in Agriculture’ was undertaken with the objectives of measuring farmers’ vulnerability to water stress in agriculture and its impact on household welfare and to identify and assess the relative influence of various factors on the level of vulnerability. Further, short term and long term adaptive strategies to water stress among farmers of different socioeconomic conditions were also analysed. The most backward district of the state of Kerala, Wayanad was selected as the study area. Multistage random sampling method was adopted for sample selection. Nine panchayats from four Community Development Blocks were selected, from each of which, 15 farmers were selected. Thus the total sample size was 135. Primary data regarding the socio-economic status, land use pattern and production, sources of water for domestic use and irrigation, perceptions and adaptive strategies to water scarcity were gathered using pretested interview schedule. Indicator based approach was used for constructing the composite vulnerability index to assess the vulnerability level of the farmers. Logit model was employed to identify the factors influencing vulnerability. Apart from these, conventional tabular analysis was also used. The cropping pattern in Wayanad shows a clear shift in favour of commercial crops like arecanut, banana and rubber. The conversion of paddy lands for these crops was to the tune of 41 per cent during the last decade. The area under pepper shows a decline (54 %) and that of other commercial crops show an increase. Among other reasons, climate change is perceived as one of the major reasons for this decision by the farmers. The analysis of weather parameters and climate predictions for Wayanad also supports the farmer level observation. The rainfall and temperature pattern of the district during past years indicate an increasing level of water stress. Climate change models project very high variation in the rainfall pattern of the district in future years. An increase in the average annual rainfall coupled with lower levels of summer showers are predicted. By 2020, summer showers may decline to 43.6 mm as against the present, 70 mm. High intensity rains with low duration will be the major characteristic. A gradual increase in annual temperature by about 1.5ºC is also predicted. In this background, a composite vulnerability index considering social, economical and agronomic factors of the farmers was constructed to measure the vulnerability. More than 50 per cent of farmers were highly vulnerable and the proportion of the farmers in that group was found to be increasing during the past five years. An inverse relationship was observed between the land holding size and vulnerability level, three- fourth of the marginal farmers were vulnerable while most of the small and large farmers (41.27 % and 34.78 % respectively) belonged to the other group. Thavinjal panchayat of Manathavady block was found to be the most vulnerable and Muppainad and Vythiri panchayats of Kalpetta block were found to be the least vulnerable. The results of the logit model shows that five out of eight factors viz. diversity index, cropping intensity, percentage of irrigated area to total cropped area, net cropped area and education as having significant influence on the probability of an agricultural household being vulnerable, of which the diversity index and cropping diversity are the most influential factors. Farmers often have their own adaptive mechanism to cope with the water stress condition within the constraints. In general, adaptation strategies followed in domestic and agricultural sector can be classified into supply management strategies and demand regulating strategies or long term and short term strategies. The supply management programme includes those activities which ensure the steady supply of water and the demand side management mainly focus on more efficient use of available water resources and improving water resources. Among the respondents, a gradual shift from the dependence on external sources of water to owned sources has occurred. The dependence on external sources increases the time spent and drudgery of women folk in such households. Common adaptation strategies followed by the farmers include irrigation, varietal selection, mixed cropping, crop diversification, organic farming, soil and water conservation measures (mulching, earthen bunds and rain pits) and migration (geographical and sectoral). About 39 percent of the sample respondents were adopting irrigated farming and the average expenditure was found to be Rs 18187 per household which is nearly nine percent of the total household income. Only a few farmers were adopting micro-irrigation methods because of its high investment. This cost of adaptation, further reduces their consumption expenditure leading to household welfare loss. The study suggests research interventions in developing a sustainable cropping pattern and scientific validation with location specific studies on the impact of climate change on major crops. The need for empowering the farmers through technology, infrastructure, financial and extension support to adapt to water stress is also underlined. It highlights the importance of water resource development and the need for identifying the constraints in the adoption and develop/modify the technologies to suit local conditions. Further the implementation of weather based crop insurance programmes with localised meteorological stations as reference points is also stressed.ThesisItem Open Access Export and price behaviour of cashewnut in India(Department of Agricultural Economics, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2012) Jeethu M, Gopalan; KAU; Jesy Thomas, KIndia among the 28 other cashew growing countries is the largest area holder (9.53 lakh ha), processor and importer of cashewnuts. India holds a major share of around 54 percent in the global trade from 21 percent of its cashew area. The Indian cashew industry, apart from being a prominent national exchequer, provides sustainable employment opportunities to 5.5 lakh workers annually, mostly women. As any violent price fluctuations can have adverse effects on the industry, reliable price information is an urgent need for all stakeholders. Hence, the present study “Export and price behaviour of cashewnut in India” was taken up with the objective of analyzing the export and price behaviour of cashew in India and evolving a reliable price forecasting model for cashew kernel prices in the domestic (Kollam) and international (London) markets. The study was conducted based on the secondary data published by various institutions. The Compound Growth Rate (CGR) and the trend indices for the post liberalization period (1993-2011) indicated that area under cashew has been steadily increasing but production and productivity showed wide fluctuations in certain years. During the study period, Kerala registered negative growth rates in area, production and productivity because farmers have shifted to more remunerative crops like rubber. The CGR analysis of cashew trade in the pre and post-liberalisation periods revealed that exports of cashew kernels and import of raw nuts fell in the post-liberalization periods. But export of CNSL rapidly grew in the post-liberalisation period indicating its versatile need as raw-material in many industries. An analysis of the net export earnings revealed that earnings have been falling since 2000 stressing the need to boost Indian cashew production to meet the export requirement. The price behaviour of cashew kernels was studied using the techniques of classical decomposition of time series analysis. The monthly average price data on cashew kernels in domestic (Kollam) and international (London) markets were decomposed in to its four components viz., secular trend, seasonal, cyclical and irregular variations. The analysis showed that the cashew kernel prices in both domestic and international markets widely fluctuated during the period 1999 to 2009 February after which an increasing trend in prices was noticed. The prices of cashew kernels in both markets generally increased from 2009 onwards due to global supply constraints but the prices in the domestic market abruptly fell in 2011 July. Seasonal indices revealed that the buoyant phase was observed during June to July with the highest price index in July and the trough period was observed during March to April with the lowest index in the month of April. In the international market, the buoyant phase was observed during June to August with the peak price in August and the trough period was observed from February to May. The cyclical indices for the international and domestic markets showed that no price cycles could be identified in prices for both markets. The irregular indices revealed that there were considerable irregular variations in cashew prices in both the markets. The instability in cashew prices was studied using the coefficient of variation (CV) which was 23.87 per cent for domestic market and 26.46 per cent for international market. The export competitiveness of Indian cashew kernels was measured using NPC under exportable hypothesis. The mean NPC value for the period was 1.02, which is slightly more than unity indicating that the commodity was not export competitive as a whole but a trend towards gain in export competitiveness from 2008 was noticed. Various price forecasting models viz., moving average, single exponential smoothing, double exponential smoothing, ANN and ARIMA models were tried to develop a reliable price forecasting model for cashew kernel prices in both domestic (Kollam) and international (London) markets. While ARIMA model proved to be the best in predicting international kernel prices, no model could suitably forecast the prices in the domestic market. The market integration studies using the co integration technique showed that both domestic and international markets were integrated. The pair wise Granger Causality test indicated that there was influence of domestic kernel prices on international kernel prices and not vice versa. This result is of utmost importance as cashew kernels from Kerala sets the benchmark quality in the world market. Even though India is the largest area-holder under cashew, it lags behind in productivity. Development of new technology and their efficient transfer holds the key to increase productivity and become self-sufficient in raw nut production. More efforts need to be taken to improve cashew plantations in non-traditional areas like West Bengal and other north-eastern states which has contributed to 3 lakh MT of the total cashew production in 2010-11. By maintaining quality standards, India can remain a major player in the export scenario.ThesisItem Open Access Access to institutional credit-an economic analysis of tenant farming in east Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh(Department of Agricultural Economics, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2012) Haritha, Chitturi; KAU; Satheesh Babu, KThe formal financial system plays an important role in financing the needs of the agricultural sector in India. In order to facilitate timely and adequate credit flow to agriculture, the sector has been targeted as a part of the priority sector for the lending programmes in 1969 with an emphasis on ‘social banking’. Domestic commercial banks have been directed to allocate 18 per cent of net bank credit to agriculture and allied activities. The directed credit programme has clearly resulted in a significant increase in the amount of credit allocated to agriculture over the years. According to the Reserve Bank of India, an amount of Rs.4,76,550 crores was pumped into the agricultural sector as institutional credit as on 31-03-2012 against a target of Rs.4,75,550. However, the increased amount of agricultural credit and its outreach over the years are accompanied by several qualitative issues like timeliness, adequacy, cost and access. Inclusive financing, ie., the delivery of financial services at affordable costs to sections of disadvantaged and low income segments of the society on par with access to any public good needs more scrutiny as banks look into the total quantity of credit disbursed in a financial year only. The growing spectra of financial exclusion in agriculture, providing livelihood to more than two third of our population, particularly of small and marginal holders, and tenant farmers merit more attention in this context. The inability to offer collaterals stands between them and the institutions despite many state initiatives. The present study entitled “Access to institutional credit: An economic analysis of tenant farming in East Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh” was carried against this background with the specific objective of investigating the operational problems faced by both the tenants and bankers in credit delivery, and to suggest policy fine tuning to overcome the bottlenecks. According to the Andhra Pradesh (Andhra area) tenancy act, 1956, tenancy is permitted in the state, but it is regulated. Informal tenancy system was very prevalent in the district of East Godavari and it covered nearly 50 to 60 per cent of the cultivated area. The total operating expenses on rabi paddy was found to be higher (Rs.49510/ha) on leased land as compared to the owned land (Rs. 40926/ha). This difference was accounted due to higher level of input use on leased land, besides the cost incurred towards paying rent (Rs. 7776/ha) to the land owner. Also, the scale of finance (Rs. 41990/ha) was found to be inadequate in meeting the working expenses of a tenant farmer, while it was sufficient in case of owner cultivated lands. Even though the gross income realized from the leased land was higher than that of owned land, the gross margin of the tenant cultivator was found to be relatively low. This was due to the additional costs incurred by the tenant farmer towards the land rent. The subsidies provided by the Government could not be availed in full by the tenant cultivators. Hence, the tenant farmers usually borrowed farm inputs from the input dealers and village traders who exploited them by charging high prices for the inputs advanced. Due to their indebtedness towards the moneylenders and village traders, the farmers resorted to distress sales at low prices at the village market itself. The Government interventions in marketing of the produce were found to be inefficient. Non availability of institutional credit and the high interest rate charged by the money lenders were the two major constraints experienced by the tenant farmers. The moneylenders exploited the tenant farmers by charging usurious rates of interest which varied from 24 per cent to 32 per cent. The scheme of financing tenant farmers through Joint Liability Groups (JLGs), introduced by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) was not successfully implemented in the study area. The logit regression analysis illustrated that the scheme of LEC introduced by the Andhra Pradesh Loan and Allied Benefits Eligibility Card (for permissive cultivation) Act was successful in providing formal credit to the tenant farmers. The possession of Loan Eligibility Card by the tenant farmers was found to be the most significant determinant in accessing credit from institutional sources. These cards enabled the tenant cultivators to access credit from public financial institutions and to claim input subsidy, crop insurance and compensation for damages to crop. Co-operatives were the agencies to implement the LEC scheme in a better way and advanced credit to the tenant farmers without any demand of collateral security due to more government support and political will. The other formal institutions like commercial banks and Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) were reluctant to implement the scheme due to the complicated documentation procedures involved in credit delivery to tenant farmers. Based on the findings of the study, policy measures like government intervention to strengthen the marketing system, credit linked marketing facilities, fixing realistic scale of finance with due considerations for the fair rent component, group initiatives in production and marketing, the universalisation of loan eligibility card, and simplification of bank procedures are being suggested.ThesisItem Open Access Economics of organic and conventional pepper production in Idukki district(Department of Agricultural Economics, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2012) Sneha Elizabeth, Varghese; KAU; Elsamma, JobThe research entitled “economics of organic and conventional pepper production in Idukki district” was done in Azutha and Kattapana blocks of Idukki district. The study was undertaken with the objective to study the economics of organic and conventional pepper production, resource use efficiency, adoption of practices, marketing system and constraints in production and marketing of pepper. In this study the cost of cultivation was worked out using the A B C cost concepts. Since pepper is perennial crop, cost of production was studied by considering establishment cost (cost during pre bearing period). The establishment cost was amortized by multiplying it with annuity and an annualized establishment cost was obtained. This cost was added to the maintenance cost to obtain the total cost. Cost of production was worked out considering both rental value of owned land and market rent for leased in land. Allocative efficiency of the resource was estimated using Cobb – Douglas production function. Extent of adoption of recommended practices by organic and conventional pepper growers were analysed. Marketing channel of both organic and conventional pepper was identified and price spread was calculated for organic and conventional marketing channel. For organic pepper cost A was worked out to Rs 82,192 of which hired labour accounted to about 54 per cent, followed by cost of manures (28 per cent). Cost B1, B2, C1, C2 and C3were respectively Rs 83,062, Rs 4,84,420, Rs 1,29,879, Rs 5,31,237 and Rs 5,84,361. For conventional pepper out of Rs 77,230 estimated as cost A, hired labour was again the highest contributor accounting to 62 per cent and cost of manure and fertilizers occupied the second position accounting to 19 per cent of cost A. Cost B1, B2, C1, C2 and C3 were respectively Rs 77,900, Rs 4,70,091, Rs 1,18,910, Rs 5,11,102 and Rs 5,62,212. The gross returns obtained by organic farmers was Rs 3, 41,576 per ha which was 5.26 per cent lower than the conventional system (Rs 3,59,544 per ha). B – C ratio with respect to cost A was as high as 4.16 and 4.66 for organic and conventional farmer. The cost of production worked out to Rs 649 and Rs 572 per kg for organic and conventional pepper respectively when rental value of land was considered. The cost of production was analyzed considering the market rent for leased in land was found to be Rs 238 and Rs 205 respectively for organic and conventional pepper production. Cobb – Douglas production function was used to study the resource use efficiency of both production systems. From the allocative efficiency analysis it is understood that the inputs used in both organic and conventional pepper production is not optimal and could be increased further. Ten per cent and 22 per cent of the recommended practices were only adopted respectively by conventional and organic pepper growers. Climate, disease and pest attack, labour were identified as the major constraints by both organic and conventional farmers. High variability in price was identified as the major marketing constraint. Single export oriented marketing channel was observed for organic pepper and price spread worked to Rs 232 per kg. Various marketing channels of conventional pepper were observed, but the price spread of the local channel alone was calculated due to the complexity of other channels. The local channel observed for conventional pepper was producer – village trader – local retailer – consumer (tourist) and the price spread estimated was Rs 208 per kg with producer’s share of 64.70 per centThesisItem Open Access Comparative performance appraisal of VFPCK and kudumbashree beneficiaries in TVM district(Department of Agricultural Economics, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2012) Shruthi, Soman K; KAU; Elsamma, JobThe study entitled “A comparative performance appraisal of VFPCK and Kudumbashree beneficiaries in Thiruvananthapuram district” was undertaken in Nemom block of Thiruvananthapuram district with the objective to compare the performances of VFPCK farmers, Kudumbashree farmers and other farmers in terms of agricultural production, income generation, expenditure, savings pattern, credit utilization and marketing. It also aimed at identifying the constraints faced by the farmers in production and marketing. The required information was collected from 30 each of randomly selected VFPCK, Kudumbashree and other farmers so as to make the total sample size 90. Culinary melon and cowpea which were the two major vegetables grown in the study area were used to compare the production, cost of cultivation and resource use efficiency of the three categories of farmers. A noteworthy feature of the study area is that almost all farmers cultivated in leased land. In the present study cost of cultivation was worked out using A B C cost concepts and resource use efficiency was estimated using Cobb- Douglas production function. Marketing channels of the three categories of farmers were identified and the price spread and efficiency of channels were calculated. Credit utilization, expenditure and savings pattern were also worked out and constraints were ranked using Garrett’s ranking technique. The total cost of cultivation of cowpea calculated on per hectare basis revealed that it was the highest for VFPCK farmers followed by other farmers and Kudumbashree farmers. Cost A2 was estimated as Rs.1,10,150, Rs.54,968 and Rs.1,25,532 per hectare and Cost C3 was estimated as Rs.3,30,613, Rs.2,95,422, and Rs.3,65,867 per hectare respectively for VFPCK, Kudumbashree and other farmers. Labour accounted for 31 per cent of Cost A2 of VFPCK farmers followed by manures (23 per cent) while for Kudumbashree farmers 39 per cent of Cost A2 was contributed by panthalling material and 30 per cent by manures. For other farmers, also, hired labour contributed the major share of Cost A2 (41 per cent) followed by manures (17 per cent). In culinary melon cultivation, Cost A2 per hectare was the highest for other farmers (Rs.84,650), followed by the VFPCK farmers ( Rs.73,438) and Kudumbashree farmers (Rs.32,326). Cost C3 also followed the same trend and was the highest for other farmers (Rs.2,99,004 per hectare) followed by VFPCK farmers (Rs.2,96,223 per hectare) and Kudumbashree farmers (Rs.1,88,389 per hectare). For VFPCK farmers, hired labour accounted for 30 per cent of Cost A2 followed by rent of leased land at 13 per cent while for Kudumbashree farmers, manures (50 per cent) occupied the largest share followed by rent of leased land (22 per cent). For other farmers, labour accounted the major share of Cost A2 (34 per cent) followed by manures (29 per cent). The yield of cowpea was found to be the highest for VFPCK farmers (12,661 kilograms) followed by other farmers (11,007 kilograms) and Kudumbashree farmers (5,215 kilograms). The corresponding gross returns obtained by the three categories of farmers were Rs 4,43,135, Rs 1,82,525 and Rs 3,85,245 per hectare at an average market price of Rs 35 per kilogram. For culinary melon, the highest yield was obtained by other farmers (20,767 kilograms), followed by VFPCK farmers (18,320 kilograms) and the lowest yield was obtained by Kudumbashree farmers (5,817 kilograms). The corresponding gross returns per hectare obtained by the three categories of farmers were respectively Rs.2,07,670, Rs.1,83,200 and Rs.58,170 per hectare at a market price of Rs. 10 per kilogram. The cost of production per kilogram of cowpea was the lowest for VFPCK farmers (Rs. 26.11 per kilogram), followed by other farmers (Rs.33.24 per kilogram) and it was the highest for Kudumbashree farmers (Rs.56.65 per kilogram) at Cost C3 level. The cost of production per kilogram of culinary melon was the lowest for other farmers (Rs.14.39 per kilogram) followed by VFPCK farmers (Rs.16.16 per kilogram) and the highest for Kudumbashree farmers (Rs. 32.38 per kilogram). The production function analysis revealed that expenditure on plant protection chemicals had a significant impact on returns of VFPCK farmers in the case of cowpea while manures showed a positive and significant impact on returns of Kudumbashree farmers. For the other farmers, area had a positive and significant positive impact on returns, while plant protection chemicals had a negative and significant impact. The production function analysis of culinary melon revealed that, for VFPCK farmers and other farmers, area had a significant impact on returns while for the Kudumbashree farmers, human labour had a significant positive impact on returns. Among the VFPCK farmers, indebtedness was 76 per cent while it was 70 per cent for Kudumbashree and about 73 per cent for others. Average annual income was the highest for VFPCK farmers followed by the other farmers and was the lowest for Kudumbashree farmers. The largest item of consumption expenditure for all the categories of farmers was food which varied from 31 per cent for VFPCK farmers to 38 per cent for other farmers. Four marketing channels were identified in the study area for vegetables of which channel-I was found to be the most efficient one whereas the net price received by the farmer was highest in channel- III. The important constraints identified using Garrett’s ranking technique were, pests and diseases, water inundation and high costs of labour and inputs for all the categories of farmers.