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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Ecophysiology and Screening for climate change resilience in Mango (Mangifera indica L.) Genotypes
(Department of Pomology and Floriculture College of Agriculture,Vellayani, 2019) Aswini, A; KAU; Jyothi Bhaskar
The study on “Ecophysiology and screening for climate change resilience in mango (Mangifera indica L.) genotypes” was conducted with the objective of getting basic information on eco physiological responses among selected genotypes of mango on flushing, flowering and fruit development with a view to identify climate resilient genotypes that are suitable for future climate change scenario in Kerala. The study comprised of three experiments viz., evaluation of mango genotypes under normal planting system, evaluation of selected mango genotypes in high density planting system and development of a crop weather model for mango and screening of genotypes for climate resilience with developed crop weather models. Experiment on evaluation of mango genotypes under normal planting system was conducted with trees of same age group (23 years). Wide variation was observed among the morphological characters, physiological characters, biochemical characters and quality attributes of different mango genotypes. From the observations on tree characters, the plant height varied from 9.78 m (H 151) to 12.49 m (Chandrakaran), the trunk circumference ranged from 91.63 cm (Muvandan) to 196.53 cm (Swarnarekha), and the crown diameter varied from 7.07 m (H 151) to 13.46 m (Mulgoa). The qualitative data on morphological characters viz., tree, leaf, inflorescence, fruit, stone and seed characters were grouped into clusters based on the IBPGRI descriptor. The observation on leaf characters revealed that the leaf blade length varied from 19.78 cm (Chandrakaran) to 29.32 cm (Amrapali), leaf blade width ranged from 4.77 cm (Kalepady) to 8.12 cm (Vellaikolumban), and the petiole length varied from 1.56 cm (H 45) to 3.70 cm (Amrapali). Based on the observations on inflorescence character the inflorescence length varied from 12.58 cm (Dashehari) to 34.42 cm (Bennet Alphonso), the inflorescence width ranged from 9.32 cm to 3.40 cm (Vellaikolumban), the hermaphrodite flowers in the inflorescence varied from 14.00% (Mulgoa) to 67.83% (Neelum), and the number of stamens per flower ranged from 4 to 5. From the observations on fruit characters the fruit length varied from 7.60 cm (Chandrakaran) to 20.08 cm (Mulgoa), fruit diameter ranged from 17.05 cm (h 151) to 32.50 cm (Arka Aruna), the fruit weight ranged from 123.10 g (Chandrakaran) to 738.97 g (Mulgoa), the fruit yield varied from 9.75 kg/tree (Arka Aruna) to 52.13 kg/tree (Muvandan) and the shelf life ranged from 3.83 days (PKM 2) to 7 days (H 151). From the observations on stone characters stone length, varied from 5.60 cm (Muvandan and Neelum) to 14.05 cm (Mulgoa), stone width ranged from 3.17 cm (Muvandan) to 12.07 cm (H 45 ), the stone thickness varied from 1.20 cm (Muvandan) to 3.15 cm (Neelgoa) and the stone weight ranged from 15.93 g (Bennet Alphonso) to 47.13 g (Mulgoa). Based on the seed characters the seed length varied from 4.28 cm (Bennet Alphonso) to 11.22 cm (Mulgoa), the seed width ranged from 2.25 cm (Sindhu) to 8.88 cm (Banganapalli) and the seed weight ranged from 8.58 g (Vellaikoamban) to 28.98 g (Mulgoa). The results from the analysis of quality attributes of different genotypes indicated that the acidity ranged from 0.02 % (Kalepady and H 151) to 0.12 % (Himayuddin), the ascorbic acid ranged from 12.17 mg 100g-1 (Arka Aruna) to 72.49 mg 100g-1 (Muvandan), carotenoids varied from 0.16 mg 100g-1 (Neelum) to 8.47 mg 100g-1 (Alphonso), ß carotene ranged from 9.75 mg 100g-1 (Mulgoa) to 45.06 mg 100g-1 (Dashehari), the total sugar varied from 12.55 % (Tholikkaipan) to 27.81 % (Swarnarekha), the reducing sugar ranged from 5.37 % (Swarnarekha) to 10.38 % (Tholikkaipan), the crude fibre varied from 2.67 % (Alphonso) to 16.50 % (Arka Aruna) and the TSS ranged from 16.16 oBrix (Kalepady) to 27.68 oBrix (Himayyudin). The results from sensory evaluation indicated that Mallika secured the highest rank for appearance, flavour, sweetness and texture, whereas Ratna secured the highest rank for clour and taste. The studies on pollen characters showed that the pollen length varied from 26.40 μm (Neelgoa) to 45.72 μm (Himayuddin), the pollen breadth ranged from 22.92 μm (Muvandan) to 38.34 μm (Arka Aruna), the pollen fertility ranged from 82.70 μm (Mulgoa) to 93.60 μm (Tholikkaipan) and the pollen production varied from 299.00 (H 151) to 541.83 (Prior). The pollen shapes of different mango genotypes observared were oblong, oval and round. The pollen storage was standardized using the pollen grains of Mallika and it was found that keeping under refrigerated conditions at 4OC was ambient. In vitro pollen germination were tried by hanging drop technique in different concentrations of sucrose solution with 1% agar and 0.001% boric acid but no germination was observed. The studies on physiological characters of different mango genotypes revealed that the relative water content varied from 19.00% (Ratna) to 35.82% (Neelum), radiation interception varied from 0.68 μ mol m-2 s-2 (Tholikkaipan) to 0.92 m-2 s-2 (Mulgoa), stomatal index varied from 15.59 (Prior) to 22.44 (Mallika), the stomatal frequency ranged from 65.22 to 88.78 (Banganappalli), the variation on stomatal conductance among the mango genotypes was found to be non significant, the stomatal resistance ranged from 5.33 μ mol m-2 s-2 (Dashehari) to 37.92 μ mol m-2 s-2 (Swarnarekha), the photosynthetic rate varied from 7.57 μ mol m-2 s-2 (H 151) to 17.91 μ mol m-2 s-2 (Tholikkaipan), the transpiration rate varied from 1.41 μ mol m-2 s-2 (Vellaikolumban) to 4.15 μ mol m-2 s-2 ( Dashehari), the leaf area index varied from 0.69 ( Dashehari) to 2.07 (Muvandan), and atmospheric pollution tolerance index ranged from 42.07 (Muvandan) to 68.53 (Mallika). The biochemical studies revealed that total phenol content varied from 4.54 mg g-1 to 19.07 mg g-1 (Ratna), soluble protein varied from 8.60 mg g-1 (Prior ) to 20.04 mg g-1 (Muvandan), the ascorbic acid content varied from 63.29 mg g-1 (Swarnarekha) to 97.21 mg g-1 (Ratna), the leaf pH ranged from 5.14 (Muvandan) to 6.45 (PKM 2), the chlorophyll a content varied from 0.82 mg g-1 (Chandrakaran) to 1.31 mg g-1 (Sindhu), the chlrophyll b content ranged from 0.13 mg g-1 (Banganappalli) to 0.26 mg g-1 (Tholikaippan), and the total chlorophyll ranged from 0.99 mg g-1 (Chandrakaran) to 1.48 mg g-1 (H 45). For the study on evaluation of mango genotypes under high density planting the trees of same age group (5 years) were selected. The observation on tree characters indicated that the trunk circumference ranged from 20.51 cm (Prior) to 31.29 cm (Chandrakaran), crown diameter ranged from 2.39 m (Ratna) to 3.09 m (Vellaikolumban). The qualitative data on morphological characters viz., tree, leaf, inflorescence, fruit, stone and seed characters were grouped into clusters based on the IBPGRI descriptor. The observation on leaf characters revealed that the leaf blade length varied from 19.17 cm (Muvandan) to 25.40 cm (Ratna), leaf blade width ranged from 4.84 cm (Muvandan) to 7.68 cm (Vellaikolumban) and leaf petiole length varied from 2.29 cm (Chandrakaran) to 4.18 cm (Vellaikolumban). Based on the inflorescence characters, the inflorescence length varied from 22.14 cm (Prior) to 36.47 cm (Vellaikolumban), the hermaphrodite flowers ranged from 33.40% (Muvandan) to 85.80% (Chandrakaran) and the number of stamens varied from 3 to 4. The observation on fruit characters revealed that the fruit length varied from 7.49 cm (Chandrakaran) to 18.71 cm (Mallika), the fruit diameter ranged from 13.18 cm (Chandrakaran) to 25.25 cm (Mallika), the fruit weight ranged from 8.93 g (Muvandan) to 24.69 g (Mallika), the yield per tree ranged from 8.93 kg/tree (Muvandan) to 24.69 kg/tree (Mallika), and the shelf life of fruits varied from 4 to 6 days. The observations on stone and seed characters revealed that chandrakaran recorded the lowest stone length (5.58 cm), stone width (3.36 cm), stone thickness (1.23 cm), stone weight (17.79 g) and seed length (4.05 cm). The lowest seed width and seed weight was recorded by Prior (3.07cm) and Vellaikolumban (9.44 cm). The highest stone length was recorded by Mallika (11.67 cm), stone width by Ratna (8.67 cm), stone thickness by Vellaikolumban (2.19 cm), stone weight by Mallika (44.33 g) , seed weight by Prior (22.22 g) and seed length and width by Ratna (7.91 cm and 8.47 cm respectively). Based on the analysis on quality attributes on different mango genotyped under high density planting the TSS ranged from 14.78 oBrix (Muvandan), acidity varied from 0.02 % (Mallika) to 0.07 % (Muvandan), ascorbic acid varied from 28.26 mg 100g-1(Vellaikolumban) to 79.68 mg 100g-1 (Chandrakaran), carotenoids ranged from 1.40 mg 100g-1(Vellaikolumban) to 4.80 mg 100g-1(Ratna), and ß carotene ranged from 13.54 mg 100g-1(Vellaikolumban) to 39.93 mg 100g-1(Ratna). The results on sensory evaluation revealed that Ratna recorded the highest rank for colour, flavour, sweetness, texture and taste, whereas Mallika recorded the highest rank for appearance. The pollen studies indicated that the pollen length varied from 24.80 μm (Muvandan) to 44.00 μm (Prior), pollen breadth ranged from 22.62 μm (Muvandan) to 33.35 μm (Chandrakaran), pollen fertility ranged from 59.47% (Prior) to 79.29% (Mallika) and the pollen production ranged from 194.50 (Muvandan) to 306.10 (Vellaikolumban). The studies on physiolological characters showed that the radiation interception ranged from 0.77 μ mol m-2 s-2 (Ratna and Chandrakaran) to 0.61 μ mol m-2 s-2 (Prior), the stomatal index ranged from 17.87 (Mallika) to 21.37 (Ratna), the stomatal frequency varied from 63.73 (Mallika) to 81.40 (Ratna), stomatal conductance ranged from 0.09 μ mol m-2 s-2 (Prior) to 0.19 μ mol m- 2 s-2 (Muvandan), stomatal resistance ranged from 7.31 μ mol m-2 s-2 ( (Muvandan) to 19.79 μ mol m-2 s-2 (Prior), the photosynthetic rate varied from 3.17 μ mol m-2 s-2 (Chandrakaran) to 11.68 μ mol m-2 s-2 (Vellaikolumban), transpiration ranged from 2.44 μ mol m-2 s-2 (Chandrakaran) to 4.19 μ mol m-2 s-2 (Muvandan) and atmospheric pollution tolerance index ranged from 54.42 (Vellaikolumban) to 68.34 (Ratna). The studies on biochemical character revealed that total phenol content varied from 4.81 mg g-1 (Vellaikolumban) to 10.66 mg g-1 (Prior), soluble protein varied from 12.72 mg g-1 (Ratna) to 20.75 mg g-1 (Chandrakaran), ascorbic acid content ranged from 67.74 mg g-1 (Vellaikolumban) to 92.34 mg g-1 (Ratna), leaf pH varied from 5.57 (Ratna) to 6.15 (Muvandan), chlorophyll a content ranged from 1.09 mg g-1 (Muvandan) to 1.29 (Prior), chlorophyll b varied from 0.22 mg g-1 (Muvandan) to 0.29 mg g-1 (Chandrakaran) and total chlorophyll varied from 1.30 mg g-1 (Muvandan) to 1.55 mg g-1 (Prior). Future climate change projection for 2030, 2040 and 2050 based on RCP 4.5 was generated using ECHAM model and the performance of the various genotypes under projected climatic conditions was evaluated using the developed model. Correlation among different meteorological and phenological characters of mango genotypes were done for yield, regression equations were derived and the yield was predicted from the scenario. Three phenophases viz., flower initiation, fruit initiation and fruit maturation were taken for the study. In each phenophase, weather parameter for seven, fifteen and thirty days prior to date of expression were averaged individually for correlation. Sindhu, Vellaikolumban, Prior, Alphonso, Kalepady and Tholikaippan showed an increase in the predicted yield in spite of an increase in temperature in flowering phenophase under normal planting system. The predicted yield increased in spite of a decrease in solar radiation in H 45, Mulgoa and Tholikaippan,. The predicted yield increased in spite of a decrease in rainfall in Dashehari, Neelum and Muvandan. Amrapali, PKM 1, Alphonso, Himayuddin, Swarnarekha and Mulgoa showed an increase in predicted yield in spite of an increase in rainfall. Amrapali, PKM 1, Sindhu, Neelum, Himayyudin, Bennet Alphonso, Kalepady, Muvandan, Tholikaippan, Vellaikolumaban, Banganapalli and Prior, recorded an increase in predicted yield in spite of an increase in temperature in fruit initiation phenophase under normal planting system. The predicted yield increased in spite of a decrease in rainfall in PKM 1, Amrapali, H 151, H 45, Bennet Alphonso, Mulgoa, Tholikkaipan, Chandrakaran and Muvandan. Dashehari showed an increase in predicted yield in spite of an increase in rainfall. H 151, Kalepady and Swarnarekha showed an increase in the predicted yield in spite of an increase in rainfall in fruit maturation phenophase under normal planting system. Based on the performance of genotypes in all three phenophases, H 45 can be recommended for regions with lower rainfall and lower solar radiation among the hybrids under normal planting system, whereas, Amrapali and PKM 1 can be recommended for areas with higher temperature and for both higher and lower rainfall regions. Among the parents of the hybrids, Mulgoa can be recommended for regions with lower solar radiation and for both lower and higher rainfall regions. Among the local types, Tholikaippan can be recommended for the regions with higher temperature, lower rainfall and lower solar radiation. Vellaikolumban, Ratna and Muvandan showed an increase in the predicted yield in spite of an increase in temperature in flowering phenophase under high density planting system. Prior, Chandrakaran, Muvandan, Vellaikolumban, Ratna and Mallika recorded an increase in the predicted yield in spite of an increase in temperature in fruit initiation phenophase under high density planting system. Prior, Chandrakaran, Mallika, Ratna and Muvandan, showed an increase in the yield in spite of an increase in temperature in fruit maturation phenophase under high density planting system, whereas the predicted yield increased in spite of a decrease in rainfall in Mallika, Vellaikolumban and Ratna. Based on the performance of genotypes in all the three phenophases, all studied genotypes can be recommended for higher temperature regions under high density planting system. In conclusion, climate change may have a profound impact on mango genotypes since the flower initiation, fruit initiation and fruit maturation phenophases are strongly influenced by the environment. The projected scenario for 2030, 2040 and 2050 indicate that the temperature will tend to increase and the rainfall will decrease from the present condition leading to altered phenophases which necessitate changes in spectrum and distribution of varieties currently being grown. H 45, PKM 1, Amrapali, Mulgoa and Tholikaippan are the climate resilient genotypes for the normal planting systems and Mallika, Ratna, Muvandan, Vellaikolumban and Prior are the climate resilient genotypes for high density planting systems.

Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur

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