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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 Exploratory study for resilient wheat farming in Nigeria(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Agriculture, Vellanikkara, 2022) Salisu, Ahmad Dambazau; KAU; Jayasree Krishnankutty, MWheat growing has been the most difficult aspect of Nigerian agriculture for decades. Certain issues remain unresolved, posing a threat to the country's goal of diversifying revenue and lowering its growing reliance on imported wheat. Low wheat production, insecurity in Nigeria's wheat region, a lack of mechanized and updated farming techniques, and uncompetitive pricing are among the issues. This study for resilient wheat farming in Nigeria was conducted with the specific objectives of exploring the sociopolitical situation affecting wheat farming, studying the perceived effects of climate change on production of wheat and livelihoods of wheat farmers, analysing the government policies and schemes on wheat production, examining the marketing behaviour of wheat farmers, and arriving at policy options for resilient wheat farming in Nigeria. In view of the key research objectives, an ex-post facto research design was employed. A multi-stage sampling technique was adopted where three states (Jigawa, Kano and Yobe) and six local government areas (Ajingi, Bade, Garun Malan, Kafin Hausa, Nguru and Ringim), two from each state, were selected for the study. Furthermore, forty respondents were randomly selected from each local government area, making the total sample size of 240. Personal interviews and focus group discussions were used to collect primary data. A pre-test was also conducted to ensure the validity of the instruments. Secondary data was gathered from policy documents, relevant literature, government reports, newspapers, and so on. The elicited data was tabulated, analyzed, and interpreted by the use of descriptive statistics, inferential statistics, likert scale of summated rating, content analysis techniques (MAXQDA 2022 statistical software), price spread analysis, compound growth rate analysis, Kruskal-Wallis test, discriminant function analysis, and the Kendell coefficient of concordance test. The study revealed that the farmers were within their active age, married, and living below the poverty line, have low levels of education, mostly explored additional sources of income, and have enough years of experience in wheat farming. The farmers have marginal land size and acquired it through one method, using mostly certified and non-certified seeds and sourcing it mostly from two places while in contact with an extension agent most of the time. The respondents also participated in other activities for livelihood earning and have a larger number of household members, mostly with one earning member. The study revealed that the most common biotic, abiotic, social and political stress affecting wheat crops and farmers differ with regard to location. The major stresses affecting wheat farmers in Nigeria were pests and diseases, wild birds, marketing of their produce, rodents and domestic animal attacks. The social and political situations affecting wheat production were identified as internal social factors, external social factors, and political factors. Lack of good cultivation practices and the knowledge level of the farmers were the major internal social factors. These, among others, prevented the farmer from fully adopting the recommended agronomic practices. While the major external social factors were consumer food habits, consumer demand for convenience, lower produce prices, and high input costs, The political factors identified were social security issues, inconsistent government policies, intricacies in implementation, the role of the media in publication, role-playing by the milling industries, international trade interests, and lack of political will. No doubt, wheat millers imported more than required in 1986. It may have been a means for them to sabotage AWPP's success. The present approach employed by the milling industry, if sustained, will surely boost the wheat crop production in the country. Further findings indicated that the overall growth rate during the study period was -1% for production and only a minimal growth rate of 2% for harvested area, while a 5% positive growth rate was recorded in imports. It was a clear indication of the low yield of the wheat crop in Nigeria. The findings affirmed that the respondents were aware of climate change, with the majority of them having a medium perception of its effects on wheat production in Nigeria. There was a significant difference among the respondents with regard to the climate change perception which was influenced by their age, educational level, secondary occupation, years of experience, contact with extension agents, and household size. Additionally, Nigeria’s climate has no or little effect on wheat crop production. However, it may be that wheat production in Nigeria has been affected largely by human action rather than climatic and environmental factors. The findings inferred that the wheat production policies were domiciled in Kano state and that there was no equal distribution and allocation of resources among the states. The Anchor Borrower Program (ABP) is the only program having participants across the study areas. This may be because there is advancement in policy handling among the implementing agencies. The ABP failed to capture sustainability in production as well as rural infrastructural development in the program statement. The Agricultural Promotion Policy (APP) document left no stone unturned, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is driving the implementation of the policy. The policy document gives priority to stakeholders’ roles and responsibilities and is more concerned about sustainability in the production of the priority crops as well as reliability in the marketing channels. The document considers modern day agricultural approaches through the involvement of private sectors in all areas of the agricultural commodity value chain. For the improvement of rural livelihoods, the policy considered the development of the farming communities’ infrastructure. However, the respondents have a medium perception of government policy and scheme on wheat production in Nigeria which influenced by their age, educational level, secondary occupation, years of experience, contact with extension agent, farm size, household size and monthly income, and there was no significant difference in their perception. The majority of the respondents sell their produce immediately after harvest if the price is favourable due to financial urgency for both wholesalers and retailers in the case of Jigawa and Yobe, and consumers in the case of Kano. The majority sell in the local market due to proximity and using trucks as their main transportation facility. The study also inferred that the majority of the respondents relied on informal sources of market information and utilized them regularly. This revealed the kind of trust the respondents gave to those sources and affirmed the weakness of the extension system in the study areas, especially in Yobe state. There were four marketing channels in Jigawa and Kano, while three were identified in Yobe. The producers received the highest percent of the marketing share in channel I (producer –consumer) and a higher amount in channel II (producer–retailer–consumer). The marketing margin was higher in channel III (producer–wholesaler–retailer–consumer) and the producers received a lower amount when compared with channels I and II. This indicates that the more the actors, the less the producers share. There was no additional information obtained from channel IV as it involved industrial processes. Moreover, the study shows that there was significant variation between the states with regard to the variables under study among the respondents between the states. The variable marketing behaviour had the most prominent effect in predicting membership in the group between Kano and other states, while farm size was the most prominent effect between Jigawa and Yobe. The variability in net income of a wheat farmer in Nigeria could be predicted with 99.3% accuracy using age, total output, selling price, straw price, quantity of pesticide used, frequency of irrigation, and total cost of production. The study confirmed that the major constraints affecting wheat farmers in Nigeria were a lack of government intervention, a weak extension system, high input and pest and disease costs, a low output price, insufficient credit facilities, a lack of high-yielding varieties, poor yield, and a lack of a regular market. There was strong agreement on the most important constraints among the respondents of different states. For Nigeria to achieve the desired outcome, focused commitments and the adoption of a multi-dimensional approach are required. Political factors were the major concerns surrounding the wheat production sector and would be overcome through a yearly stakeholders' round table meeting to review the situation. External social factor issues would be addressed by raising awareness and establishing a commodity board to ensure remunerative prices for farmers and reasonable prices for consumers, as well as a consistent supply of raw materials to milling industries. Extension should be intensified to enhance the knowledge level of the farmer for better understanding and increased adoption of new varieties. This could help to overcome internal social issues. More young people need to be persuaded to work in wheat farming in order to increase production and sustainability. Resilient wheat farming in Nigeria could be achieved through focused commitments across the stakeholders’ line. Legislation should be enacted to deal with saboteurs, and the adoption of a multi-dimensional approach toward solving any unforeseen circumstances, should be resorted to.ThesisItem Embargo Social entrepreneurship and sustainable livelihood development -a study on women collectives in Lakshadeep Islands(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Agriculture, Vellanikkara, 2022) Fathimath Zuhra, M C; KAU; Mercykutty, M JLakshadweep is India’s smallest union territory located in Arabian Sea, comprises of 35 tiny coral islands with 32 sq. km area and a population of 64473 in the ten inhabited islands. These inhabited islands are Agatti, Amini, Androth, Bitra, Chetlat, Kadmat, Kalpeni, Kavaratti, Kilthan and Minicoy. Besides fishing and tourism, coconut cultivation, marketing and processing of coconut constitute the major livelihood options of people of Lakshadweep. According to Government of India (2011) Lakshadweep is having a population of 64473, and out of this 31,350 are females with a literacy rate of 87.95 %. According to the annual report of Department of women and child development (2019) there are 5057 women working under 435 self-help groups. Women collective can be defined as a group of women who meet regularly to achieve a shared purpose. These groups take many forms across the world like Self Help Groups (SHGs), Joint liability Groups (JLGs) and Non-Governmental organizations (NGOs) where women come together for different economic, legal, health and cultural reasons. In Lakshadweep there are only two types of women collectives, they are SHGs and Dweepsrees (Lakshadweep version of Kudumbasree). Social entrepreneurship can be described as a business model for larger interest where the members of community come together for fulfilling a social mission aiming for social change and development. It functions as the agent of change, questioning the status quo, grabbing the new yet overlooked opportunities by taking the local resources into consideration, building on relations and by refining and re-refining to reach the grass roots. The study was conducted in Lakshadweep islands. Three islands were selected from the ten inhabited ones, Androth and Amini being the major islands and Chetlat, the minor one. Sample size consisted of 120 respondents from women collectives and 30 facilitators. Respondent’s category of women collectives belonged to the members of Self helf Groups under Swayam Siddha and Dweepasree. The profile of SHG members showed that 47.5% belonged to middle age category and 71.5% were home makers. Regarding educational qualification, 31.83% had attended higher secondary level and 94% of them were having an annual income greater than 1 lakh rupees. Majority of the respondents belonged to medium category for social participation, decision making and innovativeness. Half of the selected respondents (50.84 %) had attended two trainings. Dimensions of social entrepreneurship were described with respect to social vision, social network, innovativeness, sustainability and financial management. It was found that the SHG members had the perception that social entrepreneurship could help them to attain a sustainable livelihood. They felt that improvement in investment in entrepreneurial activities along with the skills and trainings could improve their livelihoods. Spearman’s rank correlation analysis of profile characteristics and perception on social entrepreneurship revealed that social participation and innovativeness had significant positive correlation with social entrepreneurship at 1% level, while decision making was significant at 5%level. Along with these three variables, training exposure had a positive significant relationship with the performance of SHGs. Performance of SHGs were measured using four indicators viz;financial indicators, social up-liftment indicators, functional activities and selfdevelopment indicators. Analysis of the performance of SHGs in three islands using Kruskal Wallis test, it was observed that Chetlat had the highest mean perception score (91.69) compared to Amini (61.36) and Androth (28.45). With respect to the above four independent variables significant differences were also observed among these three islands. Binary logistics regression showed that social participation and social entrepreneurship had positive significant relationship with performance of SHGs while occupation had a negative relationship. Comparison of Group dynamics efficiency index ( GDEI )of three islands using Kruskal Wallis test showed that there was no significant differences among the three islands where the mean index being 66.60. Factors affecting social entrepreneurship were categorized and studied under personal and psychological, situational and socio- economic dimensions. Entrepreneurial motivation, social acceptance and self-confidence were the most influencing elements of social entrepreneurship. Challenges faced by SHG members were considered under three groups viz; individual challenges, financial challenges and situational challenges. High cost of raw materials, high market competition and lack of sufficient time for SHG involvement due to personal difficulties were the most serious challenges felt by the SHG members from three islands that is Androth, Amini and Chetlat. A significant value of Kendall’s coefficient of concordance (W = 0.935) showed that there existed a strong agreement among the respondents and facilitators (W= 0.975). It has been recommended that location specific entrepreneurial avenues and marketing strategies may be implemented based on the production pattern of the particular area along with awareness and training. Linkages with local shop owners and whole sellers should be improved for getting various inputs and for marketing the products. It has been also suggested that more infrastructural facilities have to be provided for proper storage and marketing. Branding of the products highlighting the ethnicity may also be encouragedThesisItem Open Access Effectiveness of e-marketing of cardamom in Kerala-an exploratory analysis(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Agriculture,Vellayani, 2022-04-06) Jeena, Paul; KAU; Gopika, SomanathThe study entitled 'Effectiveness of e-marketing of cardamom in Kerala— an exploratory analysis' was conducted in Idukki district of Kerala during the year 2019-21 among the cardamom farmers undertaking conventional marketing as well as e-marketing of cardamom. The objective of the research was comparative assessment of the effectivencss of e-marketing and conventional marketing of cardamom as well as delineation of farmers' perception on benefits and constraints of e-marketing. Six farmers undertaking conventional marketing and six farmers undertaking e-marketing of cardamom each were randomly selected from ten panchayats, totaling the sample size to 120. The independent variables in the study selected through judges rating were age, education, area under cardamom cultivation, experience in cardamom cultivation, production of cardamom, price received, extension contact, attitude towards e-marketing, awareness on digital tools and adoption of digital tools, and dependent variable marketing effectiveness was measured using the index developed for the study. On analysis it was found that majority of the farmers undertaking conventional marketing (51.7%) and e-marketing (40%) belonged to middle age category. Majority (43.3%) of the farmers undertaking conventional marketing had high school level education and 58.4 per cent of the farmers undertaking e-marketing had degree and above level of education. Majority of the farmers undertaking conventional marketing were marginal farmers (31.7%) and farmers undertaking e-marketing had medium area (4-10 ha) under cardamom cultivation (35%). Majority of the fanners undertaking conventional marketing (55%) and e-marketing (45%) had medium level of experience (6-20 years) in cardamom cultivation. Majority of the farmers undertaking conventional marketing (43.3%) had low production of cardamom and fanners undertaking e-marketing (4803%) had medium production of cardamom. Majority of the farmers undertaking conventional marketing (73.3%) and e-marketing (36.7%) received a price between per kilogram of.cardamom. More than half of the farmers undertaking conventional (5166%) and e-marketing (51.6%) had medium level of extension contact. More than half of the fanners undertaking conventional marketing (55%) had negative attitude towards emarketing and more than half of the farmers undertaking e-marketing (61.7%) had neutral attitude towards e-marketing. More than half of the farmers undertaking conventional (66.7%) and e-marketing (75%) had medium awareness on digital tools. Majority of the farmers undertaking conventional marketing (45%) and e-marketing (56.7%) had medium level of adoption of digital tools. Marketing effectiveness has been measured under seven components, four quantitative variables, viz., marketing channel, marketing cost, price spread and producer's share in consumer's rupee and three qualitative variables, viz., market information utilization, timeliness of marketing and ease of marketing. Based on factor analysis, the components were grouped into two factors contributing to a cumulative variance of 91.68 per cent. The factor loadings ofvariables showed that producer's share in consumer's rupee (96.4%) and price spread (94.2%) explained more than 90 per cent variance. Majority of the fanners undertaking conventional marketing had medium (46.7%) followed by low (41.7%) marketing effectiveness and fanners undertaking e-marketing had medium (53.4%) followed by high (38.4%) marketing effectiveness. The comparison between the marketing effectiveness of conventional marketing and e-marketing using z-test showed that there exists significant mean difference between the six components of marketing effectiveness for the two categories of respondents and their marketing effectiveness index scores. The results ofKarl Pearson correlation analysis revealed that out of 10 independent variables selected for the study, six variables were significantly related to the dependent variable marketing effectiveness. The variables, viz., price received, extension contact, attitude towards e-marketing and adoption of digital tools were significant at 0.1 % level of significance and education and awareness on digital tools were significant at 1 % level of significance. Majority of the farmers undertaking conventional marketing adopted marketing channel with five (41.7%) and six parties (41.7%) and farmers undertaking e-marketing adopted marketing channel with five parties (63.4%). Farmers undertaking e-marketing recei ved higher price g 1265.75) for their produce as compared to the fanners undertaking conventional marketing (?1083.75). Majority (71.7%) of the farmers undertaking emarketing store their produce and sells only at remunerative prices, whereas only 28.3 per cent of the fanners undertaking conventional marketing store their produce and wait for better price. Marketing effectiveness index scores of fanners undertaking e-marketing (67.6) was found to be higher than that ofthe fanners undertaking conventional marketing (53.9). Among the e-marketing platforms, social media (89.4) and websites (72.4) showed higher marketing effectiveness index score than e-auction (61). The major benefits of e-marketing as perceived by farmers were availability of proper transaction details and bills (83.3%) and assurance of timely delivery and prompt payment (80%). The major constraints of e-marketing as perceived by farmers were delay in payment up to 20-30 days after e-auction (66.7%) and disfress procurement of credit by the farmers from the auctioning agency to compensate for the delayed payment (60%). Mechanisms to ensure timely and prompt payment for the produce, separate eauctions for farmers and traders, ensuring remunerative base prices for cardamom, regulation and monitoring ofthe e-auction system by the Spices Board to reduce unhealthy practices, approval of registration of the cardamom lands by the Government, minimization of the formalities in credit disbursal by the banks, extending support to the fanner producer organizations (FPOs) to undertake value addition in cardamom and expansion of extension services in the realm of e-marketing are the key strategies to overcome the constraints in e-marketing. It could be concluded that the e-auction mechanism was introduced by the Spices Board for the benefit of both the farmers and traders by promoting healthy competition among bidders and monitoring the auction price elecfronically. But presently fanners are not completely satisfied with the system due to lack of remunerative prices and delayed payment. The scope of the other e-marketing platforms such as social media and websites need to be more popularized among the cardamom farmers.ThesisItem Open Access Pesticide handling behaviour of vegetable farmers - a multimensional analysis(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Agriculture,Vellayani, 2022-03-25) Arathy, B S; KAU; Bindu, PodikunjuThe study entitled “Pesticide handling behaviour of vegetable farmers- A Multidimensional analysis” was conducted in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala during the year 2019-21 among the vegetable growers. The objective of the research was to measure the knowledge, extent of adoption and attitude of vegetable farmers on safe handling procedures of pesticides in Thiruvananthapuram and also analyze the constraints in adopting the safe handling procedures. Two panchayaths were selected from each 4 AEU’s and from each panchayath 15 respondents were picked out thus forming a total of 120 respondents. Independent variables measured in the study were selected through judges rating. The selected variables were age, education, source of information, farming experience, training received, economic orientation, environmental orientation, innovativeness, perception about health risk, risk orientation and labour availability and dependent variables were attitude, knowledge and adoption. A structured interview schedule was administrated for data collection. Statistical tools such as mean, standard deviation, quartile deviation, percentage analysis, frequency, Karl Pearson correlation and chi square were used for the analysis. Based on analysis of data, it was found that majority (45.8%) of the farmers belonged to old age category followed by middle age (45%) and young age (9.2%). Most of the respondents (70.8%) had SSLC level education followed by 15 per cent of the respondents who had degree and above level of education and 9.2 per cent and 90 5 per cent had below 10th level and higher secondary level of education, respectively. A large proportion (40.8%) of the respondents had 21 to 30 years of farming experience followed by 30 per cent having 11-20 years of experience and 15 per cent having 31 to 40 years of experience and a very low of 8.3 per cent and 5.8 per cent of the respondents had less than 10 and greater than 40 years of experience, respectively. A large number of respondents (47.5%) had utilized family members as their labour followed by 30 per cent of the respondents who had hired labour and only 22.5 per cent had both hired and family labour. Majority of the respondents (45.8%) had medium level of economic orientation, (65%) environmental orientation, (65%) risk orientation, (43.3%) innovativeness, (50%) information source utilization and (56.7%) perception about health risk. Agriculture Officer was the highest ranked source of information by the respondents followed by Agricultural Assistant and input dealers. The findings revealed that 45.8% of the respondents had attended 1 to 3 trainings followed by 42.5 per cent of the respondents having attended 4-6 training and only 11.7 per cent of the respondents had attended 7 to 10 trainings. With respect to major vegetable crop grown, majority of the respondents were growing yard long bean that is 47.50 per cent followed by 38.33 per cent were growing cucumber as the major crop and a very less percentage (2.50%) were growing tomato. Knowledge was measured by a teacher made test, that had 40 statements, and the correct statements were given a score of 2 and incorrect statement 1. The knowledge score so arrived was converted into knowledge index. The 40 statements of knowledge test were divided into 8 different components. Since each component had uneven number of questions, weighted overall knowledge index is calculated. More than half of the respondents (54.2%) had medium level of knowledge about safe handling of pesticides followed by 24.2 per cent who had high level of knowledge and only 21.7 per cent had low level of knowledge about safe handling practices. In the distribution of respondents based on knowledge on practices recommended for safe handling of pesticides storage of pesticide had the highest knowledge index and disposal of empty containers had the least knowledge index. The adoption level of the respondents was measured using the formula developed by Singh and Singh (1967).There were 36 statements under 6 different 91 components in the adoption scale. Since each component had uneven number of questions, weighted overall adoption quotient was calculated. Majority of the respondents (48.3%) had medium level of adoption of safe handling of pesticides followed by 26.7 per cent who had high level of adoption and only 25 per cent had low level of adoption of safe handling practices. In the distribution of respondents based on adoption of safe handling practices spraying of pesticide had the highest adoption quotient among other components and usage of personal protective equipment had the least adoption quotient. The attitude of the farmers was analyzed with the scale developed by Jasna (2018). More than half of the respondents (57.5%) had medium level of attitude towards safe handling of pesticides followed by 22.5 per cent who had high level of attitude and only 20 per cent had low level of attitude towards safe handling practices. The results of Karl Pearson correlation analysis with knowledge and independent variables revealed that out of 9 independent variables selected for the study, three variables were significantly related to the dependent variable knowledge. Innovativeness, training received and source of information were significant at 0.05 level of significance. The results of chi square analysis with knowledge and education showed significant relationship at 0.01 level of significance. Perception about health risk, training received and source of information was observed to be positively influencing the adoption of safe handling practices. The findings showed that the association of attitude and nine independent variables selected for the study, three variables that is perception about health risk, training received and source of information had 0.05 level of significance. The constraints experienced by the farmer in following the safe handling procedures of pesticides were categorized into five categories viz. technical, occupational, economic, marketing and infrastructural. Discomfort in wearing safety equipment's while work, reduced efficiency in work after wearing the safety equipment and no premium price for safe vegetables were the major constrains faced by the respondents. 92 From the study it can be concluded that usage of personal protective equipment had the least adoption (37.90%) among the respondents, it was mainly due to the discomfort in wearing it while working and additional time and effort needed in following the safety measures. To improve the adoption of safe handling practices of pesticides, the attitude towards safe handling measures should be improved and focused training on safe handling practices are to be givenThesisItem Open Access Research trends and academic research productivity of Ph.D. dissertations in Kerala Agricultural University(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Agriculture ,Vellayani, 2022) Muppidi, Spanditha; KAU; Allan, ThomasThe study entitled “Research trends and academic research productivity of Ph.D. dissertations in Kerala Agricultural University” was undertaken in the year 20120-21. The main objectives were assessment of research pattern and productivity of the Ph.D. research in terms of proportion published or cited. The study explored determinants of Ph.D. students’ research efficiency as perceived by the teachers and constraints and suggestions as perceived by students and teachers in the conduct of doctoral research will also be studied. The entire PhD theses submitted to College of Agriculture, Vellayani for the five years from 2015-2019 were enumerated, categorized under different divisions and will be subjected to qualitative content analysis. A total of 80 respondents comprising of 50 students and 30 teachers were selected for the study. During 2015- 2019, crop production division has maximum number of theses (33) submitted and overall theses submitted were maximum (24) during 2017. The result on content pattern of PhD research was conducted based on various parameters. In terms of crops/areas focused, majority (20.27%) of studies were concentrated on cereals (rice), followed by vegetables (14.87%), fruits (13.51%), and tuber crops (8.11%). For the period 2011-2014, 19 PC groups had 80 per cent or more untouched thrust areas 100 per cent of these belonged to Spices and Plantation Crops (SPC), Pulses and Oil Seeds (POS), Forage and Green Manure Crops (FGM), Gender studies (GS) and AgroEconomic Studies (AES). During 2015-2017, 14 PC groups were found to have 80 per cent or more untouched areas among which Floriculture (FL), Post-Harvest Technology (PHT), Sugar and Tuber Crops (STC) groups had 100 per cent of untouched areas. It was observed that over the years’ number of thrust areas decreased but the percentage of untouched areas showed an increasing trend. In case of number of objectives by using quartiles, all divisions showed medium range (2-4) of objectives with 82.43 per cent. On summarisation, majority (32.43%) of studies had two objectives. Overall data based on mean number of references using quartiles indicated that social science theses had low number of references (<223) while remaining divisions had medium range (223-369) of references. In the studies, 65.07 per cent of theses referred most from 2001 and above. Most commonly used research design among crop production theses was Randomised Block 228 Design (RBD) with 40.42 per cent, Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with 47.06 per cent in crop protection, RBD and CRD both with 40.91 per cent among crop improvement theses, exploratory research design (60.00%) in social science and CRD and ex post facto design both with 50 per cent in community science. With the categorisation of statistical methods under seven categories, majority of the studies in crop production used parametric tests and methods (61.54%), basic statistics (47.72%) in crop protection, Parametric tests and methods (33.33%) in crop improvement, basic statistics (59.26%) in social science and Parametric tests and methods (35.30%) in community science. With reference to sample size, majority (50.00%) of Community Science department theses had less than hundred sample size. However, it was interesting to note that sample size in majority (60.00%) of theses under social science ranged from 201-300 and in remaining all divisions majority of theses had range 101- 200. In case of type of sampling methods, majority (40.00%) of the theses conducted studies using random sampling. Under social science division, majority (75.00%) of Agricultural Extension theses studied independent variables ranging from nine to thirty. Academic research productivity was assessed based on proportion published and cited. On perusal of data, crop production division had published two papers on an average (42.42%) and half of the community science studies had published more than two papers. To summarise, publications less than two accounted the most with 39.19 per cent. Publications in peer reviewed journals were categorised under different indexing lists where it was noted that majority of the publications (82.42%) belonged to National Institute of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) rated journals followed by Google scholar (12.12%), Copernicus index (2.42%), others (2.42%), University Grants Commission - Consortium for Academic Research and Ethics (UGC-CARE) list (1.21%) and Scopus index (0.61%). Citations distribution based on year showed that majority of theses (84.05%) cited were from 1991 and above whereas based on source it was found that among 35 types of sources identified journals were cited on majority among all divisions. Other types of major sources cited were books, proceedings, Master of Science (M.Sc.) theses, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) theses and e-resources. Geographic distribution of citations indicated that international publications were cited more compared to national publications among all departments except agricultural 229 extension. Among all departments, average number of citations from national and international publications were cited more in Community Science with 217 and 416 average number respectively. In terms of average number of citations, based on range highest range (272-843) was found in plant breeding and genetics department whereas average number of citations was observed highest in community science department (633) with range of 448-827. Attitude of students towards PhD research was studied. It was found that 74.00 per cent of students possessed good attitude and only 16.00 per cent of students had very good attitude towards PhD research. About 86.67 per cent of teachers perceived that students possessed good attitude towards research and 13.33 per cent teachers recognised that students had very good attitude towards doctoral research. On the whole in case of perception in adequacy based on research themes, teachers opined that there was 23.4 per cent of gap and students opined 32.20 per cent of gap which currently does not address the problems of Kerala agriculture. The major constraints in conducting doctoral research as perceived by students were insufficient funds (Rank 1), lack of advanced research facilities and equipments (Rank 2), and insufficient lab facilities (Rank 3). Insufficient lab facilities (Rank 1), lack of advanced research facilities and equipments (Rank 2) and insufficient funds (Rank 3) were perceived as constraints by teachers. In order to overcome the ascertained constraints suggestions as perceived by teachers were provision of central instrumentation facility, increasing contingent grants/funds, participation in external aided projects, exposure of students to advanced methods or equipments, enforcement of research collaborations in interdisciplinary or with other organisations/institutes (national or overseas), giving maximum exposure to students by participating in conferences and seminars (national or international) and also improving students research skills with proper training via lectures or practical classes that enhance their knowledge and skill before conducting research. In order to improve academic research productivity, it is necessary to encourage students in publishing more quality articles in peer reviewed journals with high NAAS ratings (6+ impact factor) and other similar indices and also conducting research with deliverable output through publications which is monitored and reviewed systematically.ThesisItem Open Access Scenario analysis of agro-ecotourism in Kerala(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Agriculture ,Vellayani, 2022) Sreelekshmy, Sadanand; KAU; Jayalakshmi, GThe study on “Scenario Analysis of Agro-ecotourism in Kerala” was conducted in the three districts, Alappuzha, Idukki and Wayanad of Kerala with the objectives: to analyze the perception of agro-ecotourism stakeholders about the utilityand feasibility of agro-ecotourism, to identify gender role in agro-ecotourism and to assess the prospects, problems and challenges in agro-ecotourism. Thirty agro- ecotourism operators from each district with a minimum of three years’ experience inpracticing agro-ecotourism were selected, thus making a total of 90 respondents. Thirty officials in the field of tourism were also selected, thus making a total of 120 respondents. Perception on utility of agro-ecotourism and perception on feasibility of agroecotourism were selected as the dependent variables. Perception on utility and perception on feasibility were analyzed using the scales developed by Barbieri and Tew (2012) and Argade et al (2015) respectively. Age, education, years of operation, extension contact, mass-media exposure, credit orientation, creativity, communication ability, managerial ability, economic motivation, innovativeness,frequency of hosting VFR (Visiting Friends & Relatives), happiness in hosting VFR, resource recycling and farm waste disposal behaviour were the independent variables selected through judges rating. Data was collected by interviewing the respondents personally with the help of pre – tested and well-structured interview schedule. The data collected were processed, coded and tabulated with the help of differentstatistical tools. The salient findings of the study are as follows: Majority of the respondents had a medium level of perception about utility of agro-ecotourism (71.11%). 13.33 per cent of respondents had high level of perception about utility of agro-ecotourism and 15.56 per cent belonged to the lower category. Nearly 63.33 per cent of the respondents had a medium level of perception about feasibility of agro-ecotourism. 14.45 per cent of respondents had high level of perception about feasibility of agro-ecotourism and 22.23 per cent belonged to the lower category. 162 Majority of the respondents belonged to middle age category (72.22 %). More than half of the respondents had medium level of education and a large proportion (74.44%) of the agro-ecotourism operators had a medium level of experience in the field of agro-ecotourism and only 10 per cent of the respondents had a low level of experience. Majority (72.22%) of the respondents had a medium level of extension contact, 64.44 per cent of the respondents had medium level of exposure to mass media. With regard to credit orientation, creativity and communication ability, majority of the respondents belonged to medium level category with a proportion of 68.89 per cent, 87.78 per cent and 72.22 per cent respectively. With regard to managerial ability, 74.45 per cent of the respondents belonged to medium category. Most of the respondents had a medium level of innovativeness (76.66%) and economic motivation (94.44%). Majority of the respondents (60.00%) belonged to the medium category in the frequency of hosting VFR, whereas 42.22 per cent of the respondents reported higher level of happiness in hosting VFR. Morethan half of the respondents (61.11%) had a medium level of resource recycling behaviour and 52.22 percent of the respondents had a medium level of farm waste disposal behaviour. Independent variables viz., innovativeness, managerial ability and economic motivation were positively and significantly correlated with the perception on utilityof agro-ecotourism. Perception on feasibility of agro-ecotourism had positive and significant correlation with innovativeness, economic motivation and farm waste disposal behaviour. With regard to prospects in agro-ecotourism, cent per cent of the respondents were strongly willing to integrate more interesting activities, to improve accommodation facilities, to offer rural Indian cuisine, to provide better medical facilities, to offer more recreational activities and to regularly maintain and follow visitor’s feedback book. Under the promotional activities, cent per cent of the respondents were strongly willing to develop own website, ready to provide information about the culture of Kerala, happy to have a good relationship with the 163 tourists and to provide agro-ecotourism related literature to the tourists. Lack of training in the field of agro-ecotourism, lack of literature on agroecotourism and lack of knowledge and skill were identified as the major problems faced by agro-ecotourism operators. Non-availability of tourists at vacation time, lack of commercial approach, non-availability of inputs and lack of specific policy for promotion of agro-ecotourism were the major challenges raised by the respondents. Among the factors which motivated the respondents to practice agro- ecotourism, social factors obtained the highest relevancy coefficient, followed by economic factors and external factors. Among the 120 employees in the various agro-ecotourism ventures,56 employees were male and 64 were female. Mainly female employees were involvedin indoor jobssuch as housekeeping and cooking, whereas male employees were engaged in farm and managerial activities. Monthly salary of majority of the employees ranges from ₹10,001-15,000. Majority of the employees (57.5%) were reported to be working for 7-9 hours on a daily basis. Innovativeness, managerial ability and economic motivation plays an important role in the perception of operators about the utility of agro-ecotourism and years of operation, innovativeness and economic motivation plays a crucial role in the perception of operators about the feasibility of agro-ecotourism. Promotion and support from government by implementing various schemes will motivate the respondents to prosper in the field of agro-ecotourism. Proper direction for starting agro-ecotourism is needed to support the operators for gaining a sustainable and secure income from agro-ecotourism.ThesisItem Open Access Emotional intelligence and job performance of Kerala Agricultural University scientists(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Agriculture ,Vellayani, 2022) Saradhi, Prasanna; KAU; Smitha, K.PThe study entitled "Emotional intelligence and job performance of Kerala Agricultural University scientists," was conducted during the year 2020-2021. The objective of the study was to assess the gender differential in emotional intelligence of Kerala Agricultural University scientists and its influence on their job performance. Organizational constraints experienced by scientists were also studied and suggestions for improvement were delineated. The study was conducted in the colleges, research stations, KVKs and other centers under Kerala Agricultural University, representing the three zones of Kerala, viz., the Northern zone, the Central zone, and the Southern zone. A total of 120 scientists, including 40 from colleges, 40 from research stations, and 40 from KVKs and other centers, were selected by adopting stratified proportionate sampling. From each group of 40 scientists, it was ensured that 20 were female and 20 were male respondents. There were two dependent variables and 14 independent variables in this study. Emotional intelligence and job performance were the dependent variables. The scale developed by Goleman (1995) was used to assess emotional intelligence. Job performance was assessed by developing an index for the study, under five dimensions: teaching, research, extension, self development efforts, and administrative and institution building activities. Based on the analysis of the data, it was found that majority of the respondents (66.66%) had a medium level of emotional intelligence. From the MannWhitney U test, it was revealed that there was no significant difference between male and female scientists in their emotional intelligence, but in the case of job performance there was a significant difference between male and female scientists in all dimensions except teaching. From the factor analysis it was observed that out of 5 dimensions self awareness and motivating oneself were the major components that contributed to the emotional intelligence whereas teaching and research were the two major dimensions that contributed towards job performance. On performing principal component analysis – biplot, it was observed that involvement in administrative and institution building activities is comparatively lesser for all other categories of respondents except college teachers whereas the PCA – biplot of emotional intelligence has shown uniformity in 127 distribution of all categories of respondents for all components. The study revealed that the majority of the respondents (85.83%) had a medium level of job performance. Analysis of the profile characteristics of KAU scientists revealed that majority of the respondents (65.9%) were middle aged, had doctoral degrees (73.3%), job experience of less than 10 years (40.83%), nuclear families (75.8%), belonged to urban areas (61.7%) and had adequate promotional opportunities (66.7%). It was also observed that most of the respondents had a medium level of family income (65%), attitude towards profession (68.3%), self-confidence (65%), organisational climate (76.7%), perceived workload (73.33%), leadership quality (85%), organisational commitment (72.5%), and job stress (70%). From the correlation analysis it was revealed that the factors having relationship with emotional intelligence were promotional opportunities, self confidence, organisational climate, leadership quality, organisational commitment, and job stress whereas Job performance was having relationship with age, job experience, attitude towards profession, self-confidence, organisational climate, and organisational commitment. The study also revealed that there was no significant association between emotional intelligence and job performance of KAU scientists. Major constraints perceived by the KAU scientists were lack of practical oriented capacity building programme and its follow up, less promotion / growth opportunities for scientists, lack of teamwork, empathy and mutual understanding among the scientists, lack of adequate infrastructure facility (office/ laboratory facilities/ quarters etc.,), poor library facilities and lack of availability of adequate books in the university library. The constraints experienced by the scientists need to be considered in order to improve the performance of the KAU scientists at their work place. The major suggestions delineated by the respondents for improving the job performance of KAU scientists were improvement of infrastructure facilitates for escalating work efficiency, democratic and transparent decisions by the authorities and impartial actions, more promotion/ growth opportunities for scientists, favourable organizational climate for team building and boosting the morale of the scientists, and clarity of roles for scientists regarding teaching, research, and extension.ThesisItem Open Access Emotional intelligence and job performance of Kerala Agricultural University scientists(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Agriculture ,Vellayani, 2022) Saradhi, Prasanna; KAU; Smitha, K.PThe study entitled "Emotional intelligence and job performance of Kerala Agricultural University scientists," was conducted during the year 2020-2021. The objective of the study was to assess the gender differential in emotional intelligence of Kerala Agricultural University scientists and its influence on their job performance. Organizational constraints experienced by scientists were also studied and suggestions for improvement were delineated. The study was conducted in the colleges, research stations, KVKs and other centers under Kerala Agricultural University, representing the three zones of Kerala, viz., the Northern zone, the Central zone, and the Southern zone. A total of 120 scientists, including 40 from colleges, 40 from research stations, and 40 from KVKs and other centers, were selected by adopting stratified proportionate sampling. From each group of 40 scientists, it was ensured that 20 were female and 20 were male respondents. There were two dependent variables and 14 independent variables in this study. Emotional intelligence and job performance were the dependent variables. The scale developed by Goleman (1995) was used to assess emotional intelligence. Job performance was assessed by developing an index for the study, under five dimensions: teaching, research, extension, self development efforts, and administrative and institution building activities. Based on the analysis of the data, it was found that majority of the respondents (66.66%) had a medium level of emotional intelligence. From the MannWhitney U test, it was revealed that there was no significant difference between male and female scientists in their emotional intelligence, but in the case of job performance there was a significant difference between male and female scientists in all dimensions except teaching. From the factor analysis it was observed that out of 5 dimensions self awareness and motivating oneself were the major components that contributed to the emotional intelligence whereas teaching and research were the two major dimensions that contributed towards job performance. On performing principal component analysis – biplot, it was observed that involvement in administrative and institution building activities is comparatively lesser for all other categories of respondents except college teachers whereas the PCA – biplot of emotional intelligence has shown uniformity in 127 distribution of all categories of respondents for all components. The study revealed that the majority of the respondents (85.83%) had a medium level of job performance. Analysis of the profile characteristics of KAU scientists revealed that majority of the respondents (65.9%) were middle aged, had doctoral degrees (73.3%), job experience of less than 10 years (40.83%), nuclear families (75.8%), belonged to urban areas (61.7%) and had adequate promotional opportunities (66.7%). It was also observed that most of the respondents had a medium level of family income (65%), attitude towards profession (68.3%), self-confidence (65%), organisational climate (76.7%), perceived workload (73.33%), leadership quality (85%), organisational commitment (72.5%), and job stress (70%). From the correlation analysis it was revealed that the factors having relationship with emotional intelligence were promotional opportunities, self confidence, organisational climate, leadership quality, organisational commitment, and job stress whereas Job performance was having relationship with age, job experience, attitude towards profession, self-confidence, organisational climate, and organisational commitment. The study also revealed that there was no significant association between emotional intelligence and job performance of KAU scientists. Major constraints perceived by the KAU scientists were lack of practical oriented capacity building programme and its follow up, less promotion / growth opportunities for scientists, lack of teamwork, empathy and mutual understanding among the scientists, lack of adequate infrastructure facility (office/ laboratory facilities/ quarters etc.,), poor library facilities and lack of availability of adequate books in the university library. The constraints experienced by the scientists need to be considered in order to improve the performance of the KAU scientists at their work place. The major suggestions delineated by the respondents for improving the job performance of KAU scientists were improvement of infrastructure facilitates for escalating work efficiency, democratic and transparent decisions by the authorities and impartial actions, more promotion/ growth opportunities for scientists, favourable organizational climate for team building and boosting the morale of the scientists, and clarity of roles for scientists regarding teaching, research, and extension.
