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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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20172
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Subject: Land and Water Management Engineering × End date: 2017 × Start date: 2017 × Type: Thesis ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Comparative evaluation of naturally ventilated polyhouse and rainshelter on the performance of tomato
    (Department of Land and Water Resources and Conservation Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2017) Pooja, B G; KAU; Abdul Hakkim, V M
    A study was conducted in the Instructional Farm of KCAET, Tavanur, Kerala, during the period from December 2016 to April 2017 to compare the performance of tomato grown under polyhouse and rainshelter cultivation. Tomato variety Akshaya, released by KAU, was used for the study. Drip irrigation system using venturi assembly was used for fertilizer application. The variation of weather parameters such as maximum and minimum temperature, relative humidity and soil temperature during the crop growth period was studied. Mean monthly values of temperature, relative humidity and soil temperature inside the polyhouse was higher than that in rainshelter throughout the growth period. The maximum temperature (36.4 0C) was recorded inside the naturally ventilated polyhouse during the month April and minimum temperature (22.3 0C) was observed in the rainshelter during month of January. The maximum relative humidity (83.82 per cent) was observed in the month of December in the polyhouse and the minimum relative humidity (70.2 per cent) was observed in the month of April in the rainshelter in the morning. The maximum soil temperature (37.8 0C) was observed under the polyhouse in the month of March at the morning and minimum soil temperature (25 0C) was observed inside the rainshelter in the month of February. Crop growth parameters such as plant height, inter-nodal length, number of branches, stem girth, number of leaves and time taken for flower initiation were noted during various crop growth stages for all the treatments. During all growth stages, the plant height and inter-nodal length were significantly higher inside the polyhouse than rainshelter. Stem girth of the plant was higher under rainshelter than the rainshelter. The higher numbers of leaves per plant were observed under rainshelter structure than polyhouse. Among the different treatments, early flower initiation (45 days) was observed in the polyhouse and late flower initiation (49 days) in rainshelter. Yield parameters such as number of fruits per plant and total yield per plant for each treatment were noted during various crop growth stages. Number of fruits per plant was maximum under rainshelter than naturally ventilated polyhouse at all the growing stages of the plant growth. The fruit diameters, average weight per fruit are significantly higher in polyhouse compare to rainshelter. The total yield of tomato observed from polyhouse and rainshelter were 1.31 kg/m2 and 4.15 kg/m2 respectively. Quality parameter of tomato like TSS content of tomato under the polyhouse system was found 4.56 0B and rainshelter was found 4.0 0B. Water use efficiency was observed higher under rainshelter (165.41 kg/ha.mm) than the polyhouse (52.12 kg/ ha.mm). Cost Benefit (B:C) ratio for each treatment was calculated. The maximum benefit cost ratio of 2.00 was observed in rainshelter than the 0.46 under polyhouse cultivation. From the results of the study it was evident that growing of tomato inside the rainshelter is more profitable than growing it inside naturally ventilated polyhouse.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Hydrologic assessment of a small watershed to combat agricultural drought
    (Department of Land and Water Resources and Conservation Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2017) Vallu Tejaswini; KAU; Sathain, K K
    Water is the most indispensable natural resources for the survival of all living beings. On the other hand, water availability is declining and the demand is increasing, making the gap between these two wider day by day.Scientific water management is a must to sustain the domestic and irrigation water needs. Quantifying the elements of hydrologic processes at micro watershed scale and at weekly or monthly temporal scale is the most important prerequisite for water resources development of a locality. For understanding the watershed characteristics and behavior, models play an important role which are also useful for extrapolating the current conditions to potential future conditions. Hydrological modeling is considered as a powerful technique in planning water resources. In this study, the hydrology of Valanchery watershed, a small sub watershed of Bharathapuzha, was modeled using SWAT, a physically based distributed watershed model. The study aims to calibrate the model, simulate the hydrologic elements and stream flow and to suggest remedies to combat the water scarcity in the study area. Using ArcGIS 10.2.2, the datasets required for the ArcSWAT was prepared. As the watershed selected for the study was ungauged, the model was calibrated for Kunthipuzha basin which lies in the immediate neighbourhood and having similar characteristics with the study area. For this, the model was initially set up and ran for Kunthipuzha basin and using the daily observed stream flow at Pulamanthole gauging station, the model was calibrated and validated. The calibration and validation periods were respectively, 2000 to 2006 and 2007 to 2009. An NSE = 0.81 and R2 = 0.82 was obtained for calibration, an NSE = 0.73 and R2 = 0.88 was received for validation. With these calibrated parameters, the model was set up and ran for the Valanchery watershed using regionalization technique. The whole watershed characteristics and behavior and that of sub watersheds and of different reaches of the mainstream were determined and predicted. It was found that the characteristics and hydrologic process elements such as surface runoff, lateral flow, deep percolation, base flow and ET of the various sub watersheds were varying considerably. Using these vital information, water resources conservation and utilization can be planned scientifically at micro spatial levels to mitigate the water scarcity scenario.