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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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19872
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Subject: Floriculture and Landscaping × Author: KAU × End date: 1989 × Start date: 1987 ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Effect of shade on growth and fruiting in pineapple
    (Department of Pomology & Floriculture and Landscaping, College of Horticulture,Vellanikara, 1987) Radha, T; KAU; Aravindakshan, M
    The present investigations were carried out in the College of Horticulture, Kerala Agricultural University during the years 1976-1979. The object of the study was to find out the effects of shading on the growth, flowering and fruiting behaviour of pineapple variety ‘kew’. The treatments consisted of four levels of shade viz., 0, 25, 50 and 75 per cent. Shading was provided by coconut leaves on erected pandals over the plants and the intensity adjusted by using an ;Aplab’ lux meter periodically. The number of leaves produced per plant was not influenced by shading. In fact the leaf area was found to increase especially at the later stages of growth under shade. Dry matter accumulation in the leaves also was not reduced considerably in shade indicating the capacity of pineapple to tolerate shade. Early, uniform and increased flowering was noticed in plants grown under shade. Percentage of flowering was maximum at 50 per cent shade which probably indicated that the shade tolerance limit of pineapple is upto 50 per cent. Ethral was found to exhibit an inhibitory effect on flowering in the case of plants grown under shade above 25 per cent intensity. Crown growth of fruits was greatly enhanced by shade treatments and therefore the contribution of crown weight to the total fruit weight was higher in the shaded plants. Fruit weight with crown was comparable in shade and in open. Developmental pattern of fruits was not found to be influenced by shade treatments. Quality of the fruits in general, was decreased by shading. The acidity increased with shade intensity while the sugar and ascorbic acid contents decreased. Nitrogen content of leaves increased by shading, during the later stages of growth. The shaded leaves also possessed higher magnesium and lower calcium contents at all stages of estimation. Chlorophyll ‘a’, ‘b’ and total contents of leaves increased as the intensity of shade increased. Destruction of chlorophyll in the leaves in the open as evidenced by the yellowish appearance of leaves was not noticed under shade. Number of suckers produced per plant was not considerably affected by shading. Suckers produced by shaded plants were more vigorous than those produced by shaded plants were more vigorous than those produced by plants grown in the open.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Varietal responses of scion to stone grafting in mango for commercial propagation
    (Department of Pomology and Floriculture and Landscaping, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1987) Radhamony, P S; KAU; Gopikumar, K
    The present series of studies were carried out in the Department of Pomology and Floriculture, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara during the period from May 1985 to December 1986 with the objective of studying the response of varieties of scion shoots with verying lengths for stone grafting in mango. Scion shoots of three different lengths viz., 6 cm, 8 cm and 10 cm collected from six vatieties of mango viz., Mulgoa, Priur, Banganappally, Mundappa, Banglore and Alphonso were used for grafting operation. Detailed anatomical studies of graft union of all the selected varieties were also conducted to find out the various stages of graft union and the possible reasons for graft failures. The results of the experiment on the response of varieties and length of scion indicated highest percentage of sprouting for the variety Benganappally with scion of lengths 8 cm and 10 cm and for Priur with scion of length 8 cm, while sprouting was poor for the variety Alphonso with scion of lengths 8 cm and 10 cm. The variety Priur recorded maximum survival with the scion of length 8 cm while the variety Mulgoa with the scion of length 6 cm recorded least survival. The experiment to find out the effect of varieties and length of scion on growth parameters revealed that the variety Mulgoa recorded maximum mean growth followed by the variety Banganappally up to 4th fortnight and that growth of scion was not influenced significantly by different lengths of scion used for grafting. The varieties had significant effect on girth of rootstock only during the initial stages of growth while girth of scion was influenced by varieties throughout the period of observations. With regard to these parameters there was no significant difference between scions of lengths 6 cm, 8 cm, and 10 cm. The maximum and minimum leaf production was noticed respectively for the varieties Banganappally and Banglora particularly during initial stages of growth. However, the use of scions with varying lengths did not reveal any significant difference with regard to this parameter. Anatomical studies of the successful grafts revealed four district stages in the healing process of graft union. Cambial bridge across the union was established 45 days after grafting and the union was completed three months after the grafting operation. In the unsuccessful grafts there was no callus formation even after 5 to 10 days of grafting. Very thick necrotic layers were to have developed in the wounded exposed surfaces of stock and scion. Irregular cut surface, wide gap between stock and scion and slow differentiation of callus were also observed. Moreover, some of the unsuccessful grafts initiated callus production only from stock side.