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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: Community Science × End date: 2019 × Start date: 2019 × Type: Thesis × Thesis Type: M.Sc ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Gardening based diet therapy for school going students with attention deficit Hyperactivity disorder
    (Department of Community Science, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2019) Malavika, G; KAU; Beela, G K
    Attention Deficit Hyperactivity disorder is also a neurobehavioral disorder and is alarmingly increasing in the society. Recent studies on nutrition and ADHD recommends that elimination of certain foods from the diet reduces symptoms of ADHD. TTie research work entitled,''Garden based diet therapy for school going students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder" was conducted during 2017-2019, with the objective to determine the impact of garden-based diet therapy on the ADHD symptomology of school going children with ADHD in a randomized control trial. The present study was carried out with questionnaire in the form of rating scale to determine the food consumption patter, frequency and preference of the students with ADHD undergoing garden-based nutrition education, A pilot study on 20 students was conducted to find the reliability and validity ofthe questionnaire. The sample of the study consisted of 103 students with ADHD symptoms from schools of Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam district which was categorized into two groups experimental (53) and control group (50). The study was conducted in three phases: l)Pre intervention assessment, 2)Garden based nutrition intervention and 3)Post intervention assessment. The garden-based nutrition intervention was imparted to the experimental group and the participation of the students were recorded by providing participation index score for each activity. The control group was only subjected to nutrition education intervention. The pre assessment included the anthropometric measurement, ADHD symptoms (using DSM IV), dietary recall, food frequency and food preference. The post assessment included ADHD symptoms, dietary recall, food frequency and food preference. The items used to evaluate the food frequency and food preference are sugarfTea, Juices, Candy, Ice-cream); maida (Parotta, Puffs, Biscuit, Bread); chocolate (Milk chocolate. Dark chocolate, Nut chocolate,Wafer chocolate ); bakery items (Cake, Jileebi, Ladoo, Chips) and fizzy drinks(Miranda, Coca-Cola, Sprite, Mountain dew). The result of the study shows that there is a significant difference between the pre and post ADHD scores ofexperimental groups and no significant difference were found in the pre and post ADHD scores of control group. The food frequency of food items like sugar, maida, chocolate, bakery items and fizzy drinks of the experimental group showed a significant difference in the pre and post intervention scores. However, in the control group the food frequency in the consumption of chocolate in the pre and post intervention was found to have no significant difference. But there was significant difference found in the consumption of sugar, maida, bakery items and fizzy drinks. Food preference of the food items of experimental and control group when compared, there were significant difference in the preference of all food items in the experimental group. In the control group, significant difference was found in the food preference of maida and chocolate and there was no significant difference found in the food preference of sugar, bakery items and fizzy drinks. The results also revealed that there is significant correlation between the participation index score of gardening with ADHD score in the experimental group. Thus, the study establishes that the ADHD symptoms were reduced in children who participated in the garden-based nutrition intervention. The study also showed that there is no significant correlation between the participation index score of nutrition education session with ADHD score in the control group. The results also depict that the ADHD scores reduced after eliminating food items like sugar, maida,chocolate, bakery items and fizzy drinks. The results of the study depict that when children with ADHD participated in the gardening activities after receiving nutrition education. The preference and the frequency of consumption of the food that triggers ADHD symptoms have reduced. It was also seen that when compared to control group which received only nutrition education. The experimental group showed significant changes in the food frequency and food preference towards the ADHD elimination food. Hence the present study reveals that gardening along with nutrition education can reduce the ADHD symptoms. Parent of the children of ADHD should have thorough understanding of the role of healthy diet and the elimination diet. It is also advisable that every school has a curriculum to include gardening activities which can eventually reduce ADHD symptoms in children with ADHD.