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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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1990 - 19933
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Subject: Land and Water Management Engineering × Author: KAU × End date: 1999 × Start date: 1990 × Type: Thesis × Thesis Type: M.Sc ×
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Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Infilitration and water advance studies under surage flow furrow irrigation
    (Department of Land and Water Resources and Conservation Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology,Thavanur, 1993) Rema, K P; KAU; Xaviour Jacob, K
    Furrow irrigation necessitates the wetting of only a part of the surface of land, thus reducing evaporation losses, lessening the puddling of heavy soils and making it possible to cultivate the soil sooner after irrigation. Surge irrigation in furrows possesses the capability to increase irrigation efficiency, by ensuring water saving, better uniformity and reduced tail water losses in different soil and site conditions. To assess the suitability of the system for use in the sandy loam soils of Tavanur region, and to obtain suitable management parameters for surging in the area, a study was conducted at the Instructional Farm of KCAET, Tavanur. Continues flow was compared with surge flow of cycle ratios ½, 1/3 and 2/3 with cycle times 6.9 and 7.5 minutes for discharges of 1.3, 1.7, and 2.1 lps. Data of advance time, depth of flow and inflow-outflow measurements were collected during field irrigation runs. Surge flow in all cases advanced faster compared to continuous flow. For cycle ratio ½ the reduction in advance time ranged as 14.59, 22.8 and 14.77 per cent for the three discharge rates. In the case of cycle ratio 1/3, the reduction was 37.6, 41.94 and 38.01 per cent respectively, whereas for cycle ratio 2/3, the reduction was 34.29, 32.83 and 22.73 per cent respectively. Infiltration variability was lesser under surge flow and the values of infiltrated volume and infiltrated depth at various sections along the furrow length was lesser. Surging with cycle ratio 1/3 and a discharge of 1.3 lps showed the least variability in infiltrated depth and the greatest uniformity of application. Infiltration rate was found to decrease significantly along the length of the furrow and between consecutive surges. The lowest intake rate was obtained for surge flow of cycle ratio 1/3. Surging with cycle ratio 1/3, and a discharge of 1.3 lps required only 1.11 m3 of water to complete the advance. This was the least value compared to continuous flow and other surge flow cases. Analysis of variance of the volume required to complete the advance indicated significant difference between flow types at 5 per cent and 1 per cent levels. The variation between discharges was also significant at 5 per cent and 1 per cent levels. Thus surge flow proved advantageous compared to continuous flow in the sandy loam soils of Tavanur region and surging with cycle ratio 1/3 and a discharge of 1.3 lps was chosen as the best out of the selected treatments for the study.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Design, fabrication and testing of an equipment to measure deep percolation
    (Department of Land and water Resources and Conservation Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 1990) Jolly Kutty, Eapen; KAU; George, T P
    Because of the semi - aquatic nature, the water requirement of rice is 2 - 3 times greater than other crops. The measurement or prediction of percolation losses in field situation is of great practical significance for efficient irrigation and also for the determination of the nutrient losses. A precise knowledge of water requirement of crop attains importance for increasing production. The present investigation was taken up to design, fabricate and test an equipment to collect deep percolation water, quantify it and to assess the nutrient losses in the percolation water. The study was undertaken in ‘Mundakan’ season and the variety was ‘Triveni’. The location was the Instructional Farm of KCAET, Tavanur. The main source of irrigation water was filter point tubewell. Estimations of evaporation, transpiration and percolation were made on the basis of measurements using evaporimeter, evapotranspirimeter and field hook gauge. Vertical percolation was assessed using percolation – meter which was designed and fabricated for this study. Lateral percolation was obtained by subtracting vertical percolation from total percolation. The study revealed that the total water requirement was 1270.25 mm. The percentages of water lost by evaporation, transpiration, and total percolation are 13.69, 31.0 and 55.3. The water which is lost by vertical and lateral percolation are 59.4 and 40.6 per cent of the total percolation respectively. There was a gradual increase in the rate of evaporation during the initial stage. Then it decreased up to 65 days and then again increased up to the final stage. Rate of transpiration remained almost constant up to 10 days and then the rate slowly increased as the crop grew. The rate increased up to the booting stage. There was a gradual decrease in the rate of transpiration in the final stage. The rate of total percolation remained almost constant during the crop period. More than 50 per cent of the applied water is lost through percolation. During the initial stage, vertical percolation rate was higher than in the subsequent days. After 10 days, the vertical percolation rate remained almost constant. The rate of lateral percolation was constant during the crop period except in the sixth week after transplanting. The samples of percolation water were collected and the NPK losses due to deep percolation were analysed by the standard methods. The maximum percolation losses of applied NPK occurred on the first day of application and there was only traces from the fourth day onwards. Nitrogen and potassium losses were higher than the loss of phosphorus which was negligible. The NPK losses due to deep percolation is not much when compared to the run off losses. This may be due to the fact that the NPK content in the solution gets fixed in the soil as it percolates down through the soil. So the water that goes beyond the root zone will contain only very little NPK. The equipment fabricated for the measurement of deep percolation losses worked satisfactorily. Knowledge of water requirement of rice will greatly help in the efficient utilisation of available water.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Determination of constants in uniform flow formula for small discharges in open channels
    (Department of Land and Water Resources and Conservation Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 1990) Parvathy, S; KAU; George, T P
    An attempt was made to find out the constants in the general uniform flow formula for small discharges less than 10 1/s in cement lined and earthen channels. These constants were compared with the constants in the well known and widely used uniform flow formulae such as Manning’s and Chezy’s equation and checked their validity for small channels. Experiments were conducted for different discharges varying from 1 to 9 1/s and for different slopes of 1/2000, 1/3000, 1/4000 and 1/5000 in cement lined and earthen channels. With the help of a computer, analysis was made to establish a relationship between velocity v, hydraulic radius R and slope S. The expirical equation obtained are In cement lined channel V = 9.199 R0.7591 S0.1103 i.e. V = 1/0.1087 R0.7591 S0.1103 In earthen channel V = 47.2286 R0.844 S0.307 i.e. V = 1/0.0212 R0.844 S0.307 From the comparison of actual velocity with velocity obtained by using Manning’s equation, it was found that Manning’s equation was not applicable to small channels having discharges less than 10 1/s. In both the channels, actual velocity was roughly two times greater than the Manning’s velocity. The average ratio of actual and computed velocity using the best fit equations and the coefficient of determinations in the two cases were near unity. Hence the best fit equations obtained in the study are recommended for the design of small channels. Manning fixed the value of exponent of S as 0.5 based on some theoretical assumptions. So it was decided to find the value of n and the exponent of R in both the channels by fixing the value of exponent of S as 0.5. The equations obtained are In cement lined channel V = 1/0.00428 R0.7827 S0.5 In earthen channel V = 1/0.00408 R0.8696 S0.5 These equations were good but their reliability were less than that of the previous equations.Since Manning’s equation is an university accepted form, comparison was made between the recommended n values and the n values obtained in the study by fixing the value of exponent of R and S as 0.67 and 0.5 respectively. The equations obtained are In cement lined channel V = 1/0.00609 R0.67 S0.5 In earthen channel V = 1/0.00778 R0.67 S0.5 Though the reliability of these equations were comparatively less than the earlier cases, it gave reasonably good results. So these equations are also recommended for the design of small channels with different n values for cement lined and earthen channels. Chezy’s constant C was determined from the best fit equations by fixing the value of exponent of R and S as 0.5. The equations obtained in two channels are In cement lined channel V = 94.91√RS In earthen channel V = 74.771√RS These C values obtained are recommended for the design of small channels in Chezy’s equation than the C values obtained from Manning’s and Kutter’s equations using Manning’s recommended n values. Soil in which earthen channel was constructed was classified based on texture. Since the soil was sandy loam, the best fit equation obtained in earthen channel is applicable only for sandy loam soil.