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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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20161
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Subject: Farm, Machinery and Power × Author: Ayisha, Mangat ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Investigations on the adaptability of wireless sensor networks (WSN) based technology for harvesting crops
    (College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Kelappaji, 2016) Ayisha, Mangat; KAU; Shivaji, K P
    Harvesting has been identified as one of the critical and resource consuming operation because of several reasons especially inside polyhouse structures. Knowledge of physical properties of crops and fruits like cucumber plays an important role in the design and optimization of its machinery. Evaluation of these properties like plant height, leaf numbers, leaf length, leaf width, fruit length and width were taken for observation. It was seen that, these properties had a direct impact on deciding the components of the harvester. Plant height determined the height of the harvester; leaf parameters decided the obstacle parameters in the work space. Fruit holding capacity of the cutting unit was depended on fruit parameters. By analyzing all these data and the past work in the field of robotics, a preliminary model of a harvester was fabricated. Out of the harvesters developed so far in the field of agriculture, the most simple and economical method was selected for this study. The principle of linear actuators was adapted for the design of the harvester by incorporating screw rods and DC motors. The basic components for the harvester were identified with three Degrees of Freedom. The moving unit with wheels contributes to the motion in X direction. The vertical screw thread makes the movement in Y direction and the horizontal unit gives the motion in Z direction. By studying the biometric properties of plants and crops, the height of the harvester was confined to 2 m, width of horizontal unit as 45 cm and the base platform with 45X45 cm. A control board was used for controlling the motors which causes motion for the threaded rods. Accordingly, a laboratory model was fabricated and its functionality was tested. It was found working successfully in the laboratory conditions. The current trend in high-tech agriculture is towards switching from a manual system to automatic operations. Hence, the present study is a promising technology that can be converted to a fully automatic machine with future developments.