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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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Subject: Agricultural Processing and Food Engineering × Author: Aswathy, M S × Author: KAU × Type: Thesis ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Development and performance evaluation of a rubber tapping machine
    (Department of Food and Agricultural Process Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2018) Aswathy, M S; KAU; George Mathew
    Hevea brasiliensis, the common rubber tree, is the most important species which is the commercial source of natural rubber. The natural rubber is harvested in the form of latex, a sticky, milky colloid through the tapping process. The Hevea latex obtained from the bark of rubber tree contains natural rubber particles that can be harvested and utilised for various industrial applications. Tapping is the process of making a controlled wound in the bark of rubber tree to cut open the latex vessels, which cause the flow of latex for capturing the latex. The process of rubber tapping poses potential risk of various health problems among rubber workers. Scarcity of skilled labours for rubber tapping is one of the main challenges in the rubber industry. Mechanization of the tapping process can reduce the effort of the labour and reduces the human drudgery. Hence, the present study was undertaken to develop a rubber tapping machine and to evaluate the performance of the machine. The developed rubber tapping machine consists of a cutting blade, shaft, connecting rod, crank, gear assembly, bearing, coupling, frame, casing, motor and a battery. The rubber tapping machine is connected to a 12 V, 5 Ah battery. The battery powers the motor. 0.25 hp wiper motor was used and it delivers a rotational speed of 72 rpm. The rotary motion of the motor is transmitted to the gear assembly using a gear shaft. The gear of 48 teeth which is connected with the motor rotates at 72 rpm. The speed is increased to 288 rpm by meshing gear of 48 teeth with 12 teeth gear to obtain a speed ratio of 4. A crank is attached to the gear of 12 teeth and rotates at 288 rpm. A connecting rod linking the shaft and the crank converts this rotary motion into reciprocating motion of the shaft. The required stroke is achieved by an eccentricity of 15 mm in the connecting rod. The blade is reciprocated along with the shaft with a stroke length of 30 mm and 144 strokes per minute. The reciprocating motion of the cutting blade helps to cut the bark of the rubber tree while tapping. The field evaluation of the developed machine was conducted in two farmer’s field by three tappers and the performance of the was evaluated in terms of its capacity, depth of cut of bark, bark consumption or thickness of cut of bark, time for tapping operations and weight of the machine and compared with manual tapping. The developed machine has an average capacity of about 157 trees per hour. The machine cuts the bark with an average depth of cut of 7.2 mm and a thickness of cut of 1.8 mm. The developed machine weighs 1.6 kg without the power source and 3.6 kg with power source. The cost of operation of rubber tapping machine is estimated as Rs.1.16/tree whereas the manual tapping charges are Rs. 2/tree. The developed rubber tapping machine is more advantageous for tapping the rubber trees with less effort and human drudgery compared with the traditionally using tapping knives.