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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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Subject: Home Science × Author: KAU × Author: Krishnendu, J R × Start date: 2012 ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Promoting consumption of green leafy vegetables among rural women through participatory approach
    (Department of Home Science, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2012) Krishnendu, J R; KAU; Prasannakumari, B
    The present study entitled “Promoting consumption of green leafy vegetables among rural women through participatory approach” was conducted with the objective of promoting consumption of green leafy vegetables among rural women through an intensive educational programme employing participatory techniques and to assess its impact.The assessment of personal and socio-economic characteristics, dietary habits, collection of traditional recipes and knowledge about uses of green leafy vegetables, current supplementary feeding programme of the selected five anganwadi centers were done on the selected sample of the one hundred respondents. The respondents were selected from the five ICDS centers namely Athiyannoor, Aralummoodu, Pathamkallu, Vazhimukku, and Kaithottukonam in order to impart nutrition education programme for promoting green leafy vegetable consumption and also to promote inclusion of leafy vegetables in the supplementary feeding programme of the selected five anganwadi centers. The impact evaluation of nutrition education programme was assessed after a gap of three month. The findings of the socio-economic survey done revealed that majority of the respondents belonged to the age group less than or equal to thirty five years and belonged to Other Backward Caste (about 60 percent). Analysis of family structure revealed that majority of the respondents belonged to nuclear type of families and had a family size of 1-4 members. While analyzing the land holding size, it was found that eighty six percent of the respondents had their own land. Most of the respondents were (sixty four percent) not engaged in any livestock rearing and forty six percent of the respondents did not grow any green leafy vegetable at all. About eighty percent of the respondents lived in their own house and about fifty four percent of the respondents were having tap water facility for drinking purpose. Regarding educational status it was found that majority of the respondents had education up to pre-degree level. The employment status of the respondents shows that majority of them were unemployed. Most of the families had monthly income between 7323-9787 rupees and belonged to middle income group. Dietary habits of the respondents indicated that ninety percent of them were habitual non-vegetarians. Majority of the respondents (about fifty three percent) took food outside home occasionally. A majority percentage of respondents were using green leafy vegetables in the form of thoran. The frequency of use of green leafy vegetables revealed that most of the respondents used curry leaves and coriander leaves in their diets. The conduct of the supplementary feeding programme in the selected anganwadi centers was studied with the help of anganwadi worker. It revealed that poor utilization of green leafy vegetables in the supplementary feeding programme in the five selected anganwadi centers. A number of traditional recipes and various uses of green leafy vegetables were collected from the respondents. Five green leafy vegetable recipes namely chekkurmanis cutlet, drumstick leaves with scrambled egg, wheat rawa kichdi, weaning mix and amaranth squash were selected from these and subjected to acceptability tests among a selected panel of judges. Chekkurmanis cutlet was the highly accepted one while weaning mix was the least accepted product. None of the green leafy vegetable recipes were too low in mean score, this revealed that almost all green leafy vegetable recipes were liked by the panel members.Assessment of pre knowledge and attitude scores of respondents showed that majority of respondents had poor level of knowledge and attitude about the use of green leafy vegetables. The nutrition education programme was conducted to make the respondents aware of the importance of green leafy vegetables in their daily diet and inclusion of green leafy vegetables in supplementary feeding programme of the selected five anganwadi centers. The nutrition education programme was conducted with the help of nutrition education classes, charts, a video show on leafy vegetables prepared for the purpose of the study, leaf lets, kitchen gardening, demonstration and discussion. The impact of the nutrition education programme was assessed after three months by conducting a post test. The results showed that there was highly significant gain in knowledge and change in attitude of the respondents thus pointing out the positive impact of the nutrition education programme. The post test conducted revealed a significant change in the consumption of green leafy vegetables by the respondents. Locally available leafy vegetables were found to be included in the supplementary feeding programmes of the five selected anganwadi centers. The anganwadi workers also reported that they would use the leafy vegetables from the leafy vegetable garden for the feeding programme when the plants had grown. The scope of nutrition communication programmes using a participatory approach for bringing about positive change in the consumption of green leafy vegetables is evident from this study. The study proved that this programme can be successfully implemented in all the anganwadi centers of our state. The increase in the actual green leafy vegetable consumption will surely help to alleviate the micronutrient deficiencies prevalent in our state especially among women and children.