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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: Agronomy × Author: Aneesa, M S × End date: 1996 × Start date: 1990 ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Evaluation of natural graminaceous weed flora in South Kerala for fodder purpose
    (Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 1996) Aneesa, M S; KAU; sheela, K R
    An investigation was undertaken in the Southern districts of Kerala for the indentification and evalution of promising natural graminaceous weed specious for fodder purpose. The experiment was conducted in two steps. In the first part, a survey was conducted to identify the prominent grass weeds of Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and Pathanamthitta districts. In the three districts surveyed, perennial grasses predominated among the weed specious. The prominent grass specious identified were Panicum Javanicum, Axonopus compressus, Cyrtococcum trigonum, Brachiaria ramose, Panicum repens, Cynodon dactylon, Dactyloctenium aegyptium, Eleusine indica, Echinochloa colonum, Chloris barbata, Rhynchelytrum repens, Sporobolus indicus and Eragrosstis tenella. Qualitative and quantitative comparison of the selected 15 grass specious with guines grass cv. Hamil constituted the second part of the study. This was conducted at the Instructional Farm attached to the College of Agriculture, Vellayani in micro plots of 1 m 2 area and was laid out in Randomised Block Design with three replications. Guinea grass was found to be superior to the indigenous specious in terms of growth characters and green and dry fodder yields. Among the indigenous specious, highest green fodder yield was recorded by Panicum Javanicum and dry fodder yield by Rhynchelytrum repens. The protein content of grass specious varied from 5.84 to 15.00 per cent and Dactyloctenium aegyptium recorded the highest protein content. Guinea grass gave the highest protein yield owing to high dry matter production. Variation in crude fibre, ash, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, copper, zinc and managanese contents was also observed among grasses. In the case of K : (Ca + Mg) ratio, all the 15 grass specious recorded higher values than the reported critical value of 2.2. Ca : P ratio was within the safe limits. In all the specious studied, the anti –nutritional factors like tannin and oxalate were well below the toxicity levels. Content of HCN and heavy metals could not be detected in any of the specious tried. Nutrient uptake also showed variation and guinea grass recorded the maximum. The quality index developed on the basis of nutritional and anti-nutritional factors of different grasses revealed that out of 15 indigenous grass specious tried, five were found superior to guinea grass in quality. Brachiaria ramose and Eleusine indica were observed to be the best.