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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 Statistics and Informatics × Author: Dhanesh, N J × Start date: 2013 × Type: Thesis ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Formation and efficient estimation of stochastic frontier production functions
    (Department of Agricultural Statistics,College of Horticulture Vellanikkara, Thrissur-680 656, 2013) Dhanesh, N J; KAU; Krishnan, S
    Technological change and efficiency improvement are important sources of productivity growth in any economy. The concept of technical efficiency (TE) is based on input and output relationships. Technical inefficiency arises when actual or observed output from a given input mix is less than a possible mix. The analysis of technical efficiency involves the assessment of the degree to which the production technologies are utilized. The present investigation on “Formation and efficient estimation of stochastic frontier production functions” was carried out in the Department of Agricultural Statistics, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara during 2010-13, to assess the present economics of pepper cultivation, to formulate new stochastic frontier production functions and to compare them. The secondary data collected from the Department of Plantation Crops and Spices, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara on area of holdings, number of vines, yield, expenses for machinary, labour, manure, and other expenses for the cultivation of pepper in the three blocks viz; Mananthavady, Kalpetta and Bathery were used for the analysis. The summary statistics revealed that irrespective of the blocks, the expenditure on labour was the highest followed by expenditure on manure and it was increasing according to the increase in age of plants. For the stochastic frontier production model to be realistic, exact measurement of the cost of the inputs as also the realized output is extremely necessary. Very few farmers keep records of the expenditure incurred on the various inputs and very rarely the output realized. Vegetable crops have a short duration. So the farmer will be in a position to give realistic figures regarding the various inputs as also the outputs. As regards plantation crops, there will be a lag right from establishment of the crop to the steady bearing stage. Therefore, it will be very difficult to trace back the exact cost, as no records would be available about the costs incurred. A rapid estimation survey is the only feasibility where in simultaneous estimation of the costs involved at from the nursery through the various stages of growth can be observed. Since a farmer who is already having a steady bearing crop, would have incurred lesser costs through the previous stages of growth of the crop, it is most feasible to use the concept of present worth to arrive at exact costs of previous stages of the crop. The stochastic frontier analysis was done using the present value (PV) as also with the present cost. The stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) was done for all the three blocks compounding all the costs starting from the nursery stage (First age group) up to the steady bearing stage (Fourth age group) using PV. The mean technical efficiency was observed to be 0.93, 0.91 and 0.94 for Mananthavady, Kalpetta and Bathery Blocks respectively. The stochastic frontier approach for each age group by pooling over the blocks, were also worked out using PV and it revealed a mean technical efficiency of 0.95 and 0.92 for the plantations in the third and fourth age groups respectively. To assess the factors influencing technical efficiency, the regression of TE on the factors like area of holdings, number of vines, cost for implements and machinary, labour, manure and other expenses was fitted for each block. About 91 per cent of the variation in technical efficiency could be explained using these variables. When the area of holdings increased, the technical efficiency seemed to decrease. With proper labour management, the technical efficiency can be significantly improved.