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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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1988 - 19893
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Subject: Land and Water Management Engineering × End date: 1989 × Start date: 1988 ×
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Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Forms of water loss and water requirement of rice in kole lands
    (Department of Land and Water Resources and Conservation Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 1988) Lissy Devid, Chirayath; George, T P
    Rice is the most important and extensively cultivated food crop in Kerala. Efficient use of water for crop production has been a major concern for centuries. As the water needs of rice is many times greater than other crops, a precise knowledge of water requirement of crop attains importance for increasing production. The present investigation was taken up to estimate the losses through evaporation, transpiration, percolation and to assess the total water requirement of a medium duration rice variety Jaya, in Punja season in Kanjany Kole lands in Trichur district, which has not been assessed so far. The Kole areas are reclaimed lake beds below mean sea level. The main source of irrigation water to the Kole lands is from the Peechi irrigations system. The experiment was conducted during Punja season of 1986 in Kanjany Kole lands. Estimations of evaporation, transpiration and percolation were made on the basis of measurements, using evaporimeter, evapotranspirimeter and field hook gauge. From the study it was revealed that the total water requirement was 2134.22 mm. Percentages of water lost by percolation, transpiration and evaporation were 70.34, 17.32 and 12.34 respectively. Rate of evaporation was almost constant during first twenty days, then started decreasing up to 69 days and then onwards was almost constant during the final stage. Rate of transpiration remained almost constant up to ten days, then started increasing up to fifty days and then remained almost a constant up to final stage. Rate of total loss of water was increasing from transplanting, reached a maximum of 28.6 mm after 26 days, then started decreasing up to final stage. When the level of water in the canal is very low, this study has shown that the percolation loss in Kole lands could be as high as 28.6 mm. So by maintaining water level in the canal, we can save wastage of water due to deep percolation. Shortage of irrigation water is a serious problem in most of Kole area during Punja season. Knowledge of water requirement of rice in kole lands will greatly help in efficient utilisation of the limited water available in the reservoirs.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Relative efficiency evaluation of drip and conventional methods of irrigation ashgourd and cucumber
    (Department of Land and Water Resources and Conservation Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 1989) Sheeja A Andezhathu; George T P
    Water, being a limited resource, its efficient use is very vital for the survival of the ever increasing population. As the availability of water being limited for irrigation purpose, the efficiency of utilization of water has to be increased by adopting modern methods of irrigation. Drip irrigation is a promising technique for providing precise quantity of water without wastage. Though this method was started decades back, it has not become popular in our country. The relative efficiency evaluation of a low cost drip irrigation system fabricated with locally available materials and the conventional basin method of irrigation was done in this experiment taking ashgourd and cucumber as indicating crops. In drip as well as the basin method the irrigation schedule was based on IW/CPE ratios of 1, 0.7 and 0.4. In drip method, plots were irrigated every day and the depth of irrigation water given was based on the pan evaporation value of the previous day. In the basin method, the depth of irrigation water given was 30 mm. Oil drums of 200 liters capacity were used as the storage tanks for the drip irrigation system. 25 mm and 12 mm diameter black polyethylene pipes were used for main and lateral lines respectively. Main and laterals were connected by using commercially available ‘Tee’s. Microtubes of 2 mm diameter were used as drippers or emitters. The heart of the system was the distributor which was developed in K.A.U. Mirotube taken from the lateral was connected to the distributor and four microtubes connected to the distributor acted as emitters. The distributor could deliver irrigation water at a slow rate of 1 to 5 litres per hour from each microtube. Biometric observations on the plants were taken during the experiment. For ashgourd 30% less water was needed in drip method to get the same yield as in basin method. In cucumber the amount of water needed to get same yield in both crops was same. But conveyance loss was practically nil in the case of drip method. In this experimental field there was a conveyance loss of 27.7% in one hectare of land. This water could be saved using drip method and it could be utilised for bringing more area under irrigation. Special skill was not required for the fabrication, installation, maintenance and operation of KAU drip irrigation system. The cost of installation and operation of KAU drip irrigation system in one hectare was worked out for the crop ashgourd and it was compared with the basin method of irrigation. Comparison showed that there was a saving of Rs. 1105/- in drip method of irrigation.
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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.