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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 Performance analysis of agro-processing self-help groups in Thrissur district(Department of Agricultural Economics, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2007) Lina, Joy; KAU; Prema, AThe present study on the "Performance analysis of agro-processing Self Help Groups in Thrissur district” was conducted to study the functioning of Self help Groups (SHGs), to identify the factors determining effective functioning and to study the constraints faced by the SHGs and provide suggestions for effective functioning. The study was taken up among Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojna (SGSY) SHGs in Thrissur district. Five blocks having maximum percentage of agro-processing SHGs were selected. The activities undertaken by the agro-processing SHGs were classified under four groups i.e. fish processing, copra processing, powder making and ready to eat items making Group characteristics as the indicators of performance studied were group cohesion, group decision-making, group leadership, team spirit and maintenance of records. Copra processing unit obtained the highest rank in group characteristics. Profile characteristics studied were information seeking behaviour, innovativeness, risk orientation, economic motivation, management orientation, attitude towards self employment, knowledge about processing and market perception Powder making units were having the highest rank in profile characters Non performing groups showed the lowest score in both the group characteristics and in the profile characteristics Correlation analysis between group and profile characteristics revealed that management orientation was the major socio-economic variable affecting the group performance. Marketing channel for all the categories showed the lack of adequate forward and backward linkages. All the categories marketed their products within the district only. Packaging and traveling expense were the main items of the marketing cost Lack of common retail outlet for SHG products was the major constraint faced by SHGs in their marketing Cost of material input and labour cost were the main items in working capital of each category The copra processing units were having highest BC ratio (2.26) BC ratio of all the performing units were more than unity which indicated that all the units studied were running in profit The units were receiving a subsidy of 50 percent loan taken and they also received Rs10000 as revolving fund. All the units studied were having more than Rs 30,000 as thrift. The major constraints faced by the SHGs were the lack of concession regarding lending rate and lack of any aid from panchayat.ThesisItem Open Access Impact assessment of cluster approach in integrated coconut management(Department of Agricultural Economics, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2008) Swapna, Surendran; KAU; Thomas, E KCluster approach in integrated coconut management is a programme implemented by the Coconut Development Board in which a contiguous area extending up to 25 hectares is registered as a cluster. Landholdings ranging from five cents to four acres, accommodating one to 200 palms are included in the cluster and the scheme envisages a financial assistance up to Rs 7000 per acre for two consecutive years. The programme was implemented on a pilot basis in the year 2005-06 in four clusters of Alappuzha district viz. Kanjikuzhy, Pattanakkadu, Uzhuva and Muthukulam. The study was intended to assess the trend in area, production and productivity of coconut in Kerala as well as Alappuzha district and to assess the changes in coconut crop status and income status of farmer groups. Simple random sampling technique was adopted for the selection of respondent farmers from all the four clusters viz. Kanjikuzhy, Pattanakkadu, Uzhuva and Muthukulam. From each cluster, 40 farmers were selected at random, making a total sample size of 160. After collection of data, the selected sample was post stratified into two classes based on the cultivable area. Class I included farmers having cultivable area up to 50 cents and Class II accommodated the farmers having cultivable area above 50 cents. For analyzing the trend in area, production and productivity of coconut in Kerala and Alappuzha district, data from 1975-76 to 2005-06 and 1983-84 to 2005-06 respectively were collected from the records of Coconut Development Board. Data for Alappuzha district were collected from 1983-84 onwards, prior to which Pathanamthitta was a part of Alappuzha. For studying the trend in area, production and productivity, the whole period was divided into sub-periods: Pre-WTO period (1975-76 to 1994-95) and Post-WTO period (1995-96 to 2005-06). In the case of Alappuzha district, the Pre-WTO period extended from 1983-84 onwards. Growth rates were estimated by using exponential model for the whole period and kinked exponential model for the sub-periods. In Kerala, the growth rate of production (2.7 per cent) showed a positive and increasing trend and was equally contributed by area (1.37 per cent) and productivity (1.38 per cent) during the whole period. In Pre-WTO period, growth in production (1.86 per cent) was attributed to expansion in area (1.18 per cent), even when the growth in productivity (0.82 per cent) was stagnant, whereas in Post-WTO period, the effect of productivity (2.17 per cent) was more pronounced, compared to growth in area (1.04 per cent) which resulted in a commendable growth in production (3.15 per cent). In case of Alappuzha district, growth in production (1.1 per cent) was more or less equally contributed by expansion of area (0.48 per cent) and growth in productivity (0.63 per cent) for the whole period. The increasing trend of production in Pre-WTO period was mainly due to expansion in area (1.68 per cent) even when the growth rate of productivity (-0.36 per cent) showed a negative trend whereas in Post-WTO period, the growth in production (0.54 per cent) was stagnant, which was mainly due to the decline in area (-1.12 per cent). Shift in cropping pattern and cropping intensity were studied and it was found that the area under coconut increased in absolute terms though it showed a decline in relative terms during the post-project period when compared to the pre-project period which was due to the more proportion of area brought under intercrops cultivation. Cropping intensity also showed a slight increase in the post-project period compared to earlier and the increase was from 108 to 109 per cent for the overall sample. After the project implementation, gross expenses showed an increase of about 23 percent due to the increased cultivation of intercrops and scientific management practices followed in the coconut gardens. Yield of coconut showed a slight increase. It is expected in a perennial crop like coconut when more time is required for getting stabilized yield. Gross returns also showed an increase of 17.9 percent, due to the increase in crop productivity as well as additional returns realized from cultivation of intercrops and also due to the increased selling of tender nuts and seed nuts. During the project period, the Coconut Development Board spent an amount of Rs 14.32 lakhs towards the implementation of the programme. It could generate Rs 17.49 lakhs worth additional benefit to the society through enhanced productivity and additional income generation alone. There were indirect impacts like additional employment generation and commissioning of ancillary units, which could not be quantified. Once these indirect benefits are also accounted, the social gains could be much higher. The major constraints experienced in the programme were lack of marketing facilities and unavailability of skilled labour for harvesting and plant protection.ThesisItem Open Access Kisan credit card scheme: an economic evaluation(Department of Agricultural Economics, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2007) Sangitha, K Viswanath; KAU; Thomas, E KThe main objectives of the study entitled “Kisan Credit Card Scheme: An Economic Evaluation are to study the growth of Kisan Credit Card Scheme in Kerala, to examine the pattern and adequacy of credit supply, to study the timeliness, repayment and overdue pattern of the scheme and to identify operational problems in order to suggest measures for improvement. The study was conducted in Kannur district. From the secondary data collected it was found that maximum number if cards were disbursed in Kannur district. Multistage random sampling technique was used for selection of samples. Thirty farmers each were selected from three banks namely Syndicate Bank (Mambaram), North Malabar Gramin Bank (Pala) and Pathiriyaad Service Co-operative Bank making the sample size to 90. The survey was conducted in May 2007 using a well structured interview schedule. The study of the status of Kisan Credit Cards revealed that for Primary Agricultural Credit Societies there was considerable increase in the number of cards and loan amount disbursed through the scheme. In RRBs more number of cards was disbursed through North Malabar Gramin Bank (NMGB) than South Malabar Gramin Bank (SMGB). Out of the total Kisan Credit Cards issued through Commercial Banks, 48.3 per cent was supplied by State Bank group, 45.5 per cent by nationalized banks and 6.2 per cent by Private Sector Banks. Nationalized Banks had disbursed maximum amount of loan through Kisan Credit Cards (45.7 per cent) followed by State Bank (36.4 per cent) and Private Banks (14.9 per cent). Assessment of adequacy of loan under the scheme was studied by cross tabulating the data pertaining to the adequacy of loan based on adequacy measure and the opinion survey on individual bank basis. The results showed that out of the 30 farmers who took loan under the scheme from Commercial Bank, only nine had received adequate amount of credit under the scheme (30 per cent) when opinion survey and adequacy measure were considered together. In RRB,3.3 per cent and in Co-operative Bank 6.7 per cent of the card holders got adequate credit when adequacy measure and opinion survey was considered simultaneously. With respect to the timely availability of credit under the scheme, only 25.6 per cent of the total respondents had stated that credit was not available on time while the rest 74.4 per cent had opined that credit was available at the proper time without any delay. Out of the total sample of 90 respondents, 37.8 per cent had completely repaid the loan amount and 62.2 per cent had partially repaid the loan amount. Among the card holders from Commercial Bank, 26.7 per had repaid the loan completely and 73.3 per cent had repaid it partially while in RRB 53.3 per cent repaid completely and 46.3 per cent repaid partially. In Co-operative banks, 37.8 per cent had repaid the loan completely while 62.2 per cent had partially repaid the loan. A few operational problems like high rate of interest in RRB, inadequacy of credit from RRB and Co-operative bank, were noticed during the study. The credit limit fixed based on the scale of finance was need to be revised. Suggestion was made for provision of a pass book to the borrowers and the credit card is to be linked with ATM facility.ThesisItem Open Access Kisan credit card scheme: an economic evaluation(Department of Agricultural Economics, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2007) Sangitha K, Viswanath; KAU; Thomas, E KThe main objectives of the study entitled “Kisan Credit Card Scheme: An Economic Evaluation are to study the growth of Kisan Credit Card Scheme in Kerala, to examine the pattern and adequacy of credit supply, to study the timeliness, repayment and overdue pattern of the scheme and to identify operational problems in order to suggest measures for improvement. The study was conducted in Kannur district. From the secondary data collected it was found that maximum number if cards were disbursed in Kannur district. Multistage random sampling technique was used for selection of samples. Thirty farmers each were selected from three banks namely Syndicate Bank (Mambaram), North Malabar Gramin Bank (Pala) and Pathiriyaad Service Co-operative Bank making the sample size to 90. The survey was conducted in May 2007 using a well structured interview schedule. The study of the status of Kisan Credit Cards revealed that for Primary Agricultural Credit Societies there was considerable increase in the number of cards and loan amount disbursed through the scheme. In RRBs more number of cards was disbursed through North Malabar Gramin Bank (NMGB) than South Malabar Gramin Bank (SMGB). Out of the total Kisan Credit Cards issued through Commercial Banks, 48.3 per cent was supplied by State Bank group, 45.5 per cent by nationalized banks and 6.2 per cent by Private Sector Banks. Nationalized Banks had disbursed maximum amount of loan through Kisan Credit Cards (45.7 per cent) followed by State Bank (36.4 per cent) and Private Banks (14.9 per cent). Assessment of adequacy of loan under the scheme was studied by cross tabulating the data pertaining to the adequacy of loan based on adequacy measure and the opinion survey on individual bank basis. The results showed that out of the 30 farmers who took loan under the scheme from Commercial Bank, only nine had received adequate amount of credit under the scheme (30 per cent) when opinion survey and adequacy measure were considered together. In RRB,3.3 per cent and in Co-operative Bank 6.7 per cent of the card holders got adequate credit when adequacy measure and opinion survey was considered simultaneously. With respect to the timely availability of credit under the scheme, only 25.6 per cent of the total respondents had stated that credit was not available on time while the rest 74.4 per cent had opined that credit was available at the proper time without any delay. Out of the total sample of 90 respondents, 37.8 per cent had completely repaid the loan amount and 62.2 per cent had partially repaid the loan amount. Among the card holders from Commercial Bank, 26.7 per had repaid the loan completely and 73.3 per cent had repaid it partially while in RRB 53.3 per cent repaid completely and 46.3 per cent repaid partially. In Co-operative banks, 37.8 per cent had repaid the loan completely while 62.2 per cent had partially repaid the loan. A few operational problems like high rate of interest in RRB, inadequacy of credit from RRB and Co-operative bank, were noticed during the study. The credit limit fixed based on the scale of finance was need to be revised. Suggestion was made for provision of a pass book to the borrowers and the credit card is to be linked with ATM facility.ThesisItem Open Access Demand for environmental quality- the case of eco-friendly technologies in crop production(College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2007) Divya, K; KAU; Indira, Devi PThe study entitled “Demand for Environmental Quality – The case of eco-friendly technologies in crop production” was conducted in Thrissur district of Kerala state, on two major food crops (rice and banana). The main objectives were analysing the market structure of organic inputs in agriculture and identifying the factors influencing the adoption of ecofriendly technologies. The study was undertaken during March to July 2007. The data was gathered from 160 farmers through personal interview method using structured pretested interview schedule. The samples were selected by the random sampling method. 80 each banana and rice farmers were selected of which 40 each were following chemical based agriculture and the rest organic farming or IPM. Apart from this the organic input supplying commercial firms in the area were also contacted. The eco friendly rice farmers applied organic manures at an average level of 2479 Kg /ha, which is 57% higher than that of their counterparts. In banana it is higher by 88%. Cow dung is the major manure accounting for 61-74% of the total organic manure application, mainly from own sources. Biofertilizer application was not noticed in any of the farms. The nutrients supplied through chemical fertilizers were lower (up to 35% in Sulphur in rice and 85% in Phosphorus in banana) than the chemical based farms. Similarly the use of pest control chemicals was also comparatively less. The labour use in ecofriendly farms was found to be marginally higher (3%) with a 10 –15% higher level of women labour use. The total cost of cultivation (cost C1) of ecofriendly rice farms was 10% higher at Rs. 17097/ha, realising only 7% higher net income (Rs.4541/ha). This leads to same BC ratio of 1.27 (at cost C1 level) in both types of farms. In banana, the cost is 37% (Rs. 60044/ha) less in ecofriendly farms, with a 27% fall in yield. The gain in net income is only 2%. Hence the BC ratio of ecofriendly farms is comparatively high at 3.00 than their counterpart farms (2.20). The supply side analysis of organic inputs shows the presence of six channels in the study area. Ten major firms (most of them certified) together were selling 135 tones of bio inputs in an year. However official quality testing data shows the presence of substandard samples in the market. The major factors that influence the farmer to follow eco friendly farming method were identified with the analysis using a logit model. Area under the crop, perception of yield loss (1% level) and experience in farming (5% level) were found to have a negative influence while the training support (1% level) and mass media exposures(10% level) were observed to have a significant positive influence. The study suggests programme for local production of organic inputs and scientific monitoring system for quality control of commercial organic inputs. The market support programme for safe produce may be thought of to realise a higher price. The training and mass media may be used as an effective tool for awareness creation. Realistic information of yield performance in ecofriendly farms and its effective dissemination is important. Small farm owners are more likely to shift to eco friendly methods and hence they may be focused. The study suggests future line of work in favour of organic input market in Kerala.ThesisItem Open Access Valuation of ecosystem services - a case study of Kolleru lake in Andra Pradesh(College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2009) Eruva, Mamatha; KAU; Prema, AWetlands are one of the most productive ecosystems, comparable to tropical evergreen forests and play a significant role in the ecological sustainability. They are facing rapid decline in coverage and quality. The present study on “Valuation of ecosystem services-A case study of Kolleru Lake in Andhra Pradesh” was taken up with the objectives of identifying the services provided by the lake as perceived by the stakeholders and assessing the Willingness To Pay (WTP) for ecosystem services. It was conducted in one of the important wetland systems in India, Kolleru Lake in Andhra Pradesh, which is declared as a RAMSAR site. The data for the study was drawn from primary and secondary sources. The respondents for primary data were selected by multistage random sampling (180 samples) and data was gathered through personal interview method using pretested structured schedule. The major tool for the analysis was Contingent Valuation Method (CVM), following dichotomous choice questions. The stake holders depending on the Kolleru wetlands were farmers, fishermen, dairy farmers, duck rearers, input suppliers and agricultural labourers. Though Kolleru Lake Development Authority (KLDA) was constituted for the purpose of conservation and sustainable development of the area, majority of the respondents (65.5%) did not acknowledge the conservation efforts. The respondents were aware of the pollution level and concerned about the conservation as they considered the lake as the main source of livelihood for them. The Total Economic Value (TEV) of the system constitutes of both Direct Use Value (DUV) and Indirect Use Value (IUV). The DUV of the lake was estimated by the level of income enjoyed by the stake holders from lake related activities. It ranged from Rs. 12,280 to Rs. 12, 81,639 with an average of Rs. 1, 08,529 per annum per household. Extrapolating for the total population DUV of the lake system amounted to Rs. 941 crores per annum. The IUV as revealed by the WTP was estimated by the linear regression model and ranged from Rs. 83 to Rs. 196. The average WTP was Rs. 116 per annum per household. At this level, total IUV of the lake system was estimated as around Rs. 1 crore per annum. Thus the TEV of the ecosystem was around Rs. 942 crores. Age, education and level of dependence on the lake were the important factors that influenced the WTP and it varied significantly among stakeholder groups. Findings suggested the economic rationality of the investment of Rs. 942 crores for the conservation of lake. It also shows the possibility of the resource mobilisation through a system of Payment for Environmental Services (PES). The study can form the basis for the development of a management plan for the sustainable use of the lake system which is socially acceptable.
