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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: Integrated Biotechnology × Author: Anoop, P × End date: 2020 × Start date: 2010 × Thesis Type: M.Sc ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Utilization of pineapple (Ananas comosus(L) Merr.) biomass for biofuel production
    (College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2014) Anoop, P; KAU; Deepa, S Nair
    A study on utilization of pineapple (Ananas comosus (L.) Merr.) biomass for biofuel production was conducted at College of Agriculture, Vellayani, Thiruvananthapuram during the period of 2013-14. Rising concern over depleting fossil fuel and greenhouse gas resulted in a high level of interest in nonconventional fuel originating from biorenewable sources including sugars, starches and lignocellulosic materials. Lignocellulosic materials constitute a substantial renewable substrate for bioethanol production that do not compete with food production and animal feed. Pineapple waste is a promising feed stock for alcohol production due to its abundance and ease of availability. Also it is a cheap substrate for biofuel production due to low lignin content and can undergo hydrolysis steps more easily. The feed stocks were prepared by drying and grinding of pineapple peel, pineapple fruit waste and pineapple plant residue separately. This is a method of physical pretreatment used for degradation of lignocelluloses and for reduction of cellulose crystallinity. The study on moisture content of the feedstocks using gravimetric method showed that pineapple plant residue has higher moisture content followed by pineapple fruit waste and pineapple peel waste. The estimation of sugar content of different feed stocks revealed that, pineapple fruit waste have highest values of glucose, fructose, xylose and sucrose compared to the other feed stocks and this higher levels of sugar content resulted in higher ethanol production during fermentation. Total dissolved solids was found to be maximum in pineapple fruit waste. Similarly total carbohydrate was recorded maximum in pineapple fruit waste followed by pineapple peel waste and lowest value was observed in pineapple plant residue. Estimation of cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin content of the feed stocks revealed that pineapple plant residue have maximum cellulose content followed by pineapple fruit waste and pineapple peel waste. Whereas pineapple peel waste recorded maximum hemicellulose content. Lignin content was found maximum in pineapple fruit waste. To obtain a highly efficient conversion, pre treatment was performed for three feed stocks with acid and alkali which reduce the lignin content and make the sugar molecules accessible for fermentation. Acid and alkali pretreatment of the pineapple feed stocks resulted an increase in total reducing sugar and total non reducing sugar concentrations. The increase in sugar concentration in pretreated feedstocks is due to the hydrolysis of cellulose and hemicellulose in to sugars. The acid and alkali pretreatment decreased the lignin content, but a higher percentage removal of lignin was observed with alkaline pretreated pineapple feed stocks. The biochemical characterisation of the feed stocks revealed the sugar content and fermentation potential. To find out the effect of pretreatment fermentation was carried out in untreated and pretreated feed stocks with Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Zymomonas mobilis. Fermentation of untreated feedstocks gave higher alcohol percent than pre-treated feed stocks inspite of the fact that pretreatments resulted in an increase in total reducing and non reducing sugars and a decrease in the lignin content . This may be due to the production of various inhibitors or due to high salt formation during pH adjustments of the pretreated feedstocks. The results of percent conversion rate of reducing sugar to alcohol indicated that pineapple fruit waste have higher conversion rate than other feed stocks where as the percent conversion of non reducing sugar is found to be maximum with pineapple peel waste. pH of the fermenting medium also tend to become acidic. Characterisation of feedstocks and alcohol yield after fermentation showed that pineapple fruit waste is the most amenable feedstock for alcohol production than other two. The alcohol yield (8.34 per cent) obtained with untreated fruit waste using S.cerevisiae was found to be significantly higher than all other combinations tried. For the enhancement of fermentation and subsequent alcohol yield, cellulolytic microorganism was isolated from degraded pineapple waste. It was identified as Bacillus sp. by biochemical and molecular characterisation. Three modes of enhancement of fermentation were performed with pineapple fruit waste; Single batch bioconversion, simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) and separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF) using Saccharomyces cerevisiae and isolated native microorganism. Single batch bioconversion was found to be the best enhancement method yielding 11.09 per cent alcohol. The decreased level of ethanol in other enhancement methods may be due to the negative interaction of Bacillus sp. with Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The present study concluded that fruit waste is the best candidate for bioethanol production than other pineapple feed stocks tried. Single batch bioconversion using the cellulolytic organism, Bacillus sp. and fermenting organism, S. cerevisiae could bring about a substantial enhancement in alcohol yield.