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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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20201
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Subject: Plant Breeding × Author: Abdul, Basir × End date: 2021 × Start date: 2020 × Thesis Type: M.Sc ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Assessment of genetic variability for YVM resistance in okra (abelmoschus esculentus (L.) moench)
    (Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2020) Abdul, Basir; KAU; Sindhumole, P
    Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench) is an important vegetable crop which is widely grown in tropical, temperate and subtropical regions of the world. The present investigation on ‘Assessment of genetic variability for YVM resistance in okra (Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench)’ was conducted at the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, Thrissur during November 2019 to February 2020. The experiment was laid out in augmented design using thirty four okra accessions including two resistant check varieties (Parbhani Kranti and Varsha Uphar) and two susceptible check varieties (Salkeerthi and Pusa Sawani) collected from NBPGR and KAU. Ten plants of each accession were sown on ridges in a row with 60 cm x 45 cm spacing and the crop was managed as per package of practices recommendations of KAU (2017). Observations on five qualitative characters and fifteen quantitative characters were recorded from five randomly selected plants for each accession, as per the NBPGR descriptors. Scoring for YVM disease incidence was done as per the rating scale given by Arumugam et al. (1975). The genotypes were classified based on five qualitative characters viz., fruit colour (multimorphic), fruit pubescence and petal colour (trimorphic), petal base colour (dimorphic) and seed hairiness (monomorphic). ANOVA for fifteen quantitative characters showed significant variation for days to flowering, leaf blade length , leaf area), plant height, branches per plant, fruit length, fruit diameter, ridges per fruit, seeds per fruit, number of fruits per plant, fruit weight, fruit yield per plant, coefficient of YVM incidence and vector population on young leaves. This indicated high variability in the okra germplasm which can be utilised in breeding programmes. Phenotypic and genotypic coefficients of variation (PCV and GCV) were very high for leaf area and coefficient of YVM infection and high for five characters viz., fruit yield per plant, branches per plant, plant height, fruits per plant and ridges per fruit. In general, GCV was slightly lower than PCV for most of the traits indicating a small environmental effect in their expression. Broad sense heritability (H2) was very high in three traits (leaf area, seeds per fruit and ridges per fruit) while genetic advance as % of mean (GA) was very high in two traits (leaf area and coefficient of YVM Infection). High H2 and GA were noticed in most of the traits including number, length, diameter, weight and yield of fruits. Coefficient of YVM infection also exhibited high H2 as well as GA. This indicates that these characters can be improved to a great extent by selection. Fruit yield per plant had highly significant positive correlation with leaf area and seeds per fruit and significant positive correlation with days to first flowering, leaf blade width and plant height. Positive and highly significant correlation was observed for coefficient of YVM infection with days to first flowering, leaf area and vector population. In the high yielding YVM susceptible category, the six best okra genotypes selected were Salkeerthi, TCR- 1774, TCR-1797, TCR- 2631, TCR-2627 and TCR-2626. Salkeerthi (KAU variety) in spite of being susceptible to YVM, had the highest fruit yield per plant (294.22 g) among all the genotypes evaluated in the present study. Besides, it had superior yield components viz., fruitsper plant, fruit length, fruit diameter and fruit weight. All the other selected genotypes (collected from NBPGR) were also superior in fruit yield per plant and other major yield components. These selected NBPGR accessions may further be evaluated for confirming their superiority in yield and yield traits. Three genotypes viz., TCR- 30, Varhsa Uphar and Parbhani Kranti showed high resistance during the present study. Varhsa Uphar and Parbhani Kranti (two resistant checks) exhibited superiority in fruit yield as well as yield components viz., fruit number/plant, fruit length, fruit diameter and fruit weight. Even though a low yielder, TCR- 30 exhibited consistent high resistance to YVM disease throughout the crop period with the lowest number of white flies emphasising its resistance mechanism. Hence it can be recommended as a donor for imparting YVM resistance in breeding programmes.