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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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  • ThesisItemOpen Access
    Soil water balance studies in subsurface drip irrigation for amaranthus
    (Department of Land and Water Resources and Conservation Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2016) Neetha Shaju; KAU; Priya, G Nair
    Subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) is advanced drip irrigation where the tubing and emitters are buried beneath the soil surface. Field experiment was done at the instructional farm, KCAET, Tavanur. Experiment was aimed to optimize the depth of installation of laterals and spacing between laterals under subsurface drip system. This study also computed deep percolation from different layers with different lateral depths. Soil moisture was taken from different depths and horizontal distance and soil moisture contour maps were plotted. Results showed that moisture content increased with depth from the surface due to less evaporation loss. Also, amount of moisture was found to be decreased with time. Moisture content at the surface layer for 10 cm lateral was 14.5 per cent whereas the same for 20 cm lateral was 11.6 per cent due to surfacing. Moisture distribution pattern was uniform for lateral with 15 cm depth. Maximum values of yield were observed for the treatment T4, and then T1 (which have 15 cm and 10 cm lateral depth respectively). Highest water use efficiency was for treatment T4 with a value of 37.96 kg/ha-mm followed by treatment T1 with 34.6 kg/ha-mm. In statistical analysis, it was observed that, there were significant variations between treatments. Number of leaves was influenced by both spacing between laterals and depth of laterals. Stem girth was varied significantly by spacing between laterals. Both spacing between laterals and lateral depth had remarkable effect on crop height. Deep percolation was relatively less from the surface layers than from the deeper layers in higher lateral depths (i.e., 20 cm lateral depth). From this study, it is evident that treatment T4 (lateral spacing = 95 cm, lateral depth= 15 cm) has showed maximum response while considering moisture distribution, crop yield, biometric properties and deep percolation.