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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 Livelihood analysis of kattunaikan tribe of Wayanad(Department Of Agricultural Extension, College Of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2013) Sreejas, S; KAU; Sakeer Husain, AThe study entitled “Livelihood Analysis of Kattunaikan tribe of Wayanad” was conducted to analyse Livelihood capital and to study the Extent of deprivation of Kattunaikan tribe of Wayanad. Their Social exclusion, Attitude towards developmental interventions, and the Constraints experienced by them in livelihood security were also studied. The study “Livelihood Analysis of Kattunaikan tribe of Wayanad” was conducted in three developmental blocks of Wayanad district namely Sulthan batheri, Mananthavady and Kalpetta. The selection of number of settlements from each block was done based upon the population of Kattunaikans in each block. Three settlements Random sampling technique was followed in the selection respondents. From each settlement, 20 family heads were randomly selected. Total sample size for the study was 120. The dependent variables selected for the study were Livelihood capital, Extent of deprivation and Social exclusion. Independent variables were selected which includes Age, Landholding, Family size, Value orientation, Political orientation, Change resistance, Modernization, Alcoholism and Attitude. The correlation between dependent and independent variables was studied using correlation analysis. Constraints experienced in livelihood security were also recorded from a number of identified statements as perceived by the tribes people. The data were collected using pre-tested structured interview schedule prepared for the study. The statistical tools like mean, percentage analysis and correlation analysis were used to analyse the data. The salient findings are presented below. Majority of the Kattunaikans (55%) belonged to young category. Most of the Kattunaikans( 52.5%) had only upto 10 cents of land holding. More than 30 per cent of the Kattunaikans had six members in their family. Majority (62.5%) of the respondents were traditional. Ninety two point five per cent of the respondents were politically oriented. Majority (92.5%) of the respondents were least resistant to change. Forty five point eight per cent of the respondents were non users of alcohol. More than 90 percent of the respondents were modern. Majority (69.2%) of the respondents had a positive attitude towards developmental interventions. In the case of Human capital, it was observed that 50.8 per cent of the respondents were illiterate. More than three fourth (85%) of the respondents were included in the high hygiene category. Majority (63.3%) were having high addictive behaviour. More than half (61.7%) of the respondents were having poor health care seeking behavior. Majority (92.5%) of the respondents were taking unbalanced diet. Human capital was estimated as 51.6. With respect to Physical capital it was found out that More than 50 per cent of the respondents were having concrete houses. Exactly 42.5 per cent of the respondents were having houses with good condition. More than 40 percent of the respondents were having Material possession of only 1000-5000 rupees. Forty per cent of the respondents were having no livestock possession. More than half (69.2%) of the households have in-house toilet facility. Sixty per cent of the respondents were having electric connectivity in their houses. Majority (74.2%) of the respondents have to go up to 500m for collecting water. Physical capital was estimated as 59.9 Annual income of the respondents ranges from Rs.6200 to Rs.96000.The average annual income was found to be Rs 22435/-. The mean expenditure was found out as Rs.20605.83/-. Only 24.2 percent of the respondents were having savings. Only 4.2 percent had a debt for an average amount of Rs. 9000. Financial capital was estimated as 59.6. The poverty gap was estimated as Rs. 20242. More than 90 per cent of the respondents are trapped in poverty. The study indicated that53.3 per cent of the respondents belong to the low social participation category. Majority (60.9%) of the respondents were having a good social relationship. Social capital was estimated as 50.6 With respect to gross cropped area, 50 per cent of the respondents were in the category of ‘very low’. More than half (56.7%) of the respondents depend heavily on natural resources for their livelihood. Natural capital Index was found out as 35.9. The Livelihood Capital Index was obtained as 51.5. More than three fourth (77.5%) of the respondents were having medium livelihood capital index The respondents were mostly deprived of cultivable land in the forest, income, land, employment, recreation, nutrition, clothing and food. Nearly half (50.84%) of the respondents were in the low social exclusion category. The relationship between independent and dependent variables revealed that landholding showed positive significant relationship with Livelihood capital. Attitude showed negative significant relationship with Deprivation. Change resistance showed positive significant relationship and modernization showed negative relationship with social exclusion. Extent of deprivation is negatively and significantly correlated with Human capital, Social capital and Financial capital. The most important constraint faced by the tribes people is the absence of title deeds. Landless and inadequate land for cultivation, alcoholism and smoking, growing unemployment, wild animal menace and scarcity of drinking water were the other important constraints faced by the Kattunaikan tribe in livelihood security. Kattunikans have to be developed by considering their culture and tradition. From the study it is clear that even though they were having an inclination towards their values, they are getting modernised. It can be said that they are in a transition stage. They are less empowered. Empowerment through education is essential. Illiteracy, income deprivation and associated ill effects are very much prevalent among them. So educational development by utilizing the educated Kattunaikans as teachers, establishment of value addition units of forest produces and in the settlements especially for women and contributory savings schemes (through co-operative societies) have to be established.ThesisItem Open Access Social exclusion of tribal agricultural labourers; the case of paniya tribe of wayanad(Department Of Agricultural Extension, College Of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2013) Anoop, R J; KAU; Anil Kumar, APaniya tribes of Wayanad are the most backward among the vulnerable groups of Kerala. Their economy is traditional in nature, depending mainly on land and forest. On accounting the land utilisation pattern of Wayanad district has drastically changed owing to massive in-migration of people from the plains to these areas in search of land for cultivation and for starting plantations. Inappropriate implementation of schemes and lack of adequate technological support resulted in a drastic decline in the economy of the tribespeople resulting in their exclusion and deprivation. This study entitled "Social Exclusion of tribal agricultural labourers: A case of Paniya tribe of Wayanad" was an attempt to analyse the Social exclusion and their deprivation. The study was conducted in Wayanad district of Kerala. A sample of 90 tribespeople were selected randomly from three blocks of Wayanad district viz, Panamaram. Noolpuzha and Kaniyambetta. The study indicated that most of the tribespeople belonged to the middle age group, 48 per cent of the tribespeople. Among the respondents 82 per cent were illiterate and only 9% of the tribes had schooling. 89 per cent of the tribespeople had high level of environmental orientation and 100 per cent of them consume alcohol. The study revealed that the Paniya tribespeople had landholdings only up to 10 cents. 76% of the tribespeople had an area of 4-6 cents. It was identified that 67 per cent of the tribes do not use the land on lease and 21 per cent of the tribes had leased landholding of 3-4 cents. From the study it was found that 47 per cent of the tribes had an income ranging from Rs.3001-Rs.4000. The indebtedness as indicated 50 per cent have a debt amount ranging Rs.1000- Rs.2000. From the result it was revealed that 84 per cent of the tribes live in brick or laterite walled tile house. 65 per cent of the tribespeople live in a poor conditioned home. Classification of tribespeople based on social exclusion reveals that 54 per cent of the tribespeople have felt social exclusion and 46 per cent of them is do not feel they are socially excluded. On classifying the tribespeople based on deprivation it was found that 100 per cent of the Paniya tribespeople felt that they were deprived of the social functioning.ThesisItem Open Access Analysis of constraints and strategies for scaling up of precision farming in Kerala(Department Of Agricultural Extension, College Of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2013) Sadam, Hanjabam; KAU; Prakash, RThe study entitled “Analysis of constraints and strategies for scaling up of precision farming in Kerala” was an attempt to critically analyse the attitude of the farmers towards PF technology, assess the extent of adoption, identify the constraints and formulate strategies for scaling up of PF in Kerala. Ninety farmers consisting of 60 precision farmers (banana and vegetables) and 30 conventional farmers were randomly selected from Chittur block in Palakkad district of Kerala. 12 independent variables, two dependent variables and 30 constraints were studied and analysed with the help of different scales and techniques. A well-structured pre tested interview schedule was used for collection of data from the respondents. The study indicated that 80 per cent of the precision farmers belonged to old age group. Majority of the farmers had more than 25 years of farming experience. Precision farmers had a higher level of information seeking behaviour, risk and scientific orientation. More than 50 per cent of the precision farmers had attended more than 10 trainings. Conventional farmers had better market perception and were more economic orientated. However precision farmers were more innovative. Majority of the respondents had moderately favourable attitude towards PF practices and had medium level of adoption. The most important constraints experienced by both categories of respondents were rainfall and other meteorological problem and high cost of inputs. Non-availability of inputs, lack of technical skill , inadequate size of landholdings , lack of marketing facilities, heavy fluctuation in commodity price, high labour charges were other constraints of importance. Provision of a panel of multidisciplinary specialists for full time technical advice and a technical officer for implementation of the scheme was one suggestion. Developments of a market support system, F1 hybrids suiting to Kerala etc., were other measures. Besides, some extension strategies like shifting of PF from technology push to application driven approach, providing technologies through rental services , strengthening the relationship among IT, ICT, biotechnology and PF , development of a Decision Support System ( DSS) etc., are suggested which may help to scale up PF in Kerala.ThesisItem Open Access Farm telecast in Kerala - a critical appraisal(Department Of Agricultural Extension, College Of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2013) Sobha, S; KAU; Seema, BThis study entitled ‘Farm Telecast in Kerala – a Critical Appraisal’ was carried out in fifteen panchayats of Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and Alappuzha districts. The main objectives of the study were to study the farm telecast viewing behaviour of farmers and correlate their socio – psychological characteristics with it, content analysis of agricultural programmes, compare the programmes of different Malayalam channels on the basis of content, mode of telecast, time, duration and frequency .Suggest steps to improve the efficiency of farm programmes. The data were collected using the pre tested interview schedule from 90 respondents and analysed using suitable statistical tools. The suggestions for improving the programme were collected from 60 respondents comprising of agricultural scientists, extension agents, producers and members of post-production team. The major findings of the study indicate that 51.11 per cent of the farmers surveyed were viewing the agricultural programmes more than twice a week. Majority (68.89%) of the farmers completely and 62.22 per cent keenly viewed all the programmes. Majority of farmers were taking down notes of programmes. Most of the respondents (60.44%) sometimes discussed the programmes with other progressive farmers, extension agents and friends. Majority of the respondents were either regularly or sometimes clarifying their doubts with extension personnel’s or progressive farmers. Most of the farmers(53.33%) had medium level of viewing behaviour. Majority of the farmers preferred to view 45 minutes programme in the evening for more than five days a week. Success story was the most preferred mode. Above fifty per cent of the farmers preferred viewing the agricultural programmes telecast by Doordarshan, Asianet, Kairali and Jai hind channels in that order. Age, educational status, occupation, farming experience had no significant relationship; innovativeness, economic motivation, risk orientation, cosmopoliteness, scientific orientation, achievement motivation, social participation, mass media exposure, extension contact, extension participation and information source utilization were significantly and positively related to viewing behavior. Sixty five per cent of the variation in viewing behaviour was accounted by six variables. Content analysis revealed that agriculture was the main subject matter followed by animal husbandry. Documentary and success story modes were used with government officials and farmers as the main information sources. Majority of the farmers perceived the farm programmes to be fairly effective. Strategy for improvement of the farm programmes include telecasting a wide range of location specific and need based programmes in demonstration and success stories modes with increased participation of farmers. Telecast 45 minutes to one hour programme in the evening between 7pm - 9pm with prior announcement of the programme details as done by AIR. Based on the objectives of the study it can be concluded that majority of the farmers perceived that the farm programmes telecast by Doordarshan, Asianet, Kairali and Jai hind TV to be fairly effective and they preferred to have 45 minutes to one hour duration programme in success story/demonstration mode on all days of the week between 7-9 PM on current topics. The implication is that the audience research wing of the channels needs to be strengthened so that the programmes can be tailor made to suit the needs of the farming community.ThesisItem Open Access Management options for the Kole wetland ecosystem through stakeholder studies(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2013) Lakhsmi Shilpa, V; KAU; Jayasree, KrishnankuttyWetland management strategy is not very scientifically drawn in India. In Kerala, state policies do not reflect the conservation element. The kole wetlands are central Kerala’s unique rice production ecosystem. The ecosystem significance of the area is evidenced by its inclusion as a Ramsar site, and recently, they have been considered a separate high value biodiversity area. The development policies so far do not uphold the provisions for ecosystem protection of the wetlands. Covering visible interests of the stakeholders, policy makers touch the politically correct options alone. The marginalised and voiceless stakeholders mostly lose their interests and so do the ecological concerns, with no one to project them. This study aimed to come out with policy suggestions as to how wetland conservation without sacrificing the human economic activity can be carried out which will inform management plans for the wetlands in the long run. The study has been conducted in six randomly selected panchayats, three from each of Thrissur kole and Ponnani kole, which were Arimpur, Paralam and Thanniyam from Thrissur kole and Kattakampal, Perumpadappu and Nannamukku from Ponnani kole. Major Stakeholder groups were identified using the snow ball sampling technique. The major stakeholder groups identified were farmers, government departments, agricultural labourers, input agencies, cooperatives, marketing agencies and NGOs. Stakeholder interactions and information from secondary data led to the development of structural and functional relationships among the stakeholder groups. Farmers’ awareness regarding various ecosystem services provided by the kole lands was studied. The ecosystem functions provided by the kole lands have been categorised into seven such as hydrological, chemical, recreational, biological, environmental, socio-economic and other functions. Awareness of the respondents of the Thrissur and Ponnani koles was analysed and stakeholders from both koles were commonly aware of 14 services. Preferences of the stakeholders regarding resource use of the kole lands were studied using a five point continuum. The major preferences lay in the premises of livelihood provision, food production, water conservation, role as a natural resource base, water storage, soil nutrient regulation and provision of leisure activities. Stakeholders’ perspectives were elaborately studied by concept mapping procedure. The perspectives were classified into production, environmental, socio-economic and ancillary services. Multidimensional scaling was used to develop a map where each perspective is a point on the map. Proximity values of the perspectives were considered to interpret the output. As a result similar perspectives were grouped into one cluster. Concepts in the clusters were suitably labelled. Based on all the analyses done, management options for the kole lands were developed. The important ones were neededs for promotion of more than one crop in kole, need for integrated farming, proper maintenance of water ways, promotion of organic measures, education of farmers on water conservation measures and the like. The study points towards the need for extensive measures for problem identification and management in kole lands to sustain them as a major rice producing area in Kerala.ThesisItem Open Access Development and validation of a web interface for research management in Kerala Agricultural University(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2013) Shely, Mary Koshy; KAU; Sakeer, Husain AKerala Agricultural University (KAU) is the prime organisation in Kerala involved in agricultural research. Research activities in KAU are organised and conducted at six Regional Research Stations, 16 Research Stations, some specialised centres of research and studies, Instructional Farms, and in the laboratories of various departments of the colleges. It is very difficult to manage and monitor all these research projects by the research administration in KAU without a Management Information System (MIS). A web interface which can be integrated with a data base will solve this problem to a large extent. The present study entitled “Development and validation of web interface for research management in Kerala Agricultural University” was taken up in this background to identify the information needs of researchers and research administrators, to develop a web interface for research management and to conduct an end user assessment of the developed web interface. Sixty researchers and 30 research administrators were selected for the study. Thirteen research need domains were identified and there were 77 information need items under 13 domains. The study showed that there was significant concordance in the rating/ ranking of the information needs by researchers under all domains. The information needs mostly needed by the researchers included information on different sections in the DR’s office that deals with different project categories, collaboration the university has with other agencies, areas of specialization of scientists of KAU, guidelines for submission of progress of project to the funding agencies, guidelines for submitting project proposals to funding agencies, various facilities available in the university for research, formalities to be undergone to avail these facilities, updated statistics of Indian agriculture, updated statistics of Kerala agriculture, sources of getting research materials like inputs/ equipment for doing research, 105 information on online journals, status of project proposals submitted, and abstracts of research results. The research administrators’ major information needs included information on area of specialization of scientists of KAU, research stations/centres in KAU, information on different sections in the DR’s office that deals different project categories, chairpersons and members of PC groups, thrust area of each PC group, contact details of scientists of KAU, formalities for getting/giving administrative sanction and technical sanction, agencies from whom funds are received in KAU, guidelines for submission of progress of project to the funding agencies, areas of specialization of different funding agencies, updated statistics of Kerala agriculture, popular journals in agriculture, research works presently undergoing in KAU, information on PG and Ph.D. research works, status of project proposals submitted, detailed report of projects, abstract reports of the research work completed, details of research results, technologies commercialized, technologies for commercialization, and technologies recently developed. The significant difference, if any, among researchers and research administrators on each of the information needs were also assessed using Mann-Whitney U test. In addition, the details on individual projects to be included in the Management Information System (MIS) required for research management, additional links/labels in the web interface, the preferred format of presentation of the website, the facilities and services for doing research in KAU that are to be included in the web interface were also identified. Based on the above analysis, a web interface was developed as a prototype of the website for Directorate of Research. The interface was developed using HTML and designed with a simple cascade style sheet. There are 18 links in the homepage with a total of 103 web pages. The end user assessment of the web interface revealed that among the six design elements such as ‘home page’, ‘navigation’, ‘organization’, ‘links and labels’ and ‘readability’ that were used to assess the web 106 interface, the readability of the web interface needed more improvement. The constraints in using the web interface as well as suggestions for improvement and scaling up of the interface were also elicited. The prototype developed as part of the study will be handed over to the Directorate of Research, KAU for content enrichment as per the suggestions of the study.ThesisItem Open Access Performance analysis of vegetable and fruit promotion council keralam (VFPCK)(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2013) Sayooj, V; KAU; Kaleel, F M HVegetable and Fruit Promotion Council, Keralam (VFPCK) was established in the state to bring many fold improvements in the field production and marketing of fruits and vegetables employing the farmer participatory approach through Self Help Groups(SHGs). The SHGs are the back bone of VFPCK. SHGs are groups of farmers with identified common objectives, tasks, group identities and neighbourhoods. The Council is moulding the SHGs as the basic level institutional units for introducing innovative intervention in horticulture. VFPCK has a different approach in extension management in comparison to the traditional extension system mainly followed by State Department of Agriculture. It has its unique and own management approach with a participatory and intimate style. Hence a study becomes very important to analyse the managing / coaching for performance improvement of SHG farmers. The research programme was designed to study the performance of the Self Help Groups of the VFPCK with a view to suggest measures for improvement of the work efficiency. The main objective was to study the managing / coaching for performance improvement of SHG farmers. The study aimed to delineate the reward and recognition activities prevailing in the Organisation. It was also envisaged to conduct a detailed case documentation with a built in SWOC analysis on a model Swasraya Karshaka Samithi (SKS) Finally, the study aimed to suggest suitable policy measures for improvement of the work efficiency of VFPCK. The study was limited to three districts of Kerala viz., Thrissur, Palakkad and Ernakulam. There were two categories of respondents. Ninety six farmers (36 master farmers and 60 beneficiary farmers) and 29 Assistant Managers constituted the samples. The data were collected using separate pre-structured and pre-tested interview schedules. The case analysis of the model Swasraya Karshaka Samithi (SKS) was done in Anappara SKS at Chalakkudi for which focussed group workshop was employed. Analytical tools such as Percentage analysis and Kendal’s coefficient of concordance were used. The performance rating of Self Help Groups of VFPCK was observed to be 74.04, which shows 74 per cent effectiveness in performance. The performance of SHGs was found to be comparatively good in terms of ‘regularity of SHG meetings’ 132 (80.97), ‘knowledge of farmers in vegetable / banana cultivation’ (78.71) and group cohesiveness (76.57). The performance rating of service support from VFPCK was found to be 78.20 per cent. High performance rating was registered for ‘increased marketing facility’ (89.50) followed by ‘accessibility to credit’ (79.30). Further, majority of the farmers changed from partial to full adoption of technologies in banana and vegetable cultivation in most of the agricultural practices. There was 60.13 per cent rating for the socioeconomic empowerment of farmers brought about by VFPCK. The socio-economic empowerment was comparatively high in the case of ‘increased income from agriculture’ (71.52% rating) followed by ‘increased social participation’ (69.77% rating), where as it was the lowest in the case of ‘increased savings’ with a rating of 33.65 per cent only. The performance rating of the coaching support to farmers by Assistant Managers was observed to be 78.11 per cent. However, the farmers (52.20 %) rated the farmer motivational practices in VFPCK as poor. There was 61.97 per cent rating for the employee motivational measures in VFPCK, where in the ‘performance appraisal’ measures were rated high (70.68%) and the promotional opportunity was rated as low (53.16 %). The recognition and respect the Assistant Managers get from farmers was perceived as the most satisfying item with a rating of 80.68 per cent. However, the Assistant Managers were least satisfied because of the present job insecurity. The case analysis done in Anappara SKS at Chalakkudi revealed that active SHGs, farmers involved in commercial cultivation, elimination of middle men, and increased bargaining power are its strengths. Lack of enough storage facility was the only major weakness the SKS had. Many measures like proper provision of storage and processing facilities in all the SKSs, measures to improve farmer and group recognition based on performance, and redefining area of operation for Assistant Managers for enhancing efficiency of operation are required at policy level to improve the effectiveness of VFPCKThesisItem Open Access Techno socio-economic characterization of specialized homegardens: a dominance-diversity approach(Department of Agricultural Extension , College of Agriculture, Vellayani, Thiruvananthapuram, 2013) Rahul, Krishnan; KAU; Allan, ThomasThis study entitled ‘Techno socio-economic characterization of specialized homegardens: a dominance-diversity approach’ was conducted at Palakkad, Thrissur, and Ernakulam districts covering 30 homegardens with 10 each from each district. It examines the structural configuration and its functional dynamics, delineates the technology gaps cum dimensions of technologies as perceived by farmers, investigates the cost-benefit analysis and cultural importance, evaluates selected aspects of women's participation in homegarden activities and constraints experienced by the specialized homegarden farmers. In this study Specialized homegardens are operationally defined as a special type of sustainable agricultural production system practised around the home with or without extended garden, with homegarden primary structure supplemented with specialized components like sericulture, apiculture, aquaculture, etc. making way for the homegardens to be categorized as subsistence with subsidiary commercial interest and/or made for a particular purpose to the extent that it becomes visibly different from the general types of the traditional types of homegarden farming system. The structural configuration and functional dynamics were identified using the measure of dominance, measure of Shannon and Wiener diversity index and the extent of horizontal and vertical integration in the specialized homegardens. 5-7 major crop dominance was observed and eighty per cent of the specialized homegardens had more than four tier horizontal diversification and ‘two’ levels of vertical diversification for economically dominant crop and around ‘three’ levels for specialized components. The economics of specialized homegardens revealed no significance between the benefit-cost ratios of the different specialized components, which suggests that the benefit is independent of the type of specialization. Also, more than 70 per cent of the respondents felt that middlemen were useful and essential in the marketing of homegarden produce but majority did not prefer middlemen in marketing of produce from specialized components. Technology gap assessment as perceived by the respondents using a Chi- square test revealed that, the distribution had the same technology needs (χ2= 0.598). Ten dimensions were felt important by all categories of respondents and an additional six dimensions perceived by the farmers were found to fall out of the ambit of extension and scientific community which was yet to be bridged. It was found that there were significant differences in the role of women in specialized homegarden activities. The foremost constraint identified was low price of the homegarden produce which was on par with the constraint ‘surplus produces but insufficient for marketing’. To conclude, primarily a system with dominance has been developed which is again derived from diversity index and extent of horizontal versus vertical diversification which will help in enumerating the commodity and non commodity nature of crops and hence enable better planning of homegardens for increased profit without depleting the biodiversity of specialized homegardens. Techno socio-economic dimensions of specialized homegardens were prioritized wherein 10 dimensions were felt important by all categories of respondents and six dimensions felt important by the farmers were not perceived to be important either by the Scientists or Agricultural Officers that needs to be addressed. Strategies like cluster marketing, group marketing and pooled marketing should be planned and implemented to overcome the constraints of the low price of produce and surplus insufficient for marketing to make this important production a durable and sustainable system.