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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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20211
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Subject: Natural Resources Management × Author: KAU × End date: 2023 × Start date: 2021 × Type: Thesis ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Phytosociological and edaphic attributes of forest ecosystems of Shendurney wildlife sanctuary, Kollam, Kerala
    (Department of Natural Resource Management, College of Forestry, Vellanikkara, 2021) Halliru, Bilyaminu; KAU; Vidyasagaran, K
    The present study was carried out with the primary objective of studying the tree species diversity, structure, and composition, physicochemical attributes and land use and land cover change of forest ecosystems of Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary, Kollam, Kerala viz., west coast tropical evergreen, west coast tropical semi-evergreen, southern secondary moist deciduous, myristica swamp, and tropical hilltop forest. The stratified random sampling approach was adopted for vegetation assessment with a sampling plot of 20 m × 20 m. The regeneration pattern of the tree species was studied from the plots of 5 m × 5 m for the tree saplings and 1 m × 1 m for the tree seedlings from each of the 20 m × 20m plots. The soil sample was collected horizon-wise up to 1 m from each of the forest ecosystems. The land use and land cover was studied using the supervised classification with Maximum Likelihood Algorithm and change detection comparison approach using the Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM±) and Landsat 8 OLITIRS using the data capture on July 01, 2001, and January 14, 2018. A total of 119 species with a density of 1053.50 ha-1 and 50.04 m2 ha-1 basal area were recorded from the west coast tropical evergreen, 101 species with the density of 914.55 ha-1 with the basal area of 41.64 m2 ha-1 basal area from west coast semievergreen, 58 species with a density of 876.97 ha-1 with the basal area of 26.88 m2 ha-1 from the moist deciduous, 33 species with a density of 1144.44 ha-1 and the basal area of 33.93 m2 ha-1 from the myristica swamp, and 44 species with a density of 619 ha-1 and basal area of 16.93 m2 ha-1 from the tropical hilltop forest, respectively. The girth class distribution of the forest ecosystems varies significantly, with the west coast tropical evergreen forest showed the reversed J-shaped distribution. And a completely L-shaped pattern for the west coast semi-evergreen and southern secondary moist deciduous forest, whereas inverted iJ-shape in the tropical hilltop forest. The percent species endemism of 85.44% was recorded in the myristica swamp forest, 79.15% for the tropical hilltop forest, 55.58% for the west coast tropical evergreen forest, 40.71% for west coast tropical semi-evergreen forest, and the lowest (29.26%) for the moist deciduous forest. The dominant families in the west coast tropical evergreen forest are Dipterocarpaceae (FIV=24.92), Clusiaceae (FIV=21.40), and Myrtaceae (FIV=20.78). The families Euphorbiaceae (FIV=31.68), Dipterocarpaceae (FIV=24.18), and Rubiaceae (FIV=18.99) were dominant for the west coast semi-evergreen forest. In the Moist deciduous forest, the dominant families are Euphorbiaceae (FIV=52.99), Combretaceae (FIV=41.23), and Malvaceae (31.73). For the myristica swamp forest, the families Myristicaceae (FIV=149.01), Dipterocarpaceae (FIV=41.08), and Anacardiaceae (FIV=25.86) are dominant. The families Lauraceae (FIV=69.92) and Clusiaceae (FIV=35.71) are dominant in the tropical hilltop forest. The Shannon-Weiner and Simpson indices were found at 4.10 and 0.97 for west coast tropical evergreen, 4.09 and 0.97 for west coast semi-evergreen, 3.22 and 0.92 for the Southern secondary moist deciduous, 3.88 and 0.95. The lowest value (2.70 and 088) was reported for the myristica swamp forest. The diversity indices of west coast evergreen and west coast semi-evergreen showed no significant variation. The Margalef value was reported higher for the evergreen forest. Moreover, this study found that most tree species showed a contagious distribution pattern for a tree, saplings, and seedling levels, with very few showing the uniform distribution pattern of distribution. The tree species regeneration was adequate for most forest ecosystems, with the highest density (3,582 ha-1 saplings and 27,777 ha-1 seedlings) recorded in the west coast tropical evergreen forest. However, most dominant species showed relatively good regeneration, especially in the west coast tropical evergreen and west coast tropical semi-evergreen forests. The diversity indices of the regenerating seedlings and saplings do not vary significantly across all the forest ecosystems. Across the forest ecosystems, the soil is slightly acidic with a moderate amount of soil organic carbon. The soil percent organic carbon, Cation Exchange Capacity, and electrical conductivity are relatively higher in the first horizon and showed decreasing trend across all the forest ecosystems. The bulk density showed low in the first horizon and increased with depth ecosystems. The higher bulk density was recorded for the Myristica swamp forest. The land use and land cover analysis indicated a rigorous land cover change in the forest ecosystems. It showed a significant increase in the proportion of degraded forest from 21.31% in 2001 to 22.97% in 2018. Substantial loss in the moist deciduous forest from 27.11 % in 2001 to 17.23 % in 2018 and semi-evergreen forest from 26.91 % in 2001 to 18.98 % in 2018 was reported. Anthropogenic activities such as pressure on land for agriculture, expansion of human settlements, forest fire, and plantation establishment were found to be the major factors that led to the drastic changes in the land cover of forest ecosystems of Shendurney Wildlife sanctuary.