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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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20191
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Subject: Farm, Machinery and Power × Author: Bandi Nageswar × Author: KAU × End date: 2019 × Start date: 2018 ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Design development and testing of a power operated paddy hill seeder
    (Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2019) Bandi Nageswar; KAU; Manoj Mathew
    Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is important leading food crop and it is widely cultivated in India. The farmers are facing problems due to lack of labour, time, inputs cost and also due to drudgery in work. Nevertheless, mechanization in paddy cultivation can boost higher productivity and considerably reduce the cost of production. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to design and develop a power operated paddy hill seeder in paddy cultivation. The power operated paddy hill seeder was developed and tested based on the, engineering and physical properties of dry and pre-germinated paddy seeds. The tests were conducted on sand bed to evaluate the seed metering mechanism performance with respect to spacing, seed rate, quality of feed index, multiple index, miss index, and seed damage at two different forward speeds (1.5 and 1.8 km h-1), two cell sizes and three transmission speeds (1:1.7, 1:1.2 and 1:0.95). The mean hill to hill spacing was ranged from 0.09-0.20 m, 3 to 7 seeds per hill, seed rate of 21-58 kg ha-1. The missing index and multiple indexe were less for the different combinations of study parameters (speed 1.5 kmph, cell size 9 mm, Transmission ratio 1:1.7), (Speed 1.8 kmph, Cell size 9 mm, Transmission ratio 1:1.7) and (Speed 1.8 kmph, Cell size 12 mm, Transmission ratio 1:1.7). The quality feed index were 86.1, 88.6 and 91.1 respectively for above sequence of combinations of study parameters. The average field capacity of the paddy hill seeder was 0.22 ha h-1 and 0.26 ha h-1 with efficiency of 80.00% and 76.00 % for forward speeds of 1.5 and 1.8 kmph respectively. Based on the performance evaluation results, it is concluded that the developed power operated paddy hill seeder is economical and efficient for direct sowing of paddy.