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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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19891
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Subject: Land and Water Management Engineering × Author: KAU × End date: 1989 × Type: Thesis ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Hydraulics of tile drains in peat and muck soils
    (Department of Land and Water Resources and Conservation Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 1989) Raju, T D; KAU; George, T P
    Agricultural drainage is the removal of excess water, known as free water or gravitational water, from the surface or below the surface of farm land so as to create a favourable soil conditions for crop growth. The process of removing the excess water from land surface is called surface drainage. The excess water saturates the pore space of the soil, the process of its removal by downward flow through the soil is known as subsurface drainage or internal drainage. In the case of kari land of Kuttanad the field level is below the surrounding waterbodies, there is always an upward movement of water from the subsoil to the surface. The upward movement of water from the subsoil brings along with it harmful byproducts of decomposition of organic matter which when come into contact with roots of plant adversely affect the gorwth and yield. With regard to the experiment on finding the suitable envelope material for subsurface drainage system in peat and muck soils revealed that the river sand (big size) was adequate in terms of filtration quality and hydraulic conductivity. Thus river sand (big size) could be considered as a suitable envelope material for subsurface drainage experiments. In the second experiment the performance of tile drains viz. PVC and baked clay pipe were assessed. From the comparison of head loss fraction and entrance resistance between PVC and baked clay pipe showed that the performance of baked clay pipe was good compared to PVC pipe. Considering the performance and economical reasons related to cost of baked clay pipe and its local availability, the use of the same as tile drains in peat and muck soils was confirmed. A close study of weekly values of EC of irrigation and subsurface drainage water revealed that a quantity of 124.80 kg of salts/ha/cm drop of drained water, could be washed off from the experimental area. From the observations on the growth and yield attributing characters it could be concluded that subsurface drainage was effective upto 30 m spacing. However, further studies are to be carried out for finding out a higher spacing. Economic analysis related to subsurface drainage using tile drains and envelop material (river sand) for a 100 ha area revealed that this project is economically and financially viable.