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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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ThesisItem Open Access Impact of bioagents and soil amendments on the performance of patchouli (pogostemon patchouli pellet.)(Department of Plantation Crops and Spices, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2004) Smilu, Babu; KAU; Asha Shankar, MAn experiment entitled "Impact ofbio agents and soil amendments on the performance of patchouli" was conducted at the Department of Plantation crops and Spices, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara during 2002-04 to elucidate the effect of application of bioagents, soil amendments and bioregulators on growth, yield and oil quality of patchouli. The study was also aimed at refming vegetative propagation technique to generate disease free quality planting materials. The investigations were conducted in two experiments. Results of the first experiment, " Impact of bioagents on the production of quality planting materials in the nursery "revealed that bioagents had a significant influence on the growth characters of the crop in the nursery stage wherein significant differences were observed among the treatments with respect to characters such as number of leaves, number of roots, length of roots and root volume. Root characters were markedly influenced by bioagents and bioregulators. Root length and root volume were found the highest for the treatment receiving combined application of Trichoderma and Pseudomonas fluorescens at the rate of 2 g each at the time of planting. This treatment also recorded earliest sprout emergence in 6.3 days after planting the terminalcuttings in the nursery. Terminal cuttings which were treated with IBA at the rate of 1000 ppm at the time of planting came to rooting earlier in 8 days after planting in the nursery. Root number was also recorded the highest with the same treatment. The highest leaf number in 45 days old patchouli plants was recorded in nursery with the incorporation of Trichoderma at the rate of 2 g per bag. This treatment also recorded the highest sprout length of 0.45 cm. Earliness in sprouting, length of sprout and earliness in rooting were not found influenced by bioagents in nursery experiment. Plants raised in the nursery by the combined application of Trichoderma and Pseudomonas fluorescens rated the best in the nursery were selected for main field experiment. Impact of bioagents and soil amendments on growth, yield and oil quality were studied in the main field and results obtained revealed that treatments ~----.-.- .. -- involving combined application of bioagents and soil amendments significantly influenced the growth and yield parameters of the crop plant .. Plant height was the highest with the combined application of lime, neem cake, Trichoderma and Pseudomonas fluorescens along with the application of recommended doses of FYM and NPK both in main crop and regenerated crop. Compared to control, this treatment also improved vegetative characters like number of leaves and yield attributes like fresh herb yield and fresh leaf yield both in main crop and regenerated crop. Combined application of control, lime, neem cake and Pseudomonas fluorescens along with the recommended doses of FYM and NPK recorded highest number of branches and greatest plant spread. Leaf area also was found varying significantly among treatments. Application of neem cake, Trichoderma and Pseudomonas fluorescens in addition to the recommended doses of FYM and NPK recorded the highest leaf area. Dry leaf yield recorded was also the highest with the same treatment. Oil yield and oil content in the plant were found to be significantly influenced by bioagents and soil amendments. The plants treated with a combination of neem cake + Trichoderma + Pseudomonas fluorescens along with the recommended doses of FYM and NPK recorded highest values of oil yield and oil content. Physicochemical properties of the essential oil of patchouli were analysed wherein it was, observed that specific gravity of oil between 0.940 and 0.953 and refractive index was recorded between 1.5032 and 1.5150 at 31 Qc. Gas chromatographic profile of oil samples were analysed and significant variation with respect to the application of various treatments was observed. Number of components present in the oil sample varied significantly among treatments. It is observed that when the number of peaks increases, the percentage of major components in the oil decreases. Treatments receiving neem cake along with NPK and FYM recorded maximum number of components in the oil sample. It is found that neem cake can add optimum level of nutrients to the soil at a slow and steady rate which finally resulted in the increment of oil components.ThesisItem Open Access Physio chemical properties of jackfruit (artocarpus heterophyllus lam.) seed flour and its prospects for use in cattle feed(Department of Processing Technology, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2005) Sri, Krishna G; KAU; Sheela, K BThe study on "Physio chemical properties of jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.) seed flour and its prospects for the use in cattle feed" was undertaken at the Department of Processing Technology, College of Horticulture, Kerala Agricultural University for evaluating the physio chemical characters of jackfruit as well as seed and utilization of seed flour for compounded cattle feed. Significant variation existed between thirty fruit samples collected from different locations in Kerala for physical characters of fruit. The contribution of edible bulbs, rind and perigones, core and seed to the fruit were 21.3 - 29.7, 42.6- 52.3, 12.4-19.8 and 8.4-16.2 per cent respectively. The samples also differed significantly with respect to chemical constituents of seed. Total carbohydrates, crude fibre, digestible carbohydrates, total minerals and fat content were found to be in the range of 54.7 to 79.8 per cent, 1.5 to 3.9 per cent, 5l.8 to 76.4 per cent, 1.3 to 5.0 per cent and 0.2 to 1.9 per cent respectively. Seed flour stored in different packaging materials differed significantly with respect to weight loss or gain, moisture content, carbohydrate content and organoleptic qualities during storage. Seed flour stored in glass bottles, aluminium foil and polythene cover registered less weight gain, least moisture ingress and minimum variation in carbohydrate content and also had better colour and flavour retention, low caking and less insect infestation during the storage as compared to other packaging materials. Polyethylene cover was found to be the most cost effective packaging material for storage of seed flour. The product, chapatti was prepared by blending wheat flour (WF) and jackfruit seed flour (JSF) in different proportions viz., 90: 1 0, 80:20, 70:30 and 60:40. Organoleptic evaluation revealed that jackfruit seed flour can be blended ; with the wheat flour up to the extent of 20 per cent without effecting of quality of chapatti with respect to colour, flavour, texture, taste and overall acceptability. A feeding trial on dairy cows was conducted at University livestock farm, Mannuthy to study the feasibility of utilizing jack seed flour in the compounded cattle feed by replacing part of maize in the concentrate mixture. No significant difference in milk production and milk composition (fat percentage, total solids and solids not fat) between the animals receiving Ration 1 (20 per cent level JSF) and Ration II (40 per cent level JSF) was observed indicating that JSF can be incorporated up to 40 per cent in the feed concentrate without adversely affecting the milk production and milk quality.ThesisItem Open Access Floral biology and compatibility studies in heliconia(Department of Pomology Olericulture, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2005) Sanjeev, S J; KAU; Sheela, V L(Guide)The present study, “ Floral biology and compatibility studies in Heliconia” was undertaken to understand the Floral biology and to analyse the compatibility reaction of the selected genotypes of heliconia which would prove to be help in further breeding and crop improvement programmes. Floral biology of fifteen heliconia genotypes and their compatibility was assessed by taking one promising variety of heliconia (Lady Di) with seed set as female parent and crossing with other fourteen selected pollen parents. Variability studies indicated high phenotypic coefficient of variation for pollen fertility (97.97 %) .The variability of genotypic coefficient was highest for anthocyanin content (86.76 %) followed by number of flowers per bract. This reveals a great extend of variability for these characters. The character anthocyanin content and number of flowers per bract recorded high heritability coupled with high genetic advance. Number of days from first to last flower opening showed significant positive phenotypic correlation with number of days from emergence to male phase and pollen size. The number of days from emergence to male phase showed positive genotypic correlation with first to last flower opening and negative correlation with days from emergence to female phase. Length of inflorescence was negatively correlated to number of days from emergence to male and female phase. Peak anthesis time was found to be between 3 and 6 a.m for all the varieties except for variety Collinsiana where anthesis was found distributed between 8 p.m and 7 a.m. No flower opening was observed for varieties Petra Orange, Pedro Ortiz, Guyana, Golden Torch and Alan Carle. Pollen fertility (89.39 %) was found to be highest for Lady Di, which was on par with Parakeet. The lowest pollen fertility was for variety Guyana (23.23%). Anthocyanin content was the highest for Lady Di (58.38 mg/ 100 g). Selfing yielded the highest percent seed set (4.56 %) for Parakeet. Seed set was obtained for variety Sassy under open pollination and selfing. Compatibility analysis where Lady Di was used as female parent and other fourteen varieties as pollen parent yielded no seed set. Very high degree of incompatibility (84.76 %) where ovary dried without any visible post pollination changes was observed in the compatibility analysis. Lotens Sun Bird (Nectarina lotenia), Stingless Bees (Melipona iridipennis syn. Trigona iridipennis) and Ants were identified to be the possible pollinators of Heliconia. The present study reveals many cross compatibility barriers in hybridisation of heliconia which should be overcome with precise physical, mechanical or chemical means as there exists a wide variability and potentiality for this crop which can be exploited for further crop improvement programmes and evolution of newer attractive varieties with highly desirable characters.ThesisItem Open Access G x E interaction of semi- erect cowpea genotypes(Department of Olericulture, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2005) Ampily, M; KAU; Salikutty, JosephExperiments on “G x E interaction of semi-erect cowpea genotypes” were carried out at the Department of Olericulture, College of Horticulture, Kerala Agricultural University, Vellanikkara, Thrissur during Kharif, Rabi and summer 2004-2005. The study was aimed at identification of stable high yielding and dual purpose semi-t rect cowpea accessions over different seasons and to assess the G x E interaction with respect to different characters. Fifty, accessions of cowpea collected from various parts of Kerala were used for the study. The analysis of variance revealed considerable variability for most of the characters among the genotypes. The magnitude of PCV was higher for green pod yield per plant (42.13 %), number of pods per plant (35.75 %) and seed yield per plant (35.33 %). Heritability values of more than 60 per cent was ■'"* TT* noticed for characters like 100 seed weight, pod length, seed yield per plant, green pod yield per plant, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod and number of clusters per plant. The pest and disease infestation scenario during cultivation showed that the accession VS-1 111 had a pod borer infestation below 2 per cent and can be progressed further as a resistant material for future programmes. The coreid bug infestation was maximum during summer followed by Kharif and was nil during Rabi. None of the accessions were found resistant to coreid bug. The incidence of aphids was lowest during Kharif followed by summer and Rabi. The accessions VS-1230 and VS-1231 were free from aphid attack during all the seasons. There was no incidence of anthracnose during Rabi season. VS- 1294, VS-1047, VS-1171, VS-1286 (Varun), VS-1276 (Kanakamony), VS- 1179, VS-1213; VS-1160, VS-1263, VS-1032, VS-1266 (Kairali) and VS-1248 were free from anthracnose. The incidence of collar rot was lowest during summer followed by Kharif, and Rabi. There was no incidence of mosaic during Rabi. The performance of the accessions was the best during summer followed by kharif. The productivity was maximum in VS-1177 (green pod yield of 9,5 tonnes and a seed yield of 3.3 tonnes per hectare) followed by VS- 1025 (green pod yield of 6.9 tonnes and a seed yield of 2.1 tonnes per hectare)and VS-1179 (green pod yield of 6.2 tonnes and a seed yield of 2.3 tonnes per hectare). Considering the performance over three seasons, the above accessions were found adaptable for green pod yield and seed yield. Hence these accessions can be selected as dual purpose, adaptable, semi-erect cowpea for large scale cultivation throughout the year in Kerala and can be recommended after further experimentation.ThesisItem Open Access Seed invigoration studies in ash guard (Benincasa hispida Thunb.)(Department Of Olericulture, College Of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2005) Jyothilakshmi Unnikrishnan; KAU; Mini, C"Seed invigoration studies in ash gourd (Benincasa hispida Thunb.)"was carried out at Department of Olericulture, College of Horticulture, Kerala Agricultural University, Vellanikkara, Thrissur during 2002-2004. The study was conducted to find out the effect of invigoration to break seed dormancy in ash gourd, to find out the storage potential of invigorated seeds and to compare the field performance of invigorated seeds with certain traditional farmers' practices. Among the different invigoration treatments tried, growth regulators were found to be effective in breaking dormancy of fresh ash gourd seed and to improve vigour GA3 was effective at 25, 50 and 100 ppm and NAA at 25 and 50 ppm. Acid treatment or water soaking did not have any effect in breaking dormancy, thus indicating the inefficiency of scarification. Seed dormancy in ash gourd is found to be endogenous in nature which is due to certain chemical blocks, caused either by the presence of growth inhibiting factors or due to deficiency of some essential compounds. Seed invigoration was not effective in breaking dormancy of fresh seeds. But fresh seeds can be given an after ripening for a period of two months and invigorated with growth regulators for increased vigour. Though there was a gradual reduction in quality parameters like germination percentage, speed of germination and vigour index. Invigorated seeds can be safely stored for a period upto five months indicating that invigorated seeds can be directly supplied to farmers for immediate use. The practice of using seeds from previous rainy season crop was found to give superior field performance during next summer. Storing the harvested fruits as such and extracting seeds at the time of sowing gives better vegetable yield, where as storing the extracted seeds till next summer gave better fruit yield for seed purpose and seed yield. Among the growth regulators seeds invigorated with NAA 50 ppm gave increased vegetable yield and GA3 50 ppm gave increased seed yield. KN03 was not effective in breaking dormancy, improving vigour or giving improved field performance in ash gourd. Using seeds of previous summer crop for next summer is found to give inferior field performance and seed quality.ThesisItem Open Access In vitro propogation in two commercial diploid bananas of Kerala(Department Of Pomology And Floriculture, College Of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2005) Sapheera, C P; KAU; Babylatha, A PThe studies on in vitro propagation in two commercial diploid bananas of Kerala, namely Musa (AB) ‘ Njalipoovan’ and Musa (AA) ‘ Nivedyakadali’, were carried out in the Plant Tissue Culture Laboratory, Department of Pomology and Floriculture, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara. Sword sucker, peeper sucker and eye bud explants were used for the study. The results revealed that surface sterilization of explants with a combination treatment of absolute alcohol 70.0 per cent for 1 minute + mercuric chloride 0.1 per cent for 10 minutes + dipping in antibiotic cefotaxime 0.01 per cent solution for 15 minutes recorded cent per cent survival of explant. Physical injury of the apical dome of shoot tip explants with a longitudinal cut was found to be best in enhancing the release of axillary buds in the culture. Addition of ascorbic acid into the media at the rate of 50.0 mgl-1 reduced media and explant discolouration. For the better and faster explant establishment and growth of sword sucker and peeper sucker explants, MS medium containing BA 3.0 mgl-1 and NAA 0.5 mgl-1 was found to be best for Njalipoovan and Nivedyakadali. In shoot tip culture of Njalipoovan, maximum number of multiple shoots was recorded in the medium containing NAA 0.5 mgl-1 and BA 8.0 mgl-1 or BA 5.0 mgl-1 alone in full MS. In the case of Nivedyakadali also BA 5.0 mg l-1 in the full MS recorded the maximum number of multiple shoots. Out of the two cytokinins tried (BA and Kinetin), BA was found to be more efficient for the induction of axillary shoots in the culture. Sword sucker, peeper sucker and eye bud explants were found to be equally effective with respect to the number of axillary shoots from a single explant, in both cultivars. Sucrose 3.0 per cent and table sugar 2.0 per cent produced maximum number of multiple shoots in Njalipoovan. In the case of Nivedyakadali too table sugar at 2.0 per cent recorded maximum number of multiple shoots. Half strength of vitamins in full MS observed more number of multiple shoots in cv. Njalipoovan. In the case of cv. Nivedyakadali, half tablet of vitamin B complex (2.0 mgl-1) in the medium resulted in more number of shoots. For Njalipoovan the treatment involving full MS + NAA 2.0 mgl-1 took significantly least number of days for root initiation with cent per cent rooting. The number of roots per shoot was maximum in half MS + 10.0 mgl-1. In the case of Nivedyakadali, full MS medium containing NAA 1.0 mgl-1 took least number of days for root initiation with cent per cent rooting. Of the various carbon sources tried with Njalipoovan, number of roots produced was significantly higher in the medium containing table sugar 3.0 per cent and table sugar 2.0 per cent. In the case of Nivedyakadali number of roots produced was higher in the medium containing table sugar 3.0 per cent. Full strength of vitamins in full MS medium resulted in maximum number of roots and maximum length of roots. Nivedyakadli recorded maximum number of roots in full MS media containing half strength of vitamins whereas length of root was maximum in full strength vitamin concentration. Number of roots and length of root were higher in the media containing triademefon 1.0 mg l-1. The most suitable rooting medium for ex vitro establishment of Njalipoovan and Nivedyakadali plantlets was 1:1(v/v) mixture of vermiculite + coir pith compost. Sand + cow dung + goat manure (1: 1: 1) mixture was the best potting mixture for subsequent growth and vigour of in vitro derived diploid banana. Plantlets kept under mist chamber recorded the highest survival percentage. Mud pot, black polythene bag and white polythene bag were found to be equally effective containers for hardening of plantlets. Weekly spraying of full MS solution recorded maximum number of leaves, length of leaves, breadth of leaves and height of plantlets in both the diploid cultivars.ThesisItem Open Access Standardisation of growing media and organic nutrition for juvenile anthurium plants (Anthurium andreanum Lind.)(Department of Pomology and Floriculture, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2005) Shajma Nafeesa, Basheer; KAU; Sabina George, TAnthuriums are herbaceous perennials belonging to the largest genus of the family Araceae. Anthurium andreanum Lind. called the ‘Painter’s palette’ flower is the most important species grown in the tropics. Anthurium cultivation on a commercial basis is gaining popularity in Kerala because of its high demand in the foreign market. The lack of proper management practices has increased the total period taken for the production of marketable flowers to nearly 2-2½ years. The present work was thus taken up with a view to standardize growing media and organic nutrient dosage for young anthurium plants, for enhancing their early vegetative growth and for earlier production of flowers having desirable floral attributes of size and quality. The experiment was carried out at the Department of Pomology and Floriculture, College of Agriculture, Vellayani during 2003–2005 with a view to standardize the growing media and organic nutrient dosage for young anthurium plants. The anthurium cultivar chosen for this study was Anthurium andreanum ‘Tropical’, a commercially important cultivar of Kerala. The treatments consisted of thirty six combinations of four media treatments namely sand + leaf compost (M1), sand + coir pith compost (M2), granite + leaf compost (M3) and granite + coir pith compost (M4) and nine nutrient treatments including weekly application of three cowdung treatments (2, 4 and 6 g l-1 extract) and bimonthly application of three organic manure mix (25, 50 and 75 g) treatments. Growing media, nutrient treatments and their interactions influenced vegetative growth, flower characters, vase life, fresh weight and dry matter production and nutrient content of leaves. Among the media, sand + coir pith compost was found to be the best for obtaining greater plant height, leaf area, leaf duration, petiole length at third and fourth week after emergence, shortest phyllachron, the highest fresh and dry weight of leaves and their N and K content. Plants grown in this medium also recorded earlier flowering, greater number of flowers per plant, increased spathe size, greater length and thickness of flower stalk and enhanced vase life. The inclination of spadix and its length and thickness were also found to be greater tending towards those of mature plants in this medium. Vegetative growth enhancement was also obtained with 4 g l-1 and 6 g l-1 fresh cowdung extract treatments at varying stages of growth. Greater fresh weight and dry weight of leaves were recorded in plants receiving 4 g l-1 cowdung extract at 165 and 225 DAT. These plants also recorded greater N and K content during the period while the P content was greater in plants receiving 6 g l-1 at these periods. Increased spathe size, lesser number of days to flowering, maximum length of flower stalk, maximum vase life and lesser number of days to harvestable maturity of flowers was obtained with 4 g l-1 extract. Application of organic manure mix were also found to give beneficial effects. Plants receiving 25 g organic manure mix recorded greater plant heights and leaf area during the latter stages of growth. This dosage also resulted in greater leaf duration and greater petiole length during the first and second week after leaf emergence. Fresh and dry weight of the leaves recorded were greater in plants receiving 75 g mix. The shortest phyllachron was recorded with 50 g dosage and the longest was recorded with 75 g / plant. The N and K content of the leaves were greater in plants receiving 25 g mix while the P content was greater in plants receiving 50 g mix. Spathe size, length of the flower stalk as well as the vase life of flowers was greater in plants receiving 25 g OM mix. The interaction between media treatment, cowdung and organic manure treatments were also found to influence the performance of plants.ThesisItem Open Access Morphological and molecular characterisation of variability In vitro derived seedlings of vanilla (Vanilla planifolia Andrews)(Department of Plantation Crops and Spices, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2005) Hena, K K; KAU; Nazeem, P AThe research project “Morphological and molecular characterization of variability in in vitro derived seedlings of vanilla (Vanilla planifolia Andrews)” was carried out at the College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, Thrissur during the period 2001-2003. The major objectives of the study was to characterize the existing variability in field established vanilla plants, derived from in vitro seed culture, using morphological and molecular markers. The study revealed that among the 10 morphological characters selected i.e., leaf length, leaf width, leaf area, number of leaves, total growth, leaf shape, phyllotaxy, root origin and number of roots, except leaf shape, phyllotaxy, root origin and number of roots, all other characters showed significant variation. Twenty different accessions which were highly variable could be selected from the 360 accessions studied. In biochemical studies, the protocol for isozyme analysis could be standardised. The study was done based on esterase and peroxidase patterns. Based on the dendrogram constructed, the 20 different accessions studied could be grouped into different clusters. Based on esterase pattern they were grouped into 9 clusters and based on peroxidase pattern they were grouped into 15 clusters. The accessions a82, a481, a58, a370 and a425 showed high level of polymorphism in both the isozyme patterns. Accessions a82, a396, a370 and a425 showed high level of polymorphism in esterase pattern and accessions a555, a136, a46, a428, a47 a159and a425 showed polymorphism in peroxidase pattern. Molecular studies involved RAPD analysis using 10 primers which gave 16 amplification products. Dendrogram constructed based on the study grouped the 20 accessions into 3 major clusters. The 20 different accessions studied were varying from each other in both the morphological and molecular studies. Hence, it can be said that there is considerable variability in the in vitro derived seedlings of vanilla. The study revealed a similar trend for morphological and molecular markers in assessing variability. Morphological markers need more refinement so as to get precise information on the yield characters too which is more important in case of vanilla. Molecular studies based on AFLP, RFLP etc. can be attempted to get exact picture on variability in vanilla.ThesisItem Open Access Screening brinjal for jassid, Amrasca biguttula biguttula (Ishida) tolerance(Department Of Olericulture, College Of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2005) Malini, C D; KAU; Prasanna, K PThe present investigation entitled" Screening brinjal tor jassid Amrasca biguttula , biguttula (Ishida) tolerance" w 1S conducted in the Department of Olericulture, College of Horticulture, KeraJa Agricult .iral University, Vellanikkara during rabi (2004) and summer (2005). Thirty SIX brinjal accessions collected from different parts of the country were characterized for different qualitative and quantitative characters. The evaluated accessions exhibited considerable variation for growth habit, prickliness of plant parts, colour, shape and size of fruits and colour of petiole, leaves, stem and flowers. Fruit yield was maximum in FJ hybrid, Neelima and S1'.1 384. Swethe and Swetha X Haritha were early and produced maximum number of fruits per plant. Longest fruits were produced by SM 344. Fruits of SM 385 recorded maximum girth and SM 354 had hcav iest fruits. The study revealed high heritability coupled with high genetic advance for characters like fruit length, number of fruits per plant, days to last harvest and number of economic harvests. Yield was positively associated with number of fruits per plant :;JiT!ber of economic harvests and total harvests. The accessions SM 363, SM 364, SM 366, SM 384 and SM 385 were found ._T he morphological and anatomical bases of resistance was also studied. l ligh r • Lb hair density and longer midrib hairs were found to impart resistance in resistant/ tolerant accessio: tS. The anatomical studies of midrib of resistant and usceprible accessions revealed variation in cuticle thickness, cell wall thickness of epidermal cells and inter cellular space of hypodermal cells. These characters either alum' or in combination may be contrib ting resistance to oviposition and feeding of jassids ill brinjal.