Loading...
Thumbnail Image

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

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • ThesisItemOpen Access
    Comparative evaluation of selected types of Piper longum (Linn.) in coconut plantations
    (Department of Agricultural Botany, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1994) Jaya Manuel; KAU; Viswanathan, T V
    Comparative evaluation of five selected types of piper longum (Linn.) namely Cheematippali, Panniyur, Mala, Pattambi and Kaanjur was carried out in the Department of Agricultural Botany, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara during the year 1990-92 with the objective to select the best type of piper longum in order to recommend for large scale cultivation after evaluating economic characters and active principles. Experiment was laid out in Randomised Block Design with five replications. Observations were recorded for twenty three vegetative characters, nine productive characters and total alkaloidal content in dried spikes of piper longum for all the five types. The study revealed that the five types of piper longum differed for eleven vegetative characters namely length of the longest stem, number of vegetative branches per stem, length of leaf, width of leaf, legth of petiole, spread of the plant, internodal length of main stem, number of spike bearing branches per stem and angle of insertion of spike bearing branch and for three productive characters namely number of spikes per spike bearing branch, yield of green spike and yield of dry spike at one or all of the stages for which observations were recoeded. Of the above characters for which the five types differed significantly eight characters showing high and significant correlation with yield were chosen for carrying out studies on intercorrelation among yield components and path analysis. Correlation studies and path analysis revealed that angle of insertion of spike bearing branch, number of stems per hill, number of spikes per spike bearing branch and number of spike bearing branches per stem and yield green spike were the most important characters influencing dry spike yield. The studies on the total alkaloidal content in dried spikes of piper longum revealed that though Panniyur recorded the maximum alkaloidal content in percentage, with respect to total alkaloidal out put from an unit area of land Cheematippali was found to be superior to Panniyur since dry spike yield per hectare of Cheematippali was significantly superior to Panniyur. Mala recorded the minimum alkaloidal content in the dried spikes. Cheematippali showed constistency superior performance for all the important characters at all the stages and could be recommended for large scale cultivation after multilocational trials. Kaanjur can also be considered as a promising type since only in a very few characters it failed to establish its superiority over Cheematippali. The type Mala was found to be consistently inferior to all other five types of piper longum for all the vegetative and productive characters studied.