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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: Animal Reproduction, Gynaecology and Obstetrics × Author: Binoy, V S × End date: 2010 ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Invitro fertilization of bovine oocytes using fresh, frozen and epididymal spermatozoa
    (Department of Animal Reproduction, Gynaecology and Obstetrics, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, 2009) Binoy, V S; KAU; Vijayakumaran, V
    The study was designed to assess the fertilizability of bovine oocytes matured in vitro on co-culture with fresh, frozen or epididymal spermatozoa. The yield of oocytes and effect of cumulus oocyte complex (COC) morphology on in vitro maturation (IVM) and in vitro fertilization (IVF) was also studied. A total of eighty one ovaries of abattoir origin from South Indian breeds like Hallikar, Kangayam, Khillari and crossbred cattle of Kerala were subjected to oocyte retrieval by aspiration method. Grade I (462) and grade II (138) COCs so obtained were subjected to maturation in separate groups for 24 h in Hepes modified TCM-199 enriched with sodium pyruvate, sodium bicarbonate, antibiotics, estradiol-17β, FSH, hCG and 20 per cent heat inactivated day zero estrus cow serum. Culture environment was set as 39o C temperature, five per cent CO2 tension and maximum humidity in a standard CO2 incubator. Maturation status of COCs was assessed by observing cumulus expansion and mucification. Oocytes with maximum degree of cumulus expansion from each group (407 and 95) were subjected to IVF using fresh (n=169), frozen (n=162) and epididymal (n=171) spermatozoa in Fert-TALP medium supplemented with epinephrine, hypotaurine, pencillamine and heparin (5-10 oocytes in 100 μl droplet). Good quality spermatozoa isolated by percoll density gradient separation technique were used for IVF. Culture conditions set for IVF were 39o C temperature, five per cent CO2 tension with maximum humidity in a standard water jacketed CO2 incubator. After 24 h co-culture in fertilization medium, the oocytes were evaluated for evidence of sperm penetration like presence of swollen decondensed sperm head, male pronuclei, two pronuclei, a clear second polar body and cleavage The total yield of oocytes by aspiration method per ovary was 11.59±0.10 (939 /81) and percentage yield of grade I, grade II and total culture grade oocytes were 49.20±0.31 (462), 14.70±0.41 (138) and 63.90±0.22 (600) respectively. Mean number of grade I, grade II and culture grade oocyte per ovary were 5.70±0.06, 1.70±0.05 and 7.41±0.07 respectively. The percentage and yield of grade I oocytes were significantly higher than grade II oocytes.Cumulus expansion rates of grade I, grade II and total culture grade oocytes were 88.20±0.75 (407), 69.21±1.97 (95) and 83.67±0.35 (502) per cent respectively. The mean number of oocytes showing cumulus expansion per ovary from grade I, grade II and culture grade COCs were respectively 5.04±0.06, 1.18±0.03 and 6.22±0.06. Grade I oocytes showed significantly higher maturation rate and mean yield of matured oocyte per ovary than grade II oocytes. The fertilization rates obtained with fresh, frozen and epididymal spermatozoa were respectively 36.52±1.68, 28.65±0.76, 46.53±1.32 for grade I; 45.00±5.63, 23.89±3.03, 35.20±4.62 for grade II and 37.86±0.47, 27.72±0.89, 44.51±0.57 per cent for culture grade oocytes. The mean number of oocytes fertilized per ovary by fresh, frozen and epididymal spermatozoa were respectively 1.87±0.06, 1.43±0.04, 2.33± 0.05 for grade I; 0.51±0.07, 0.31±0.05, 0.39±0.06 for grade II and 2.38±0.05, 1.73±0.07, 2.72±0.03 for culture grade oocytes. Significant difference was observed between three sources of spermatozoa for grade I and culture grade oocytes on fertilization rate and mean yield of fertilized oocytes per ovary. No significant difference could be observed between three sources of spermatozoa with respect to fertilizability when grade II oocytes were used.There was no significant difference between grade I and grade II oocytes on fertilization rate of fresh, frozen and cauda epididymal sources of spermatozoa. But the mean number of fertilized oocytes per ovary obtained from grade I oocytes was significantly higher than that from grade II oocytes for fresh, frozen and cauda epididymal sources of spermatozoa. The overall fertilization rate obtained was 36.70±1.71 per cent and in vitro fertilized oocyte per ovary was 2.28±0.10 in the present study. The mean motility (per cent), concentration (x 106 /ml), percentage of live sperms, dead sperms, normal spermatozoa, abnormal heads, abnormal tails, proximal protoplasmic droplet and distal protoplasmic droplet of epididymal semen were 49.17±9.26, 37175±7612 , 84.5±8.02, 15.5±8.02, 35.67±2.30, 3.17±1.58, 2.33±0.61, 11.67±4.01 and 47.17±3.17 respectively. The present study revealed that more number of grade I oocytes could be obtained by aspiration method from cow’s ovaries than grade II oocytes. Even though COC morphology has a significant role in maturation rate of oocytes, the fertilizing ability of grade I and grade II oocytes did not differ significantly after proper maturation. Epididymal spermatozoa retrieved from bulls after slaughter could be efficiently used for IVF of in vitro matured bovine oocytes equally or even better than the freshly ejaculated or frozen semen. Epididymal spermatozoa showed significantly more fertilization rate than fresh semen and this was closely followed by frozen semen (44.51±0.57, 37.86±0.47 and 27.72±0.89 per cent respectively).