Loading...
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.
Browse
10 results
Search Results
ThesisItem Open Access Influence of crop geometry on the growth and yield of rice variety jaya(Department of Agronomy, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1985) Usha, K E; KAU; Balakrishnapillai, PInfluence of crop geometry on the growth and yield of rice variety 'Jaya'. An experiment was conducted in the Regional Agricultural Research Station, Pattambi during the second crop season of 1983 to study the influence of crop geometry on the growth and yield of rice variety 'Jaya'. The experiment was laid out in split plot with three replications. The treatments consisted of six treatment combinations of two levels of spacing between plants (20 x 15 cm, 20 x 10 cm) and three levels of spacing between alleys (80 cm, 160 cm and 240 cm apart) in the main plot and four levels of crop orientation (north-South, East-West, diagonal planting North East-South West and diagonal planting North West-South East) in the sub plot. Observations on weather factors such as temperature, relative humidity, rainfall, sunshine hours, wind velocity and evaporation were recorded daily. Crop growth characters like height, number of tillers, leaf area index were recorded at different stages of development of the crop and yield components like number of productive tillers, length of panicle, and yield of girth and straw were noted during the harvest. The day time variation of albedo was also measured at frequent intervals. N-S oriented crop was significantly superior to others with regard to crop growth characters as well as yield components. Height, number of tillers, number of productive tillers, length of panicle and number of grain per panicle were influenced by the 20 x 15 cm spacing while the 20 x 10 cm spacing showed the maximum drymatter production, maximum thousand grain weight and highest value of grain and straw yields. The grain yield was not significantly influenced by the alley treatments. It was found that proper spacing and orientation had significant effect on overall growth and yield of the crop. Highest grain yield was recorded in plots with N-S orientation and with 20 x 10 cm spacing. The best performance is attributed to more effective utilisation of solar radiation with the uniform exposure of plants to sunlight. The albedo measurements were also higher over the closely spaced and N-S oriented plots indicating the better growth and performance of the crop. Results of the present investigation indicate that rice in Kerala during the second crop season can be grown most successfully if planted at a spacing of 20 x 10 cm and oriented in N-S direction.ThesisItem Open Access Fertiliser management in cassava- groundnut intercropping system(Department of Agronomy, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1985) Bridgit, T K; KAU; Sreedharan, CAn experiment was conducted at Agricultural Research Station, Mannuthy, to study the effect of levels of N and time of application of N and K in a cassava- groundnut intercropping system. This 2x2x4 factorial experiment was laid out in randomized Block design with three replications under rainfed conditions. The study revealed that intercropping cassava with groundnut enhanced the growth parameters of cassava at all stages of growth. Yield attributes, yield and total drymatter production of cassava were also increased by intercropping. The quality characters like drymatter starch and crude protein content of tubers were improved by intercropping. Hundred percent recommended dose of N increased the growth, yield and quality over 75 percent of the recommended dose. Among the time of application T3 (15, 75 and 120 DAP) has given the highest tuber yield (21.92t ha-1) followed by T1 (15,60 and 90 DAP) of 21.65 t ha-1. T4 (basal, 60 and 90 DAP) which is the recommended dose recorded the lowest yield of 17.9 t ha-1. A comparatively higher utilization index was obtained with intercropping and higher level of N (75kg ha -1). T1 andT1 and T3 recorded more UI values than T2 and T4. The nutrient content as well as up take in cassava was increased by legume intercropping and higher levels of N. T1 and T3 recorded more nutrient content in different plant parts as compared to T2and T4. The fertility status of the soil was improved by intercropping and levels of N. Yield of ground nut was influenced by higher levels of N. Yield of groundnut was influenced by higher levels of N and time of application of N and K to cassava.T2 and T4 recorded more yield. Nutrient content and up take of bhusa was not influenced by levels of N and time of application of N and K. Maximum LER was seen in sole cassava plot when N and K was given at 15,75 and 120 DAP while in intercropped plot it was highest when N and K were given at 15,60 and 90DAP. Income from cassava cultivation was increased by intercropping with groundnut application of N and K at 15, 75 and 120DAP. Groundnut can be intercropped successfully with cassava under Kerala condition and a substantial quantity (25 per cent) of fertilizer nitrogen required by the main crop could be saved by this practice. For getting better fertilizer use efficiency of applied N and K fertilisers, 1st dose should be applied at 15 DAP of cassava instead of the now recommended basal Dose. Second dose can be extended up to 75 days of planting and the last dose up to 120 DAP so as to coincide with the harvest of the intercrop and the earthing up of cassava.ThesisItem Open Access Nitrogen management for grain cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) in summer rice fallows(Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 1985) Sheela, P; KAU; Muraleedharan Nair, VA field experiment was conducted at the College of Agriculture, Vellayani during the summer season of 1983-84 to study the response of two varieties of cowpea to different nitrogen management conditions. Various combinations of 5,10,20 or 30 kg N/ha basal, 0,5 or 10 kg N/ha top dressing as foliar spray at flowering, immediately after fertilization of early flowers and mid pod-fill stage as major treatments and two varieties (Kanakamony and Krishnamony) as minor treatments were tried in a split plot design with three replications. The study revealed the favourable influence of higher amounts of nitrogen on growth characters lika plant height, leaf number, number of branches per plant and number of nodules at flowering. Yield components such as number of pods per penduncle, pods per plant, seeds per plant and percentage of podset increased significantly by foliar application of nitrogen at different stages of the reproductive phase. The highest grain yield of 476 kg/ha was obtained from plants receiving 20 kg N/ha basal plus 10 kg N/ha applied to foliage at mid pod-fill stage. The number of seeds per pod and 100 seed weight were not influenced by the Various nitrogen levels tried. Harvest index and protein content of grain were enhanced by application of nitrogen as basal plus foliar sprays. The nitrogen content in plant parts were increased with increasing amounts of nitrogen. Foliar application of nitrogen at flowering or mid pod-fill stage increased the leaf nitrogen concentration The total nitrogen content available P2O5 and available K2O contents of soil influenced by the treatments. The higher level of nitrogen invariably led to higher values of total nitrogen in soil, available and available K2O after the crop harvest. The greatest profit of Rs 1661.85 was obtained from plants receiving 20 kg N/ha basal plus 10 kg N/ha as foliar spray at mid pod-fill stage (T12) The study indicated that application of 20 kg N/ha basal when supplemented v/ith 10 kg N/ha as foliar spray at mid pod-fill stage of the crop could give higher grain yields and profits.ThesisItem Open Access Nutritional requirement of the sesamum variety thilothama in partially shaded uplands(Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 1985) Girija, Devi L; KAU; Chandrasekharan, PAn experiment was conducted in the red loom soils of the Instructional Farm, College of Agriculture , Vellayani during 1983 to study the effects of three levels of nitrogen (0, 20 and 40 kg N/ha), three levels of phosphorus (0, 15 and 30 kg P2O5/ha) and three levels of potassium (0,20 and 40 kg K2O/ha) on the growth, yield, oil and protein content and chemical composition and uptake of mineral nutrients of sesamum. The field trial was laid out as a 3 factorial experiment confounding NPK in replication - 1 and NP2K2 in replication-2.ThesisItem Open Access Phosphorus nutrition of rice(Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 1985) Usha, L; KAU; Sasidhar, V KWith a view to study the relative efficiency of various levels and methods of phosphorus application to rice variety, Triveni, an experiment was conducted in the wetlands of the Instructional Farm attached tot he College of Agriculture, Vellayani, during the first and secondcrop seasons of 1983-'84. The various treatments tried were 1. Control ( No phosphorus) 2. Full basal ( 35 kg P2O5/ha) 3. 3/4 basal + 1/4 foliar 4. 3/4 basal 5. 1/2 basal + 1/4 foliar 6. 1/4 basal + 1/4 foliar 7. l/2 basal. 8. Soaking seeds in KH2PO4 (Potassium dihydrogen phosphate) - 20 per cent solution and no phosphorus in the main field 9. Dipping seedling roots in KH2PO4- 1.5 per cent solution and no phosphorus in the main field. 10. Dipping seedling roots in 2.0 per cent Diamonium phosphate and no phosphorus in the main field. 11. Dipping seedling roots in superphosphate slurry and no phosphorus in the main field. 12. Application of 35 kg P205 in the nursery and no phosphorus in the main field. The experiment was laid out in a randomised block design with three replications. The study revealed that the different levels and methods of phosphorus application had no effect on the various growth characters such as plant height, number of tillers, leaf area index and dry matter production.The yield and yield attributes also were not influenced by the levels and methods of phosphorus application\ except the weight of panicle . Phosphorus had no effect on the number of productive tillers per square metre, length of panicle, number of grains per panicle, sterility percentage and thousand grain weight. The grain and straw yield also were not influenced by phosphorus application. However# the highest grain yield was given by treatment number 12 in both seasons. Studies on chemical composition and uptake of nutrients showed that the uptake of nutrients was not influenced by the levels and methods of phosphorus application. The pattern of phosphorus uptake showed a gradual increase from maximum tillering to panicle initiation followed by a rapid increase upto harvest. The total nitrogen, available phosphorus and exchangeable potassium status of the soil were not influenced by phosphorus application. The available phosphorus status of the soil increased gradually upto maximum tillering stage, showed a slight decrease by panicle initiation and this decreasing trend was continued till harvest. The maximum net profit of Rs.3199.30 was obtained by the application of the full dose of phosphorus to the nursery .ThesisItem Open Access Influence of Irrigation on germination, growth and yield of sesamum(Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 1985) Thomas Mathew; Mohamed Kunju, UA field study was undertaken at the Rice Research Station, Kayamkulam, during the third crop season of 1983-84 to find out the influence of irrigation on germination, growth and yield of sesamum, with eleven main plot treatments as time of sowing and three sub plot treatments as frequency of irrigation. There were 33 different treatment combinations The study revealed that the optimum soil moisture for maximum germination of sesamum seed is 12.72 per cent. Moisture contents above or below this adversely affect the germination percentage. Optimum soil moisture for germination could be achieved by irrigating the plots to field capacity and sowing one day after the irrigation. Dry matter production, number of seeds per capsule, distribution of dry matter in capsule, seed yield, oil content, oil yield and shelling percentage were highest in the treatment where sowing was done one day after the initial irrigation. Maximum uptake of N, P and K was also observed in this treatment. One irrigation at the vegetative phase or two irrigations one at the vegetative and the other at the reproductive stages have favourably influenced the growth characters like plant height, number of leaves, number of branches and nodes, leaf area, dry matter production, number of capsules per plant, capsule weight per plant, number of seeds per capsule, seed weight per plant and seed yield per ha. The oil content, oil yield and the uptake of N, P and K were also maximum in the above Irrigation treatments. The study revealed that irrigating the plot to field capacity and sowing the seeds one day after irrigation has resulted in obtaining maximum germination and optimum plant density. Similarly irrigation during the growth phases have also increased the seed yield. Maximum seed yield of 859 kg/ha. was produced by sowing the seeds one day after Initial irrigation followed by giving one irrigation each during the vegetative and reproductive phases.ThesisItem Open Access Nitrogen management in rice variety Lekshmi (Kayamkulam-I)(Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 1985) Surendran, K; KAU; Ramachandran Nair, VTo evolve a suitable nitrogen management schedule for rice variety Lakshmi an experiment was conducted in a cultivator's field at Attingal, Trivandrum, during the grand mundekan (ragi) season of 1983-34. The treatment a consisted of four graded levels of nitrogen ranging from 20 to 80 kg/ha and four times of application with one control. The experiment was replicated thrice in a Factorial Randomised Block Design. Growth characters such as plant height, tillering, leaf area index, crop growth rate end dry matter production were the highest at 80 kg IT/ha* Height, leaf area index end dry matter yield were the highest with three splits, but tiller production and crop growth rate were the highest with two splits of nitrogen. Application of 80 kg H/ha gave the highest number of panicles, where as number of filled grains aid spikelsts were maximum with 40 kg nitrogen. The highest weight of thousand grains and panicles on! the lowest percentage of unfilled grains were observed with 60 kg nitrogen. Grain end straw yields wore tho highest with 60 end 80 kg E/ha respectively. Application, of nitrogen, at 50,25 and 23 per-cant at transplanting, active tillering end panicle initiation stages respectively produced the highest grain and straw yields Application of 80 kg N/ha in equal splits at active tillering end penicle initiation at age a recorded maximum grain protein content Nitrogen use efficiency was the highest with 20 kg nitrogen and it gradually decreased with increased rates Nitrogen phosphorus and potassium apt eke increased with incremental doses of nitrogen at all growth stages. Three split application recorded the highest nitrogen end potassium uptake at active tillering end panicle initiation Three split application of 60 kg N/ha as 50%, 25%and 25% at transplanting active tillering and panicle initiation stages respectively recorded the highest not return and cost benefit ratio.ThesisItem Open Access Effect of seed size and fertility levels on the yield and quality of Dioscorea esculenta (Lour) Burk(Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 1985) Sasidharan Nair, R C; KAU; Madhavan Nair, K PAn experiment was conducted at the Krishi Yigyan Kendra, Mitraniketan, Vellanad, Trivandrum District, with the objective, of finding out the optimum seed else and fertilizer dose to Dioscorea esculenta. The seed sizes of 50 g, 70 g, 90 g, 110 g and 150 g with a variation of - 10 g and fertilizer levels of 60 : 60 : 90, 8O : 80 : 120 and 100 : 100 : 150 kg NPK/ha wore tried in a factorial randomised block design with three replications. The seed size of 150 g was found to be superior In increasing the germination percentage, and growth characters such as length of vine, number of leaves per plant, LAI The yield attributes such as number and weight of tubers, number and weight of marketable tubers, length and girth of tubers, total tuber yield/ha, tuber bulking rate, utilization index and dry matter production were also found significantly higher in plants developed from seed sizes of 150 g. The fertilizer levels had no influence on growth characters, yield attributes and yield. The protein content of tho tuber increased significantly by the application of 100 s 100 s 150 kg EJPK/ha, while the starch and sugar content increased to the maximum by the 60 : 60 : 90 kg NPK/ha. (The seed else had no influence on any of the quality characters. Crude fibre was not affected by seed sizes or fertilizer level. Uptake of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium were influenced by the seed size of 150 g during all stages of growth. She highest fertilizer level influenced the uptake of nitrogen during all stages of growth while uptake of phosphorus was not at all affected by the fertilizer level.In general fertilizer levels had no effect on the uptake of potassiumThesisItem Open 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.