Thumbnail Image

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.

Browse

20171
Reset filters
Subject: Agricultural Engineering × Author: Athul Chandran, K × End date: 2018 × Start date: 2010 × Thesis Type: M.Tech. ×
Reset filters

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Development of attachments for four-wheel riding types rice transplanter
    (Department of Farm Power Machinery and Energy, Kelappaji Colllege of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2017) Athul Chandran, K; KAU; Shaji James, P
    Rice is the most important cereal food crop of the world providing major source of the food energy for more than half of the human population. Manual transplanting of paddy is being replaced by machine transplanting due to the drudgery and increased labour cost of the former. Four wheel riding type transplanters are getting popular as they can ensure speedy operation. These costly machines require an agro-economic analysis for their proper management. Another handicap in the use of these machines is that they need to be transported in another vehicle even to nearby areas, which results in increased cost of operation. The development of a suitable transport wheel system is also needed to reduce the cost of hire charges spent for transportation. The application of bio fungicides like pseudomonas and the foliar application of micro-nutrients on the mat nursery loaded in the seedling tray of these four-wheel transplanters will be a boon to farmers as this can reduce the labour cost simultaneously boosting the yield. Hence the development of an applicator attachment for spraying liquid formulations of bio-fungicides and micronutrients on the mat nursery loaded in the seedling tray of the machine, immediately before transplanting was also attempted. Economic parameters of three types of four-wheel riding type rice transplanters, viz. Yanmar Vp8D (TR1), Yanmar Vp6D (TR2) and Kubota NSPU- 68C (TR3) were estimated considering the agronomic requirements of common rice varieties Uma, Jyothi and Prathyasha. For developing transport wheel system, 6-row Kubota make transplanter was selected. The wheel hub assembly was fabricated according to the design considerations. An electrically operated applicator attachment suitable for all makes of 6-row four wheel riding type transplanters were developed and successfully field tested. From the agro economic analysis, it was found that the annual fixed cost, annual variable cost and hourly operational cost were maximum for TR1, followed by TR2 and the TR3 respectively. The Unit Area Operating Cost (UAOC) was dependent on hourly operational costs and field capacities of the machines. TR1 had the highest field capacity (0.4 ha h-1) followed by TR2 (0.38 ha h-1) and TR3 (0.33 ha h-1). TR1 had more UAOC than that of TR2 and TR3 up to the Annual Operating Hours (AOH) of 395 h. At 395 h UAOC of both TR1 and TR2 were equal. Beyond 395 h TR2 had the maximum cost of operation among the three machines. Manual transplanting by labour contract required a cost of Rs. 10000 per ha and using these transplanters is economical than manual transplanting whenever the AOH is more than 102 h. The pneumatic wheels of 680 mm diameter and width of 100 mm were selected for front wheel. The front wheel has wheel track of 1.29 m. For rear wheel it has diameter of 720 mm and 130 mm width. The rear wheel track was 1.37 m. The maximum and minimum speeds possible using these wheels are 1.14 to 9.88 km h-1. The applicator attachment had a 12 V electrically operated diaphragm pump, LDPE pipes as conduit, five solid cone nozzles fitted on a LDPE boom. The pressure developed by the pump was 620 kPa with a discharge of 1.89 l min-1. The nozzles were selected based on the patternator studies. Five nozzles were placed at an equal distance of 35 cm on the boom of 1.8 m, with a spray span overlap of 14 cm. The droplet size was measured using bromide photo papers with pigmented spray solution and IMAGE-J image analyzing computer software. The droplet size at 50 cm height was in the range of 200 - 300 microns. The field studies on effect of pseudomonas fluorescence application revealed the enhanced growth of rice plants. No fungal attack was observed in the plots which were treated with pseudomonas. The plants subjected to application of ‘Sampoorna- KAU mutimix’ had increased plant height, more number of tillers per unit area, more productive tillers, more number of grains per panicle, higher paddy yield and increased grain weight.