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
13 results
Search Results
ThesisItem Open Access Effect of eyestalk ablation on growth and reproduction of macrobrachium equidens (Dana)(Department of Aquaculture, College of Fisheries, Panangad, 1994) Bijulal, P S; KAU; Thampy, D MThe objective of the present study is to evaluate the effect of eyestalk ablation on survival, growth, food conversion and reproduction of adult Macrobrachiumequidens. In the first experiment conducted for 35 days, unilateral eyestalk ablation, bilateral ablation and control treatments were employed at four level of salinities viz 5, 10, 15 and 20 ppt. Complete mortality in bilateral ablation and survival rates of 40.625 % and 68.75% for unilateral and control treatments were recorded at the end of the experiment, the values ranging significantly. The four salinity levels applied did not significantly affect survival. The difference in growth between ablated and unablatedtreatments was insignificant in terms of percentage gain, specific growth rate and average daily percentage gain in terms of length and weight. Salinity levels also showed insignificant difference in growth. Food conversion rate was significantly better in ablated treatment. The different salinity levels tried showed significant difference with regard to food conversion, being better at 20 ppt. In the second experiment conducted for 60 days on females, eyestalk ablation was found to enhance ovarian. In the second experiment conducted for 60 days on females, eyestalk ablation was found to enhance ovarian development in terms of the number of spawns per female. Fecundity, absolute fecundity, and incubation period were not significantly affected although a marginal increase in absolute fecundity could be observed . In the experiments conducted on males it was found that growth rate and cheliped development were significantly better in ablated ones. The number of spines in the appendix masculine, length and biomass of the androgenic gland and width of vas deference, did not show significant variation, although a marginal increase in the biomass of the androgenic gland and the number of spines in appendix masculine was observed in ablated treatment. The different eyestalk ablation experiments have shown that in females destalking does not stimulate growth but there is better response for reproduction, whereas in males there is better growth and only marginal response to reproduction.ThesisItem Open Access Conditions for oxygen-packed transportation of penaeus indicus seed(Department of Aquaculture, College of Fisheries, Panangad, 1994) Geetha Rani Mani, V; KAU; Jayasree Vadhyar, KThe effect of four levels of packing density, (200PL/1, 300PL/1, 400PL/1 and 500PL/1), three levels of salinity (20ppt, 25ppt and 30ppt) and two levels of temperature (30_+ 1°C and 23 + 2°C) on the oxygen consumption rate of Penaeus indicus post-larvae (PL20) was investigated in a closed type respirometer. The dissolved oxygen in the test chamber decreased with the oxygen consumption of the animals. Oxygen consumption was found to vary with ambient oxygen levels at the different packing densities. Among the three salinities, and two temperatures, the lowest rate of oxygen consumption was recorded at 25ppt and 23 +_ 2°C. The effect of these factors on the duration and survival of transportation of the shrimp seed in specially designed hard plastic containers fitted with facilities for oxygen packing under uniform pressure (0.2 Kg/cm2) showed that oxygen packing in hypothermal conditions could help in increasing duration and survival. Salinity of 20-25ppt was found to give longer duration of survival. With increase in packing density, there was considerable reduction in the duration and survival of transportation of the seed. Cannibalism was observed as the major cause of mortality and it could be reduced by lowering of temperature. 200PL/1 could be transported with 100% survival within 6.5-8.5h at ambient temperature of 30+- 1°C under the afore-mentioned type of oxygen-packing. By lowering the temperature to 23 +-_ 2°C it was possible to safely transport with 100% survival the same numbers for more than 20h. Corresponding duration at 500PL/1 with 100% survival was 1-1.5h at ambient temperature and 4-5h at lowered temperature. To reduce cannibalism at ambient temperatures, hollow plastic translucent habitat material was incorporated into the oxygen-packed jars. This experiment was conducted at 25ppt salinity at different packing densities of 200PL/1, 300PL/1, 400PL/1 and 500PL/1. Relatively longer duration and higher survival was observed only at higher packing densities of 400PL/1 and 500PL/1 with the introduction of the habitat material. Water quality parameters in the experimental jars were analysed initially and finally at 70% survival rate. The reduction in dissolved oxygen levels in the oxygen-packed jars was well above the lethal limits even at the highest packing density of 500PL/1 at 70% survival. The decrease in dissolved oxygen levels and increase in ammonia-N and free carbon dioxide, differed with the duration of packing, temperature and packing density.ThesisItem Open Access Effect of different dietary levels of lecithin on growth,survival,moulting and body phospholipid levels in Macrobachium Rosenbergii postlarvae(Department of Aquaculture, College of Fisheries, Panangad, 1996) Mahesh, S; KAU; Sebastian, M JThe effect of dietary levels of lecithin on growth, survival moulting, FCR and body phospholipid levels of early postlarval freshwater prawn macrobrachium rosen bergii was examined using semi-purified diets in a 56 day feeding experiment. Five casein-egg albumin based semi-purified diets incorporated with 0,2.5,5,7.5 and 10% of purified soy lecithin (60% phosphatidylcholine) were formulated and fed to prawns (ten numbers per treatment) with an initial mean weight of 0.05386g. In order to examine the influence of lecithin at different growth stages of postlarvae the assessment was made every fourteen days during the study period. The result showed that although the overall growth performance was not affected by dietary inclusion of lecithin, SGR% of the prawns fed with the diet containing 2.5% of lecithin showed a significant difference at P<0.01level during the first fourteen days of growth. Similarly the FCR also showed significant variation (P<0.01) between the diets tested in the first and second fortnights (14th and 28th day). In the first fortnight the diets (D1, D2 and D3) produced consistent FCR, while the diets supplemented with higher levels produced higher values. No significant differences (P<0.01) between treatments were detected with regard to survival rate, moulting frequency and body phospholipid levels of the prawns with the termination of the experiment. The prawns moulted once in every night days and no abnormalitied like exuvia entrapment were noticed in any of the experiment animals . Increment of body phospholipids with respect to levels of dietary lecithin suggests a possible replacement of body PL pool with that of dietary PL. The result of the study suggests that supplementation of lecithin at a level of 2.5% in the diet can accelerate growth and improve FCR during the early postlarval phase of Macrobrachium rosenbergii (ie, upto 4 weeks after larval settlement) beyond this, supplementation of lecithin is not needed in the diet. No other deficiency of excess symptoms was detected in the experimental prawns and it is found that lecithin is not responsible for Exuvia Entrapment Disease in Macrobrachium rosenbergii postlarvae.ThesisItem Open Access Detritus of plant origin as a food source for Penaeus indicua H. Milne Edwards(Department of Aquaculture, College of Fisheries, Panangad, 1992) Unnikrishnan, R; KAU; Thampy, D MThe objective of the present study was to evaluate the feasibility of using plant detritus as an exclusive food source for the juvenile of Penaeus indicus and also to find out the level of its in corporation in a standard diet for the prawn in place of animal protein sources. When four plant detritus were simultaneously presented to p.indicus juvenile of size 25-32 mm and 110-150 mg, they exhibited best preference for detritus from Rhizophora apiculata, followed by chromolaena odorta, Pistia stratiotes and paddy detritus. Two better preferred plant detritus sources viz. R.apiculata and C.odorata, were subjected to bulk digestion and the improvement in protein level by way of microbial growth during the process of decay was recorded. Since C.odorata showed a better protein level (Max.av.25.716%) on the fifteenth day than R.apiculata (Max.av.7.528%) on the twentieth day, C.odorata detritus was used for the next two feeding experiments: the first to find whether it could be used as exclusive protein source and the second to find the level at which this could be used to replace animal protein source in a standard diet for P.indicus. The first feeding experiment, for a period of 28 days, to evaluate the feasibility of using plant detritus as sole protein source revealed that an exclusively detritus based diet is not suitable for P.indicus juveniles. The detritus based diet produced lower survival, growth, protein sufficiency ratio, protein digestability and high food conservation ratio when compared to that of control diet prepared with clam meal. The second experiment done with eight diets for a period of 21 days revealed that plant detritus could be used for substituting upto a level of 50% of the animal protein source in a standard prawn diet, without producing any adverse effect on growth and survival. While, a diet containing 10% plant detritus fared even better than a diet which was totally devoid of detrital protein. The growth, food conversation ratio, protein efficiency, apparent digestibility and protein digestibility values obtained for various diets did not vary significantly upto a stage where 50% of the animal protein was substituted with detrital protein, beyond which the values declined. The best values were obtained for the diet FD2 and the lowest for the diet FD8.ThesisItem Open Access Protein requirement of the postlarvae and juveniles of Macrobrachium rosenbergii (De Man)(Department of Aquaculture, College of Fisheries, Panangad, 1992) Sahadevan, P; KAU; Sebastian, M JThree sets of experiments were conducted with the postlarvae and juveniles of the giant freshwater prawn. Macrobrachiumrosenbergii (De Man). The first experiment was conducted to determine the quantitative protein requirement of the two life stages of the prawn using casein and amino acid based purified diets having graded levels (0, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50%)of protein. Each experiment was conducted for 40 days and the effect of protein concentration on the survival, growth, food intake, food conversion efficiency, protein digestibility, nitrogen exeretion, nitrogen retension, body carcass composition, efficiency of protein utilization and oxygen – nitrogen ratio was studied. Among the different diets the one with 30% protein produced the best results in the postlarvae and juveniles of the prawn. Using second order polynomial regression analysis and differential calculus methods the protein requirement for maximum growth in the postlarvae and juveniles of the prawn was calculated as 34.5 and 28.5% respectively. In absolute terms these represent 787.9 and 529.0mg protein per 100g body weight of the prawn per day. The economic protein requirement of the postlarvae and juveniles was found to be 27.5 and 23.0% respectively. The maintenance protein requirement of the postlarvae and juveniles was determined to be 17.95 and 18.69mg protein per 100g body weight per day assuming an efficiency of utilization of protein very close to 100%. The metabolic faecal nitrogen excretion was found to be 198 and 151mg N per 100g body weight per day for the postlarvae and juveniles respectively. In the second set of experiments, short term (10 days each) studies were conducted to determine the efficiency of assimilation of certain locally available sources of protein by the postlarvae and juveniles of M. rosenbergii. These experiments were conducted also to help fix the levels of protein to be maintained in the third set of experiments. The protein sources evaluated were casein, prawn meat, clam meat, soybean, ground nut oil cake and black gram. The results of the study indicated that the apparent protein digestibility is not influenced by animal or plant origin of the ingredient. The third set of experiments was conducted to evaluate the effect of substitution of protein of animal origin with that of plant origin in the postlarvae and juveniles of M. rosenbergii. Each experiment was conducted for 40 days and on the basis of data on survival, growth, food intake, food conversion efficiency, protein digestibility, carcass composition, efficiency of protein utilization and oxygen – nitrogen ratio, substitution of 50 and 75% protein of animal origin with that of plant origin was found to result in no significant decline in the overall performance of the postlarvae and juveniles respectively of M. rosenbergii.ThesisItem Open Access Evaluation of supplementary feeds and optimum ration for Chanos chanos (Forskal) fry(Department of Aquaculture, College of Fisheries, Panangad, 1991) Elizabeth, Chrolin; KAU; Susheela, JoseThe present study was conducted in C. chanos fry,to evaluate the efficacy and keeping quality of supplementary feeds compounded from five different protein sources viz., fish meal ( FM ), squid meal (SQM), clam meal (CM), prawnhead waste meal (PHM) and soybean meal (SYM). All the feeds used in the study were isocalorific (3.13 - 3.33 Kcal/g) and isonitrogenous (39.78 - 40.44% crude protein). The quality of feed after four months of storage was satisfactory as there was not much variation in their nutrient contents. The FCR of fish fed on various supplementary feeds for 42 days were 1.74, 2.94, 3.65, 5.32 and 10.9 for CM, SQM, FM, SYM and PHM, Respectively. The PER, protein digestibility co-efficient and 0: N ratio indicate that protein from clam meal is better utilized for growth Purposes than those from others. The PER value ranged from 0.23 (PHM) to 1.45 (CM). The protein digestibility co-efficient, for CM, SQM, FM, SYM and PHM were 97.24,91,86, 86.56, 77.78 and 65.23%, respectively. The 0: N ratio was highest (10.769:1) for fish fed on CM. It seems that C. chanos fry digest lipid from animal protein sources better (digestibility values ranging from 84.17% (PHM) to 98.8% (CM)) than that from plant source SYM (47.49%).The biochemical composition of fish Showed maximum synthesis of protein and deposition of fat in fish fed on CM, followed by SQM, and the least in fish fed on PHM. The evaluation of supplementary feeds based on survival rate, gain in length and weight, and specific growth rate indicate the superior performance of animal protein sources (except prawn head waste meal) to plant source. The highest gain in growth was attained by fish fed on CM, followed by SQM and FM. Performance of fish fed on SYM was not satisfactory, while PHM was a poor feed for C. chanos fry. The optimum food ration of fry is at 5.2% of the body weight when fed with CM, twice a day, at 4-6 ppt salinity.ThesisItem Open Access Effects of various growth promoters in the diets of macrobrachium rosenbergii post larvae(Department of Aquaculture, College of Fisheries, Panangad, 1994) Boby Ignatius; KAU; Susheela JoseThe present study was conducted to evaluate the efficiency of various growth promoters on the growth of Macrobrachium rosenbergii post larvae. The various growth promoters tried were antibiotic oxytetracycline, thyroid hormone thyroxine and the enzyme papain. Each growth promoter was incorporated in a casein based purified diet having a protein content of 36%.In the second experiment, the optimum level of growth promoter which showed the best performance in the first experiment was determined. The growth increment of prawns fed on casein based purified diets incorporated with antibiotic oxytetracyc1ine designated as diet T1 was 43.66mg, it was 35.064 mg for diet T2 - containing thyroid, and 32.172 mg for diet T3- containing papain. The growth increment for the control diet was seen to be 26.72 mg. Specific growth rate of the prawns from different treatments ranged from 1.73 to 2.52; with control diet showing the lowest and T1 the highest. Incorporation of the growth promoters in the feed has markedly reduced the food conversion ratio of the animals. Lowest FCR was obtained for the post larvae fed with oxytetracycline, while the highest was for the control, the range being 2.94 to 4.36. The protein efficiency ratio was highest being 0.9770 for the feeds containing oxytetracycline. The PER values for the control diet T0, diet T2 with thyroid, diet T3 with papain were found to be 0.6566, 0.8541 and 0.7576 respectively. Productive protein values were 8.995 for control diet, 13.4763 for diet with oxytetracycline, 11.7710 for diet with thyroid hormone and 10.4266 for diet with papain enzyme. The average survival rate during the experiment was 69.5%. The animals fed on antibiotic incorporated feed gave maximum survival of 72%, while the lowest rate of 66% was observed for thyroxine incorporated feed (T2). Analysis of the data on the various growth parameters in the experiment reveals that the antibiotic oxytetracycline gives better growth amongst the different growth promoters used. In the experiment II, four different levels of oxytetracycline were tested to find out the optimum level. The result of the study showed that, 10 mg/lOOg of feed is the optimum level of oxytetracycline which give maximum growth in Macrobrachium rosenbergii post larvae as indicated by overall growth , specific growth rate, food conversion ratio and protein efficiency ratio.ThesisItem Open Access Induced maturation of penaeus indicus using exogenous hormone(Department of Aquaculture, College of Fisheries, Panangad, 1995) Johnson, D cruz; KAU; Sebastian, M JThe ovarian maturation and spawning of broodstock shrimp play a major role in the development of commercial level seed production of this valuable crustacean. The already proven technology of induced maturation of penaeids in capativity viz. Unilateral Eyestalk Ablation(UESA) has many negative effects which prompted scientists to explore alternative ways of induced maturation like hormone administration. The hormone progesterone alone and in combination with tocopherol were tested for their effectiveness in bringing about ovary maturation and spawning in pond reared penaeus indicus. Progesterone and tocopherol dissolved in ethyl alcohol were injected at three test concentrations of 0.05 ug, 0.10ug and 0.20ug/g body weight . For the preparation of combination test solution the dissolved progesterone and tocopherol were mixed in the ratio of 7:3(V/V). Control shrimps were given alcohol treatment at respective concentrations. The results of the experiment conducted for a period of after 45 days, revealed that the overall survival is not affected (89%) and that progesterone singly or in combination with tocopherol is capable of giving stimulation for ovarian development in P.Indicus Though there was not much observable difference in ovarian development by external viewing, both progesterone alone and in combination with tocopherol at higher dosages have yielded significant GSI difference and ovarian growth, compared with the ethanol treated controls, when the ovaries were dissected out and subjected to detailed study. The percentage somatic growth which was high for control shrimps in contrast to the hormone treated animals have more ovarian growth, suggests an antagonism between these two energy demanding processes. The failure in producing an external visible change in ovarian development, in comparison to eyestalk ablation (ESA) treatment may be due to the existence of the gonad inhibiting hormone (GIH) produced in the eyestalk which would have blocked / suppressed further development of ovary. It is likely that if a GIH inhibitor is also administered along with steroid hormones or tocopherol the stimulus given by them may result in full ovarian development in penaeid shrimp.ThesisItem Open Access Dietary phosphorus requirement and deficiency sydromes in macrobrachium rosenbergii juveniles(Department of Aquaculture, College of Fisheries, Panangad, 1996) Saju, M S; KAU; Sebastian, M JThe objective of the present study is to find out the optimum dietary requirement and to characterise the symptoms of the dietary deficiency and excess of phosphorus in Macrobrachiumrosenbergii juveniles. The prawns were fed with casein – based semipurified diet containing graded levels of supplemental phosphorus in the form of sodium dihydrogen phosphate (NaH2 PO4. 2H2O) under defined environmental conditions for a period of 84 days. The survival and growth of the prawn was not significantly influenced by the varying dietary phosphorus supplementation. The maximum specific growth rate of 1.9 + 0.13% was obtained in prawns fed with diet containing 1.76% phosphorus and with a Ca:P ratio of 1:1.68. Phosphorus level in the diet and the Ca: P ratio showed significant influence on the food conversion efficiency, protein efficiency ratio, wholebody phosphorus and wholebody calcium content of the prawn. The wholebody calcium increases with phosphorus level of the diet. Non – linear regression estimate based on the phosphorus mineralization of wholebody tissue of prawn indicates an optimum requirement of 1.7861% of phosphorus in the diet. The prawns maintain the body Ca: P ratio of 1:1 at or near the optimum dietary phosphorus level. Very low levels of phosphorus in the diet produced deficiency symptoms such as lack of pigmentation general body opaqueness, stunted growth, reduced protein efficiency and low wholebody phosphorus, calcium and Ca:P ratio. Symptoms of excess level of dietary phosphorus were general body opaqueness, stunted growth, whitish patches on the body, white spots on the walking legs, black melanised lesions on the abdomen, reduced protein efficiency and abnormal increase wholebody phosphorus and calcium with a lowering of Ca:P ratio. This study shows the optimum requirement of 1.8% dietary phosphorus for the giant fresh water prawn, the deficiency and excess of which leads to adverse effects.