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 - 7 of 7

Open Access
Design analysis of suitable cutter header assembly for pokkali paddy harvester
(Department of Farm Machinery and power engineering, KCAET, Tavanur, 2021) Rathinavel, S; KAU; Sindhu, Bhaskar
Pokkali system of rice cultivation is a unique farming under pokkali ecosystem prevalent exclusively in central Kerala. Harvesting of paddy in pokkali is to be carried out under stagnated water level which may raise upto five feet. Hence a research was undertaken to design a suitable cutter header assembly for the harvester, as other existing harvesting machines can’t be used in pokkali fields. Existing machines were studied and their drawbacks were identified. Four different designs of cutter header assembly models were made suiting an existing amphibian weed harvester (Truxor DM 5045). The four design models were design I (multiple bat reel system), design II (single bat reel system), design III (vertical axis reel system) and design IV (floating assembly with projected conveyor system). Selection of the best model out of these four was carried out by Quality Function Deployment (QFD) Technique along with Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) as a sub process, statistical analysis with expert ratings on models and Finite Element Analysis (FEM) on components suspected to failure of the selected models. All the results were collectively analysed and design II (single bat reel system) was selected. Also the design I (multiple bat reel system) can be an alternative as per statistical analysis. The single bat reel type system consists of single bat reel with elongated tynes. The corrosion resistant standard type cutterbar is finalized. Other specifications such as position of assembly, material of construction, dimensions etc were discussed in detail. Further the design, development and evaluation are suggested on the selected models with reduced size machine with same features and components as in Truxor DM 5045 (Amphibian weed harvesting machine)
Open Access
Development of a semi autonomous robotic platform for intercultural operations in row crops
(Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology,Tavanur, 2020) Athira, P; KAU; Shaji James, P
A semi-autonomous robotic platform was conceptualized for performing the intercultural operations in row crops. It was expected to be capable of navigating within the field and performing the intended intercultural operation according to the user command. The dimensions of the chassis (track width and ground clearance) were determined on the basis of agronomic characteristics of the crop. Wheel mounted geared motors were used for self-propulsion. The wheel variables were decided based on the rolling resistance and terramechanics relationships. A six-wheel independent drive skidsteering drive mechanism was provided to the robotic platform. Arduino Mega was the microcontroller used which was interfaced with the drive motors via L298N motor driver for speed and direction control. The microcontroller was programmed in Arduino IDE software using C++ language. The wireless communication system was based on Radio Frequency (RF) protocol using Flysky FS i6 2.4GHz Six-channel Transmitter Remote Controller with FS-iA6 Receiver unit. The monitoring guidance of the prototype was accomplished on the basis of real-time video streaming using Wi-Fi enabled wireless IP camera. The operational unit was controlled by relay driver circuits. Geared DC motor operated cable drive slider mechanisms actuated the position control of the sprayer unit. The developed prototype was evaluated in both lab and field conditions. The speed of travel obtained was less than the rated speed. The total power consumed by the prototype increased with increase in the load. The deviation of the prototype from a straight path could be corrected by the use of steering controls by the operator. The control unit functioned satisfactorily for every command by the user. During the basic field trial, a non-uniform distribution of load on each ground-contact point occurred due to the undulated terrain. Therefore, wheels were subjected to sinkage which resulted in lack of proper traction and wheel slip. The tractive forces were then insufficient to overcome the soil resistance. The test resulted in the requirement for a modified drive mechanism for the prototype. The modified design of the drive mechanism comprised of high torque motors (24 V, 8Nm, 300 RPM DC motor) with reducer unit, high power motor drivers (BTS7960) and larger diameter pneumatic wheels (30.48 cm diameter). A suspension could also be provided to maintain uniform load distribution on each groundcontact points. As the torque exerted by these motors would be greater than the required torque, the design was safe. The cost for modified prototype was estimated to be Rs.65000/-.
Open Access
Design, development and testing of a transplanting mechanism for conventional paddy seedling
(Department of Farm power and Machinery, College of Agricultural Engineering,Ludhiyana, 1979) Cheeram Parambil, Muhammad; KAU; Verma, S R
For over half of the world’s population, rice provides the main dietary source of energy and hence is one of the most important food materials. In the Far – East, where 90 per cent of world’s rice is grown, transplanting is widely practised due to numerous advantages offered by this method. Manual transplanting being a rather tedious operation, paddy transplanters had been developed and introduced in several countries notably Japan. Transplanters using conventional seedlings, however, are still receiving world wide attention as the commercial transplanters such as in use in Japan were costlier and employed special type of nursery raised with much care and skill. It was, therefore, decided to develop and test a new type of paddy transplanting mechanisms, with the following specific objectives: 1. To design and develop a mechanisms for transplanting conventional paddy seedlings 2. To test the transplanting mechanisms under laboratory conditions 3. To identify the important parameters of the mechanism and establish their range for optimal operation of the unit designed under objective (1). Accordingly, a paddy transplanting mechanisms was designed and developed. Attempts were made to overcome, as far as possible, the drawbacks of similar mechanisms already developed and reported. It was a single - row unit with provision to add more such units, as as to make a multi - row machine with a row - spacing of 20 cm. It was designed to transplant washed - root seedlings of 20 to 30 cm length at a hill to hill distances of 15 cm, with 2 to 3 seedlings/hill, to a depth of 3 to 4 cm, with not more than 5 per cent missing hills and 1 per cent seedling damage. Made mainly of M. S. and supported on a wooden float, the mechanism weighted 9.5 kg without seedlings. The important components of the mechanism were a seedling box to hold the seedlings, a seedling rake and seedling ejector for positive conveyance of the seedlings into the picker – jaws, a pair of picker sets mounted on the main shaft and actuated by a stationary cam to pick and release the seedlings, and a planting finger to plant the seedlings, laid horizontally on the ground after release, by the pickers. The main shaft was rotated by a ground wheel, as the mechanism was drawn forward by manual, animal or tractor power. In order to study the effect of reduced tip velocity of the pickers, another mechanism with four picker-sets, based on the same concept as the first one, but with proportionately larger dimensions of pickers and stationary cam, was also fabricated. The components like seedling box, rake, ejector and main shaft were retained with the same specifications as for the mechanism with two picker - sets. This mechanism weighed 11.75 kg against 9.5 kg for the first mechanism. The mechanism with two picker sets was designated as mechanism – A and that with four picker sets as mechanism – B for convenience. The two mechanisms were tested in the laboratory to compare their performance in respect of the plant hill missing, seedling damage, seedling distribution, average number of seedlings per hill and the power consumption. The tests were conducted with 4 rates of picking, i.e. 60, 90, 120 and 150 hills/min and 3 seedling heights i.e. 30, 25 and 20 cm for both mechanism A and B. The laboratory tests revealed that as the rate of picking increased from 60 to 150 hills/min, the missing hills increased from 4.09 to 16.8 per cent and 6.95 to 16.44 per cent; seedling damage from 0.8 to 1.43 per cent and 0.53 to 0.89 per cent; and power consumption from 13.6 to 33.6 and 17.1 to 42.1 watts for mechanisms A and B respectively. The average number of seedlings for both the mechanisms studied, decreased from 2.4 to 2.0 for 30 cm long seedlings as the rate of picking increased from 60 to 150 hills/min. However, upto a picking rate of 120 hills/min, the missing hills were 5.69 and 10.69 per cent for mechanisms A and B respectively, as against the desired 5 per cent missing hills. Seedling damage was less than 1 per cent and average number of seedlings/hill was above 2.00 in both the mechanisms with a variation of 0 to 8 seedlings/hill with a maximum standard deviation of 1.32. As the seedling height was reduced from 30 to 20 cm, the average number of seedlings/hill was found to increase from 2.36 to 2.55 at the rate of picking of 60 hills/min, 2.11 to 2.39 at 90 hills/min, 2.07 to 2.39 at 120 hills/min and 1.99 to 2.09 at 150 hills/min. At all seedling heights, upto 120 hills/min, the average number of seedling/hill was above 2.00, which was within the required limit. On comparing the performance of the two mechanisms, it was found that there was no difference between the two regarding their ability to pick the number of seedlings/hill. However, missing hills were more in mechanism B as compared to mechanism A. For a rate of picking, upto 120 hills/min mechanism A had acceptable missing hill of 5.69 per cent as against the recommended 5 per cent, while mechanism B, had 10.67 per cent which was considerably higher than the acceptable limit. The seedling damage, upto 120 hills/min rate of picking was under 1 per cent for both the mechanisms. Limited field trials revealed that the planting finger provided in the mechanism did not function satisfactorily and as such the plants were not properly planted. Deposition of mud on the stationary cam and seedling ejector was a problem noticed in the field. Consequently, the free rotation of the main shaft was hampered which in turn led to the skidding of the ground wheel. This called for further improvements in the design of the planting finger and groundwheel drive. It was concluded that mechanism A could pick the seedlings from the seedling box and release them satisfactorily on the ground upto a picking rate of 120 hills/min. The missing hills and seedling damage were within acceptable limits. Trouble – free working of the transplanter fitted with such mechanism would have a capacity of about 0.0216 ha/hr per row. The forward speed for the rate of picking viz. 120 hills/min comes to about 1.08 kmph. The mechanism could not plant the seedlings erect and improvement on planting finger was needed. About 125 man – hrs/ha were required to wash and load the seedlings and if a 4-row bullock drawn version could be used, it would require about 140 man-hrs/ha as against 200 to 250 man-hrs/ha in hand transplanting. This would justify further developmental efforts and refinement of the mechanism.
Open Access
Design, development and evaluation of a power tiller operated bed former
(Department of Farm Power Machinery and Energy, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 1991) Shaji James, p; KAU; Sankaranarayanan, M R
A power tiller operated Bed Former was developed and evaluated. The main components of the prototype unit of the power tiller operated Bed Former are, a main frame, two pairs of forming boards, a leveling board, a hitching unit and a depth control cum transport wheel. The equipment was found capable of forming seed beds of heights 22 cm, 18 cm and 15 cm at a width range of 60-64 cm. Heights of 18 cm and 15 cm were possible at width ranges of 73-75 cm and 80 – 81 cm. The draft of the implement ranges from 115.59 kgf to 169.69 kgf. The power utilization of the implement varies from 0.586 hp to 0.771 hp and the wheel slip between 46.76 per cent and 77.1 per cent. The mean effective field capacity of the implement is 0.0996 ha/hr and the mean field efficiency is 46.3 per cent. The total cost of production of the unit is Rs. 2000/- and the cost of operation per hectare is Rs. 777/-. The amount that can be saved by using the implement is Rs. 1473/- per hectare.
Open Access
Fabrication and testing of a low cost flat plate collector-cum-storage solar water heater
(Department of Farm Power Machinery and Energy, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 1990) Lissy, Kirian; KAU; John Thomas, K
The study was conducted with the objectives of developing and testing the Collector – cum storage type solar water heater to evaluate its performance. The collector – cum storage heater was consisted of a concrete tank with dimensions 150 x 70 x 10 cm and had a capacity of 100 litres of water. An absorber plate of size 152 x 72 cm was made of Aluminium sheet and was fixed into the tank. The front face of the absorber sheet was painted black to absorb maximum solar radiation. Glass cover was fixed at the top, leaving an optimum air gap of 40 mm. The heater was inclined to the latitude of Tavanur and was oriented to south for collecting maximum solar radiation. The solar water heater was filled daily at 8 am with fresh water. The performance of the water heater was observed from 20th October 1989 to 26th January 1990. Optimum inclination of the heater was found to be 100 52’ 30”. The water heater was found to attain a maximum outlet temperature of 520 C at 3 pm. Efficiency of the heater was calculated to be 51%. Solar intensity meter read a maximum solar flux of 1120 w/m2 at 12 O’clock in the month of October. The heater can supply 100 litres of hot water at 50 – 520 C at a very reasonable cost of Rs. 777.5. The cost per unit of thermal energy obtained with this water heater is 8 paise per kwh. There is a remarkable break – through in its cost and performance as compared to a conventional natural circulation type solar water heaters.
Open Access
Studies on selected manually operated pumps
(Department of Farm Power Machinery and Energy, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 1990) Geeta Susan, Philip; KAU; John Thomas, K
The study was conducted with the objective of evaluating hydraulic and ergonomic performance of some selected manually operated pumps viz. Kirloskar pump, Kumar Bharath pump, E.P. pump (Lift), E.P. pump (Force) and Bicycle operated diaphragm pump. A subject was selected for the study and his body surface area was calculated. Heart rate was taken as the measure of mechanical work load on the subject and he was calibrated for the basic task. From the calibration curve it was found that heart beat of the subject should not exceed 110 beats/min for the ergonomic safety. Pumps were tested against different suction heads by varying the position of the gate valve connected in the suction line. Discharge, speed of operation, time of operation and heart rate of the subject were noted. Hydraulic characteristics of the pumps were analysed by studying the discharge, time to deliver 100 1, number of strocks to deliver 100 1, and volumetric efficiency with variation in head. Ergonomic features were analysed by studying the variation of heart rate with head. Among the five pumps the volumetric efficiency of Kumar Bharath pump reduced below 75% beyond the head 6.9 m corresponding heads for the other pumps are 6.7 m for Kirloskar, 5.8 m for E.P. pump (Force) 5.7 m for E.P. pump (Lift) and 1.1 m for diaphragm pump. Time to deliver 100 1 and number of strokes to deliver 100 1 were highest in the case of diaphragm pump and least in Kumar Bharath and Kirloskar pumps. Taking hydraulic and ergonomic performance into consideration the following heads can be recommended for the pumps. Kumar Bharath 6.6 m, Kirloskar 5.25 m, E.P. pump (Lift) 5.7 m, E.P. pump (Force) 5.8 m and diaphragm pump 1.1 m corresponding discharge of the pumps are 0.23 1/s, 0.37 1/s, 0.3 1/s, 0.45 1/s, 0.45 1/s respectively.
Open Access
Development and testing of a large diameter pit digger for laterite terrain
(Department of Farm Power Machinery and Energy, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 1996) Preman, P S; KAU; Jippu, Jacob
A large diameter pit digger was developed as an attachment to tractor for making large size pits in laterite suitable for planting saplings of trees especially for coconut palms. It was tested and evaluated at the Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engg. & Tech., Tavanur. The pit digger mainly consisted of a tractor rear-mounted twin-blade laterite cutter. The twin-blade laterite cutter essentially consisted of two circular blades, a main shaft, two cast iron hubs, two bearings and bearing blocks, power transmission elements, a main frame, two protective shields and one stopper. A 3 phase, 3-hp electric motor of 1440 rpm at a speed at a speed ratio of 2.1:1 was used for rotating the blades. By using a jib crane twin-blade laterite cutter was hitched to the three point hitch system of a tractor. Pit having approximately a square-horizontal cross-section and stepped or rebated downwards in four steps was made in laterite. Size of pit obtained was 1290 x 1190 mm at the top and 830 x 623 mm at the bottom with a total depth of 900 mm. The volume of pit was 0.914 m3. The capacity of machine was 2.24 pits of 0.914 m3 in a day of 8 h. For making a pit of 0.914 m3, the total electrical energy consumption was 4.111 kWh and the diesel fuel consumed by tractor was 18.5 L. The cost of digger excluding cost of motor, jib crane and tractor was Rs. 3800. The operating cost of the digger was Rs. 140.61 per hour and the cost of making one pit was Rs. 453.23. After taking in to account of the cost recovered due to the 41 laterite blocks obtained while making the pit, the net cost of making a pit was Rs. 207.12.

Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur

Browse

Thesis Type

Type

Author

Date

Subject

Search Results