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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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2001 - 200923
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Subject: Agriculture × End date: 2009 × Start date: 2001 × Type: Thesis × Thesis Type: M.Sc ×
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Now showing 1 - 9 of 23
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Divergence studies in salad cucumber (cucumis sativus L)
    (Department of Olericulture, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2006) Smitha Sara, Abraham; KAU; Gopalakrishnan, T R
    The present investigation on “ Divergence studies in salad cucumber (Cucumis sativus L)” was conducted at College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, Thrissur during December 2005- April 2006. Twenty-eight salad cucumber genotypes collected from different parts of India were utilized for the study. The extent of variability, correlation between yield and its component characters, path analysis and divergence among 28 genotypes were assessed. The 28 genotypes were significantly different for 15 characters studied. The genotype Phule Himangi (20.22 kg/plot) emerged as high yielder followed by AAUC 2 (15.11 kg/plot). Selection of plants based on yield/plot was observed to be efficient than selection of component characters. All the accessions were prickled on the surface. All were monoecious and produced yellow flowers. Most of the genotypes produced light green fruits whereas Phule Himangi produced white stout fruits. Genotypes CS 25 and CS 35 were comparatively free from biotic factors except mosaic and serpentine leaf miner. Total yield per plot showed positive correlation with fruits per plant, duration of crop and number of harvests. Negative correlation was observed between total yield per plot and number of branches. It is clear from the study that, for obtaining higher yield characters like fruits per plant, duration of crop, number of harvests etc should be considered in the selection programme. Fruits per plant had maximum positive direct effect on total yield per plot. Higher positive effects for days to first male flower anthesis was observed on total yield per plot. The genotypes were grouped into 5 clusters based on Mahalanobis D2 statistics. Cluster I, II, III, IV and V contained 13,8,4,2,1 genotypes respectively. Inter-cluster distance was maximum between cluster II and V (48733.77) and minimum between cluster I and III (8415.55). Cluster V showed maximum average inter-cluster distance with any another cluster.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Product development in drumstik (Moringa oleifera Lam.)
    (Department of Processing Technology, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2006) Minonti, Pait; KAU; Philipose, Joshua
    The present investigation entitled “Product development in Drumstick (Moringa oleifera Lam.)” was carried out at the Department of Processing Technology, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, Thiruvananthapuram during the period 2005-2006. The objective of the study was to develop and standardize new products, to evaluate the quality and shelf life of the new product and to assess the consumer acceptance of the new products. Four products namely Dried pulp, Pulp powder, Dried pieces of fruits and Bottled pieces in brine had been developed and standardized. All the products were evaluated based on biochemical, shelf life and organoleptic qualities at the time of preparation as well as during storage. Ascorbic acid content in all the four products including three dried products and one bottled product were found to decrease with increase in storage period. Ascorbic acid content was found to be highest in dried pulp when stored in glass bottles, as compared to other three. All other biochemical quality attributes viz., fibre, fat, protein, vitamin A and total carbohydrate were found to decrease with increase in storage period in all the four products developed. Fibre, fat and total carbohydrate content were found more in all the three dried products than those in fresh drumstick fruits. But in case of bottled fruit pieces in brine it was found to be more or less similar to that of fresh one. Bottled fruit pieces in brine had high vitamin A content as compared to all other dried products. Regarding the storage studies and organoleptic quality, all the three dried products viz., dried pulp, pulp powder, dried pieces of fruits remained in good condition for upto six months, if properly packed. bottled fruit pieces in brine were good only upto four months. So the lowest shelf life was found to be for bottled fruit pieces in brine. Dried pulp was found more acceptable with regard to appearance, colour, flavour, taste and texture which is followed by pulp powder and dried pieces of fruits among the dried products. But after reconstitution dried pieces of fruits were found more acceptable. Bottled fruit pieces in brine were more acceptable with regard to appearance, colour and taste. The organoleptic qualities in all the four products decreased with increase in storage period. From the above study it is concluded that under-exploited crops like drumstick especially drumstick fruit can be utilized to develop many value added products like dried pulp, pulp powder, dried pieces of fruits and bottled fruit pieces in brine. And suitable packaging material should be developed in order to make these products to last long to make it attractive to the consumer.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Morphological and cyto-molecular characterisation of Dendrobium Sw.cultivars
    (Department of Pomology and Floriculture,College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2005) Krishnapriya, M; KAU; Sabina George, T
    The research project “Morphological and cyto-molecular characterization of Dendrobium Sw. cultivars” was carried out at the Department of Pomology and Floriculture and the Department of Plant Biotechnology, College of Agriculture, Vellayani during 2003-2004. The objective of the study was to evaluate the growth and inflorescence production in Dendrobium varieties to carry out cyto-molecular characterization of Dendrobium varieties. Twelve varieties of Dendrobium of near flowering size plants were evaluated for their morphological and cyto-molecular characterization. The twelve Dendrobium varieties differed significantly for the morphological characters viz., shoot length, number of offshoots, shoot girth, leaf area, rate of shoot elongation, internodal length, flower colour, length of inflorescence, number of flowers per inflorescence, length of flower column and pedicel, thickness of inflorescence and leaf orientation. Significant varietal difference were observed among the twelve Dendrobium varieties for shoot length, shoot girth, internodal length of shoots, number of flowers, number of stomata on the adaxial and abaxial surface of the leaves, vase life, fresh and dry weight of inflorescence. High GCV and PCV were observed for shoot length, followed by leaf area, internodal length, length of inflorescence and number of flowers per inflorescence. The stomata on the surface of the leaf recorded ever highest GCV and PCV among all the characters. The shape of stomata ranged from oval shape to perfect round shape. Highest heritability values were recorded for number of stomata on the upper surface of the leaf. The genetic advance percentage was found highest for length of flowers column. In correlation studies, high positive phenotypic correlation was observed between number of flowers per inflorescence and length of inflorescence. The length of column had significant positive correlation with number of leaves, length of inflorescence, thickness of inflorescences and length of flower pedicel. Ranking of the varieties were done based on the value of selection indices. The variety V8 ranked first among the 12 Dendrobium varieties used in the experiment. The second and third ranks were gained by the varieties V4 and V1 respectively. The lowest rank i.e., the 12th rank was obtained by the variety V6. So from the selection index values, the variety V8 is the best one. DNA isolated from 12 varieties of Dendrobium was subjected to RAPD analysis. Among the 31 decamer primers, 24 yielded amplification products. By characterizing the 12 varieties of Dendrobium using morphological and cyto-molecular methods revealed that morphologically distinct and superior lines were genetically differentiable. Also the RAPD analysis gave a perfect differentiation of the varieties which is in line with morphological characterization.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Organic nutrient management in chethikkoduveli (Plumbago rosea L.)
    (Department of Plantation Crops and Spices, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2005) Nihad, K; KAU; Jessykutty, P C
    A field experiment was conducted at Instructional Farm, College of Agriculture, Vellayani during 2004-05 to study the effect of organic manures and microbial inoculants on growth, yield and quality of chethikkoduveli (Plumbago rosea L.), so as to formulate an organic manurial schedule for chethikkoduveli in a coconut based cropping system. The experiment was laid out in RBD with three replications and the treatments included three different combinations of organic manures (FYM, NC and VC), three microbial inoculants (AMF, Azospirillum and Phosphobacteria) and one control (package of practice recommendation of Kerala Agricultural University, 2002). The treatment supplied with FYM (75 % N of POP) and microbial inoculants (T3) recorded highest plant height, leaf area, CGR, specific leaf weight, LAI and HI. Highest HI was recorded by the treatments supplied with FYM and NC supplying 50% N of POP and microbial inoculants (T7), which also had the highest leaf count, fresh weight of plants, total dry matter production and highest fresh and dry root yield per plant. The treatments supplied with organic manures and microbial inoculants recorded better dry root yield. The fresh root yield was the highest for the treatment T7 followed by T3. The highest root length and root girth were recorded by T7 and T3 plants respectively. T3 (FYM supplying 75 % N + mi) plants recorded the highest alcohol soluble extracts and plumbagin content. The application of organic manures and mi at different combinations significantly increased the nutrient uptake of P. rosea. Analysis of the soil samples before and after the experiment revealed that the nutrient supplying capacity of soil and the microbial population had a direct correlation. Soil microbial population was the highest for plots with better yield. From the results it can be concluded that microbial inoculants can be effectively used as nutrient substitutes. In the above treatments 25 % and 50 % of N is substituted by microbial inoculants in T3 and T7 plants respectively. In conclusion, the study revealed that treatments T7 {FYM + NC + mi (50 % N)} and T3 {FYM + mi (75 % N)} had significant effect in enhancing growth, yield and quality of chethikkoduveli (P. rosea). From the point of view of quality (plumbagin content) FYM + mi (75 % N) is found to be the best treatment. Based on the benefit cost ratio, the treatment supplying only 50 % N of POP recommendation through FYM and neem cake along with microbial inoculants can be considered as the best for better root yield, quality and profit in P. rosea when grown as an intercrop in coconut plantations.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Rooting of microshoots and ex vitro establishment of plantlets of bael (Aegle marmelos (L.) Corr.
    (Department of Plantation Cropsand Spices, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2005) Surya D, Aniyan; KAU; Sulekha, G R
    Studies were conducted on “Rooting of microshoots and ex vitro establishment of plantlets of bael (Aegle marmelos (L.) Corr.)” for evolving techniques for in vitro rooting, ex vitro rooting and ex vitro establishment of plantlets of bael during 2003-2005 in the Department of Plantation Crops and Spices and Department of Plant Biotechnology, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, Thiruvananthapuram. The in vitro propagation techniques in bael have already been standardised. The microshoots 3.00 to 5.00 cm long with 3.00 to 4.00 leaves were taken from the cultures of previous study maintained in the Plant Biotechnology Laboratory, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, Thiruvananthapuram. The highest rooting of the microshoots (50.00 per cent) occurred in two treatments namely, MS basal medium supplemented with IBA 2.50 mg l-1, sucrose 30.00 g l-1 and agar 6.00 g l-1 and on the same basal medium supplemented with NAA 1.00 mg l-1, sucrose 30.00 g l-1 and agar 6.00 g l -1. The microshoots took the least number of days (8.00) for root initiation in full strength MS basal medium supplemented with IBA 0.50 mg l-1, sucrose 30.00 g l-1 and agar 6.00 g l-1. The highest number of roots (2.67) was obtained in full strength MS basal medium supplemented with IBA 2.50 mg l-1, sucrose 30.00 g l-1 and agar 6.00 g l-1. The best pre-treatment identified for ex vitro rooting was IBA 1000.00 mg l-1 for 20 s (quick dip) which gave the highest survival rate (50.00 per cent), number of roots (1.67) and length of roots (0.63 cm), compared with IBA 50.00 mg l-1 (slow dip). Different potting media like sand, soilrite, sand and soil (1:1), sand, soil and coirpith (1:1:1) and sand, soil and leafmould (1:1:1) were compared to study their effect on ex vitro establishment.. Sand was found to be the ideal potting media for ex vitro establishment. The highest survival rate (50.00 per cent), leaf number (4.67), plant height (3.67 cm), fresh weight (0.6501 g), dry weight (0.25 g), stomatal conductance (0.1165 cm S-1), leaf area index (0.1370) and crop growth rate (0.0291 mg cm-2 day-1) were obtained when planted out in sand than in other potting media. The effect of VAM (Glomus etunicatum and Glomus fasciculatum) in different potting media were also studied in the ex vitro establishment of plantlets. It was observed that mycorrhiza inoculated plants in a potting media of sand showed higher survival rate (66.67 per cent) than control (50.00 per cent). The highest values for number of leaves (6.00), plant height (4.30 cm), number of roots (2.33), fresh weight (0.6908 g), dry weight (0.2847 g), stomatal conductance (0.0383 cm S-1), leaf area index (0.1478) and crop growth rate (0.9921 mg cm-2 day-1) were obtained for the mycorrhiza treated plantlets in sand, compared to other mycorrhizal treated potting media. In the present investigation, protocols were evolved for the in vitro rooting of microshoots of bael (Aegle marmelos (L.) Corr.). But ex vitro rooting and ex vitro establishment gave only limited success. However, few plantlets could be acclimatized and were transferred to mud pots containing sand, soil and cowdung in the ratio 1:1:1 for observing further growth and establishment.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Cultural management of bacterial wilt in tomato hybrids
    (Department of Olericulture, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2004) Shino Shakthi; KAU; Abdulvahab
    The present investigation on Cultural Management of bacterial wilt in hybrid tomatoes was conducted at the Instructional Farm, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, Thiruvananthapuram during November 2003 to April 2004. Three tomato hybrids were raised in a split plot design with three replications. Seven cultural practices and three hybrids susceptible to bacterial wilt along with a control plot with no treatments were carried out to find suitable cultural management practices for control of bacterial wilt in tomato hybrids. Majority of the yield and yield attributes were significantly influenced by the different treatments, hybrids and their interaction affects. Among the treatments, application of Pseudomonas fluorescens isolate P-I showed the highest yield per plant and highest yield per plot. This treatments also gave the highest plant survival and lowest incidence of bacterial wilt as well as low population count of Ralstonia solanacearum in soil. Application of lime as basal also showed result comparable to that of Pseudomonas fluorescens isolate P-I application. Among the hybrids highest yield per plant and yield per plot was shown by COTH-1. This hybrid also showed highest percentage of plant survival and lowest incidence of bacterial wilt. The worse performing hybrid was Naveen showing poor yield, plant survival, high incidence of bacterial wilt and lowest yield. Fruits per plant, yield per plant and yield per plot showed considerable variation among the treatment combination. The interaction between P. fluorescens isolate P-I and hybrid COTH-1 showed the highest fruits per plant. This treatment combination also showed the highest yield per plant and also per plot yield. The highest plant survival and lowest bacterial wilt incidence was shown by the treatment combination T6V¬3. Their performance was more or less on par with other treatment combination like T1V¬3, T3V¬3 and T7V¬3. The population density of bacteria in the experimental plot also showed a low value for the above mentioned treatment combinations. In the present study the highest yield/plot was recorded for treatment combination T6V¬3 with a high benefit : cost ratio of 3.33 followed by T7V¬3 with a benefit : cost ratio of 2.70.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Productivity management in yard long bean (Vigna unguiculata var. sesquipedalis (L.) Verdcourt) through crop geometry and nutrition
    (Department Of Olericulture, College Of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2005) Preetha, M D; KAU; Narayanankutty, C
    The present investigation entitled "Productivity management in yard long bean (Vigna unguiculata var. sesquipedalis (L.) Verdcourt) through crop geometry and nutrition" was carried out during 2002-2004 at Department of Olericulture, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara. The field experiment was undertaken at Agricultural Research Station, Mannuthy. The experiment was aimed to standardize the optimum spacing and nutrient requirements of the crop. Green pod yield per plant was maximum (435.66 g) with the wider spacing M3 (1.5 m x 0.75m) compared to closer spacings. Application of increased doses of fertilizers significantly increased the yield of yard long bean. Eventhough the package of practices recommendation for vegetable cowpea is 20: 30: 10 kg NPK ha" (KAU, 1996), in the present study, maximum yield (385.96 g) was obtained when 40: 60: 20 kg NPK ha-I (T3) was applied. This was further supported by the superior vegetative growth characters and nutrient content of the plants. Though split application of fertilizers showed comparable nutrient contents in the plant parts this was not reflected in the yield of the crop. Organic treatments in general reduced the yield of yard long bean. The vegetative growth and nutrient contents of the plants were also low. The interaction effects were also significant for the pod yield and the treatment combination M3 T 3 recorded maximum green pod yield per plant (480.68 g). Productivity of yard long bean-was highest (6.73 t ha-I) in closer spacing of 1.5 m x 0.25 m (MI). With a three fold increase in plant population the yield per plant was reduced only by 42%. The combination MI T 3 (closer spacing with 100% increase in fertilizers over standard recommendation applied in two splits) resulted in significantly higher productivity (7.33 t ha-I). However highest net returns (Rs 33030 ha-I) and B:C ratio (1.82) were realized in the treatment combination MI T 2 with closer spacing and 50% increase over POP recommendation applied in two splits. Organic fanning was not economically viable in yard long bean. The quality of green pods was supenor In organic treatments on account of significantly lesser crude fibre and higher moisture, carbohydrate and phosphorus contents. Organic treatments were also superior when storability and palatability of pods were considered. Zero energy cool chamber was not found suitable for cowpea storage as there was fungal attack to pods due to high humidity inside storage chamber. Hence the recommendation of20 t FYM ha" as basal and NPK 30: 45: 15 kg ha" applied in two splits - half N, full P and full K as basal and remaining half N 20 DAS and a spacing of 1.5 m x 0.25 m can be recommended for yard long bean to get economic returns.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Chartacterization of landraces of ashgourd (Benincasa hispida (Tunb.) Cogn.)
    (Department of Olericulture, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2004) Reshmi, J; KAU; Sreelathakumary, I
    The research project "Characterization of landraces of ashgourd [Bcnincasa h ispida (Thunb.) Co gn.]" was carried out at the Department of Olericulture and the Department of Plant Biotechnology, College of Agriculture, Vellayani during 2003-2004. The objective of the study was to catalogue the landraces based on the IBPGR descriptor for cucurbits, to estimate the genetic parameters for different traits in the germplasm for identifying superior lines based on yield, quality, pest and disease resistance and to characterize the landraces using molecular techniques (RAPD analysis). Twenty five landraces of Benincasa hispida collected from various sources upon cataloguing pointed out wide variation for several morphological characters. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences among the landraces for all the characters studied namely. vine length, internodal length, number of primary branches, number of secondary branches, root shoot length ratio, days to first male flower, node to first male flower, days to first female flower, node to first female flower, sex ratio, days to first fruit harvest, fruit length, fruit girth, fruits per plant, average fruit weight, yield per plant. seeds per fruit, 1000-seed weight and mosaic incidence. Among the landraces, BH 15 (Neyattinkara, Thiruvananthapuram) recorded the maximum yield (21.20 kg), average fruit weight (9.50 kg), fruit girth (78.05 cm) and 1000-seed weight (96.95 g). Among the landraces, maximum fruit length was observed for BH 25 (56.00 cm). BH 22 was the longest in vine length (875.00 cm) and had the highest number of primary and secondary branches (4.00 and 23.00 respectively). BH 24 (7.20 cm) was shortest in internodal length, which was also characterized by maximum fruits per plant (9.12). BH 8 was the earliest to flower (46.25 days) and harvest (88.00 days). BH 10 had the least vulnerability index for mosaic (27.50). High phenotypic and genotypic coefficients of variation were observed for seeds per fruit, average fruit weight, yield per plant and fruits per plant. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance was observed for average fruit weight, yield per plant, fruits per plant, fruit girth and fruit length. Correlation studies and path coefficient analysis revealed that fruit length and average fruit weight are the primary yield components as evidenced from its high positive correlation as well as direct and indirect effects on yield. In the discriminant function analysis, the landrace BH 15 (Neyattinkara. Thiruvananthapuram) ranked first, followed by BH 23 (KAU local, KAU) and BH 5 (CO-I, TNAU). They were found to be promising based on their superiority in yield, fruit quality, earliness in male and female flowering, narrow sex ratio and mosaic resistance and hence they may be utilized for further crop improvement. Based on the analysis for genetic divergence, the 25 landraces of B. hispida were grouped into seven clusters, with the highest intercluster distance observed between clusters V and VII. DNA isolated from the 25 landraces of B. hispida were subjected to RAPD analysis. Out of the 40 decamer primers, twenty nine yielded amplification products. A total of 83 RAPDs (average 2.08 bands per primer) were generated by the 29 primers, of which 92.77 per cent were polymorphic (77 bands) and six were monomorphic. Out of five primers showing high level of polymorphism, three prormsing primers viz .. OPA-O 1, OPA-07 and OPA-I3 were selected. The primer OPA-07 was unique as it could distinguish maximum polymorphism among the landraces tested while OPA-I3 produced maximum number of scorable bands. The selected three primers yielded 20 scorable bands (average of 6.66 bands per primer) of which 2 were monomorphic and rest, 18 were polymorphic (90.0 %). The overall Jaccard's similarity coefficients ranged from 0.14 to 1.00. Cluster analysis revealed that at about 0.35 similarity coefficient, the twenty five landraces of B. hispida grouped into two clusters. Landraces with morphologically distinct smooth and waxy textured fruits grouped into two major clusters. Considering the waxy textured group, it formed a more divergent cluster than smooth textured group. With in the group of waxy textured fruits, limited variation was detected among landraces with small and medium sized fruits. Further, morphologically similar landraces with large fruits form distinct clusters with in the major clusters. By characterizing all the twenty five landraces of Benincasa hispida using morphological (selection index and D2 analysis) and molecular (RAPD marker analysis) methods revealed that morphologically distinct and superior lines were genetically differentiable. Also the RAPD analysis gave a perfect differentiation of waxy textured group from smooth textured group, which is in line with morphological characterization.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Fruit waste utilisation for pectinase production through soild state fermentation
    (Department of Processing Technology, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2003) Venkatesh, M; KAU; Pushpalatha, P B
    Enzymes are proteinaceous biocatalysts known for their high selectivity and specificity and are active under mild temperature and pressure conditions, which enable their effective use in food processing to modify, alter and enhance quality of food. Among the different enzymes used in fruit and vegetable processing industries, pectinase occupy prime position. The present study "Fruit waste utilisation for pectinase production through solid state fermentation" was taken up for analysing the possibilities of producing pectinase from fruit and vegetable wastes. Isolation, pure culturing and initial screening of microorganisms for their efficiency for pectinase production on media containing pectin resulted in selection of two fungi (Trichoderma harzianum and BSF I) and two bacteria (BBI and Pseudomonas jluorescens). The ideal solid pectin medium for better growth of selected microorganisms was standardised. The efficiency of bacteria to grow on media containing different wastes was found poor, where as the fungi grew fast. The fungus Aspergillus foetidus 115 exhibited maximum growth and production of pectinase on all waste media in solid state fermentation as well as in submerged state fermentation. The activity of this microorganism was high when inoculated on grape waste medium, which was evidenced through banana juice clarification studies. Among Trichoderma harzinum and BSFJ, the formar found to have better efficiency for fermentation of wastes for pectinase production. The ideal fruit waste medium (5g waste, O.75g urea, O.3g ammomum sulphate) and optimum condition for fermentation (temperature 40°C, extraction at eight days after inoculation using extractant distilled water) for ssf of fruit wastes for maximum enzyme production were standardised, through analysing the pectin esterase activity in crude enzyme extract taken from different media.