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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: Radha, Lakshmanan × Start date: 1985 × Thesis Type: M.Sc ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Scheduling of irrigation for cucurbitaceous vegetables
    (Department of Agronomy, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1985) Radha, Lakshmanan; KAU; Tajuddin, E (Guide)
    An experiment was conducted at the Agricultural Research Station, Mannuthy during the summer season of 1983 – 84 to study the response of cucurbitaceous vegetables viz., pumpkin, oriental pickling melon and ashgourd to different moisture regimes. The experiment was laid out in randomised block design with four replications. The treatments consisted of five moisture regimes viz., unirrigated control, conventional method of irrigation @ 13 litres/day, irrigation at 25 per cent, 50 per cent and 75 per cent depletion of available soil moisture. The study revealed that irrigation favourably influenced the crop growth and yield. However, there were no significant differences in total yield per plant and per hectare between the different levels of irrigation, for the three crops studied. Treatments which received frequent irrigations showed higher values of consumptive use throughout the crop growth period. Crop coefficients were also higher in the frequently irrigated plots. Field water use efficiency did not vary significantly between the treatments. The drier regimes showed a higher crop water use efficiency than the wet regimes. Moisture extraction was found to be high from the surface layer (0-15 cm) in all the treatments. Loss of moisture from the surface was greater in the case of the wet regimes. Moisture extraction decreased with depth. The dry regimes extracted more moisture from the deeper layers than the wet regimes. The drier regimes indicated greater lateral spread of roots. The depth of penetration of roots did not vary markedly between the different treatments in pumpkin and ashgourd while in melon, the drier regimes showed a greater vertical spread of roots. The unirrigated plots showed the highest value of root-shoot ratio though the dry weight of roots was the least. Among the different irrigation levels tried, 75 per cent depletion of available soil moisture was found to be the optimum permissible level of depletion for pumpkin, oriental pickling melon and ashgourd. This involves irrigation at 5-7 days interval. Can evaporimeters were found to be useful in scheduling irrigations. With can evaporimeters, irrigation to pumkin, oriental pickling melon and ashgourd may be given at cumulative can evaporation values of about 60-70 mm during the vegetative stages of growth followed by 45-55 mm during the flowering, fruit formation and fruit maturity stages.