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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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Subject: Microbiology × Author: KAU × End date: 1980 × Start date: 1980 ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Comparison of serological tests for the detection of leptospira antibodies in immunised animals
    (Department of microbiology, College of veterinary and animal sciences, Mannuthy, 1980) Ravikumaran Nair, R; KAU; Abdulla, P K
    Leptospirosis is a widespread disease of man and animals and is of considerable economic importance besides being a public health problem. The leptospira infection in man and animals may be confirmed either by isolation of the organisms or by detection of specific antibodies in the serum and tissues of infected animals. Isolation of Leptospira is time consuming and beyond the scope of many diagnostic laboratories. In the present study the sensitivity of passive haemagglutination test was compared with the established microscopic agglutination test utilizing rabbit hyperimmune serum as the source of antibody. Leptospira serotypes were grown in Korthof’s medium enriched with 10% haemolysed rabbit serum. By 7 – 10 days satisfactory concentration of the organisms was obtained and was used for MA test. Passive haemagglutination test was carried out employing ethanol extracted antigen from concentrated leptospiral cultures. The PHA test was carried out after determining the optimum dilution of antigen required to sensitize sheep erythrocytes. Hyper immune sera to both serotypes were raised in rabbits by a series of intravenous inoculations. Serum samples for antibody titration was collected at weekly intervals from seven days following the first injection till the 49th day. Antibody titration by MA and PHA tests have shown that all the three animals inoculated with L. autumnalis had a uniform titre of 1:400 on the seventh day whereas the other three animals inoculated with L. pyrogenes showed a low titre of 1:100 by MA test. The PHA titre of both the groups remained the same ie 1:5. The maximum titre of 1:28000 for L. autumnalis was attained on the 21st day and remained unchanged until 35th day. The maximum PHA titre was attained only on 35th day (1:160). The rabbits inoculated with L. pyrogenes showed a maximum titre of 1:3200 by MA and 1:80 by PHA. The results obtained tend to show that PHA titres after reaching the maximum level remained detectable for longer period when compared to MA titres. Erythrocyte sensitizing substance from both the serotypes and the sera samples collected periodically from immunized rabbits were preserved at – 200 C at varying length of time upto three months. There was no deterioration in the stability or potency of ESS or sera on storage.