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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: Agriculture × Author: KAU × Author: Milsha George × End date: 2019 × Start date: 2018 × Type: Thesis × Thesis Type: Ph.D ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Characterization of Mycosphaerella spp. causing sigatoka leaf spot disease complex of banana in Kerala and its management
    (Department of Plant Pathology College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2019) Milsha George; KAU; Anita Cherian, K
    Sigatoka leaf spot disease complex caused by Mycosphaerella spp. is a serious constraint to banana cultivation in Kerala. The present study was undertaken to characterize the associated pathogen and to develop an integrated management package against this disease. The project initiated with purposive sampling surveys conducted in various districts representing different agroclimatic zones of Kerala viz. Malappuram (Northern zone), Palakkad (Northern zone), Thrissur (Central zone), Ernakulam (Central zone), Wayanad (High range zone) and Trivandrum (Southern zone). The percent disease severity (PDS) ranged from 3.33 to 43.90%. The correlation analysis of PDS with weather parameters showed a positive correlation with rainfall however, it was found to be negatively correlated with temperature. The study on symptomatology revealed that there were six types of symptoms noticed on banana var. Nendran (AAB), two types each on Palayankodan (AAB) and Njalipoovan (AB), while only one type of symptom was recorded on Robusta (AAA) and Kadali (AA). Isolation of the pathogen could be achieved on potato dextrose agar medium after 10- 12 days of incubation at very specific conditions. The fungal colony was slightly raised with irregular margin and greyish velvety appearance. Studies on morphological structures revealed that the conidia were hyaline to olivaceous brown in colour which measured about 24.29 - 71.89 µm length x 0.91 - 2.40 µm width with 3-8 septations. The sexual structures were flask shaped perithecia containing long asci bearing eight ascospores. Based on cultural and morphological characters, the pathogen was identified as Mycosphaerella eumusae. The identity of the pathogen was further confirmed by PCR based molecular characterization. In silico analysis of the sequences of the isolates showed 99 -100% homology to Mycosphaerella eumusae. Hence, it is concluded that the pathogen associated with Sigatoka leaf spot disease of banana in Kerala is identified as Mycosphaerella eumusae Crous & Mourichon (anamorph Pseudocercospora eumusae Crous & Mourichon). The screening of accessions maintained in the Germplasm of Banana Research Station, Kannara was done to assess their disease reaction and were grouped into six categories. Five resistant varieties viz., Pisang Lilin, BRS 1, BRS 2, FHIA 01 and FHIA 23 and susceptible varieties viz., Nendran, Grand Naine, Robusta, Moris and Kadali were further selected to investigate the anatomical, biochemical and molecular basis of host plant resistance. Anatomical studies revealed that the resistant varieties were characterized by thicker cuticle, epidermis and mesophyll tissues compared to the susceptible varieties. The number of stomata and the stomatal pore width were more in susceptible varieties compared to the resistant varieties. The biochemical basis of resistance was assessed by quantifying phenols, reducing sugars, non reducing sugars and the activity of defense related enzymes viz., peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase and phenylalanine ammonia lyase in both resistant and susceptible varieties. The results revealed that the phenols, reducing sugars and the defense related enzymes were higher in resistant varieties compared to susceptible ones. The amplification of genomic DNA of resistant and susceptible varieties using Sequence characterized amplified region (SCAR) markers yielded an amplicon of size 644bp in resistant cultivars while the bands were absent in susceptible cultivar. The BLASTn analysis of the sequence of the amplicons showed 90 per cent sequence homology to genomic sequences of Kanthali SCAR marker OPA1363 which is tightly linked to Sigatoka leaf spot disease resistance. Field experiments were conducted to evaluate the efficacy of chemical fungicides and organic / inorganic preparations for disease management. Among the various chemical fungicides, foliar spraying with trifloxystrobin (25%) + tebuconazole (50%), 0.4g/l) was found to be the best followed by copper hydroxide, hexaconazole (5%) + captan (70%), 2g/l) and Bordeaux mixture (1%), without leaving any toxic residues in the harvested fruits. The results of the experiment on disease management using organic / inorganic preparations revealed the effectiveness of PGPR mix II (consortium of Pseudomonas fluorescens and Bacillus subtilis), 2% followed by Pseudomonas fluorescens (2%) given as foliar spray. It is concluded that the present study has enlightened our knowledge on the etiology and management of Sigatoka leaf spot disease of banana cultivation in Kerala.