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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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20133
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Subject: Plant Breeding × End date: 2013 × Start date: 2013 × Type: Thesis ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Genetic evaluation of yield and anthracnose resistance in the segregating generation of three way cross hybrides in chilli
    (Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2013) Vineetha, G; KAU; Manju, P
    Chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) is an important spice cum vegetable crop, grown on a commercial scale in India. It is an important constituent of many foods since it adds flavor, colour, vitamin C and pungency, productivity of the crop remains low mostly due to destructive diseases. One of the most dreaded diseases affecting chilli is anthracnose, which is also called dieback and fruit rot. The best way to tackle this disease is to grow resistant varieties. Hence it is essential to identify the sources of anthracnose resistance and study the inheritance of resistance to develop high yielding anthracnose resistant varieties of chilli. The aim of the project was to identify high yielding anthracnose resistant types through evaluation from among the F4 segregating generation of three way cross hybrids in chilli. Eight promising three-way cross hybrids with regard to fruit yield and resistance to anthracnose selected from a previous PG project was used as the material for this study. The eight three way cross hybrids were considered as families and within each family eight progenies were studied. The eight families are given below Family 1 - (Jwalamukhi x Kidangoor local) x Jwalasakhi Family 2 - (Jwalamukhi x Ujwala) x Vellayani Athulya Family 3 - (Jwalasakhi x Vellayani Athulya) x Kidangoor local Family 4 - (Jwalamukhi x Ujwala) x Kidangoor local Family 5 - (Samkranthi local x Vellayani Athulya) x Kidangoor local Family 6 - (Vellayani Athulya x Jwalasakhi) x Samkranthi local Family 7 - (Vellayani Athulya x Ujwala) x Jwalamukhi Family 8 - (Kidangoor local x Ujwala) x Jwalasakhi The investigation was carried out as two separate experiments- Pot culture experiment and Field experiment. Pot culture experiment was laid out in CRD with 8 families and 8 progenies with three replications to score for anthracnose disease by creating disease pressure by artificial inoculation of the plants with the pathogen at 35 DAT and 50 DAT. Six superior progenies from each family with regard to yield and anthracnose resistance were selected for field experiment after eliminating two progenies which exhibited low yield and high anthracnose disease incidence. Viz., progeny 4 and 8, 1 and 4, 4 and 7, 4 and 5, 2 and 5, 2 and 8, 3 and 5, 4 and 6 from families 1, 2, 3,4,5,6,7 and 8 respectively. Family 8 was superior for yield and showed resistance to anthracnose followed by three other families. Progenies which were superior within these families were 8 and 3 in family 8, 6 and 1 in family 5, 8 in family 7 and progeny 3 in family 2. Genetic parameters such as phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV), genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV), heritability and genetic advance and correlation of 8 families were studied. Fruit yield per plant showed maximum GCV, PCV and genetic advance while heritability percentage was maximum for fruit length and average green fruit weight. Fruit yield per plant showed positive and significant genotypic and phenotypic correlations with average green fruit weight and length of fruit while it showed negative correlation with duration among the families. The field experiment was laid out in Compact Family Block Design, with 8 families and 6 progenies in four replications. Scoring for anthracnose disease was done under natural condition in the field. Among the 8 families, family 8 was highly superior for the important traits such as number of fruits per plant, average green fruit weight, fruit length, fruit girth, fruit yield per plant and was resistant to anthracnose disease. Based on the evaluation of progenies in each family, progeny 1 was significantly superior in family 1, progeny 2 in family 2, progeny 3 in family 3, progeny 4 in family 4, progenies 3 and 4 in family 5, progeny 1 in family 6, progenies 4 and 6 in family 7 and progeny 6 in family 8. Biochemical analysis on chilli revealed that capsaicin and oleoresin were found to be maximum in the above selected progenies in each family which were superior for yield and anthracnose resistance. Progenies which exhibited high capsaicin content were found to exhibit low disease incidence. The study revealed that Kidangoor local x Ujwala x Jwalasakhi (family 8) was the best and was significantly superior followed by Samkranthi local x Vellayani Athulya x Kidangoor local (family 5), Jwalasakhi x Vellayani Athulya x Kidangoor local (family 3), Vellayani Athulya x Jwalasakhi x Samkranthi local (family 6), Vellayani Athulya x Ujwala x Jwalamukhi (family 7) and Jwalamukhi x Ujwala x Vellayani Athulya (family 2). The progenies that were found to be superior within these families will be selected based on yield and yield attributes as well as anthracnose disease resistance for further evaluation of the recombinants in the F5 segregating generation.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Genetic evaluation of yield and resistance to promopsis blight in brinjal (Solanum melongena L)
    (Department of plant breeding and genetics, College of agriculture, Vellayani, 2013) Kuduka Madhukar; KAU; Wilson, D
    The present study entitled “Genetic evaluation for yield and resistance to phomopsis blight in brinjal (Solanum melongena L.)” was conducted at College of Agriculture, Vellayani with 32 brinjal genotypes collected from various parts of India to identify suitable genotypes of brinjal resistant to phomopsis blight caused by Phomopsis vexans through pot culture screening and yield evaluation in field. Out of 32 genotypes artificially screened against phomopsis blight, based on the percentage disease index, none was found to be resistant to the disease. SM 9 (12.22), SM 23 (16.67) and SM 25 (12.22) were moderately resistant to the disease. But in field conditions, both SM 9 (599.13g) and SM 25 (607.93g) were poor yielders, while SM 23 (1416.20g) was relatively mediocre. The field experiment was conducted in RBD and the genotypes differed significantly for all the characters studied. SM 11(2509.73g) was the highest yielder and also it recorded maximum number of fruits per plant (43.8). Longest fruits were produced by SM 19 (14.95 cm) while the heaviest fruits by SM 26 (72.93 g) which was on par with SM 19 (71.13 g). SM 25, SM 27 and SM 30 were moderately resistant to borer infestation. No incidence of phomopsis blight was noticed in the field. High estimates of heritability coupled with high genetic advance as percentage of mean was observed for all the characters studied. Yield per plant showed significant positive correlation with number of fruits per plant, fruits per cluster, fruit length, fruit weight and primary branches both at phenotypic and genotypic levels. Path analysis revealed that fruits per plant and fruit weight are the major contributors to the yield. It also indicated that both fruit length and fruits per cluster had appreciable indirect effects through fruits per plant on yield. Mahalanobis' D2 statistics was employed to study genetic divergence among 32 genotypes and were grouped into five clusters on the basis of relative magnitude of D2 values using Tocher’s method. Cluster I accommodated maximum number of genotypes and in sequence clusters were having 15, 10, 5, 1 and 1 genotypes respectively. The maximum inter-cluster distance was observed between II and V. It has been observed that there was no close correspondence between geographical distribution and genetic divergence. SM 26 ranked 6th based on selection index with considerable yield and also was tolerant to borer infestation in the field and only moderately susceptible to phomopsis blight in the pot culture. SM 11 was the highest yielder in field, but it was susceptible to phomopsis blight in pots. On the other hand, SM 25 was moderately resistant to phomopsis blight in pot but was a poor yielder in field. Therefore, SM 11 and SM 25 along with SM 26 can be used in hybridization programme to obtain better cultivars with high yield, tolerance to phomopsis blight and borer infestation.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Performance analysis of selected accessions of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L)
    (Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2013) Asna, A C; KAU; Presannakumari, K T
    The spreading cultivation of cocoa as an intercrop in states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka necessitated the development of high yielding hybrids with pest and disease resistance and adaptability to various agro climatic zones. The success of any hybridization programme particularly in perennials depends on the proper selection of parental lines having genetic divergence. The present study entitled “Performance analysis of selected accessions of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.)” was taken up in this background at COH, Vellanikkara during 2011-13 to evaluate and characterize the selected cocoa accessions and to assess the genetic divergence among them. Fifty accessions of cocoa comprising of both exotic and indigenous ones which are in the full bearing stage and maintained at Cocoa Research Centre, Vellanikkara formed the material for the study. These accessions were subjected to morphological and biochemical evaluation. The morphological evaluation based on 13 qualitative and 25 quantitative characters was done using the descriptor developed by Bekele and Butler (2000). Fat and total polyphenol contents were estimated following standard procedures for biochemical characterization. The clustering of the accessions based on these characters was done by unweighted pair group method (Sneath & Sokal, 1973) and the genetic divergence was estimated by D2 statistics developed by Mahalonobis (1936). Wide variability was observed among the accessions for all the qualitative traits except colour of staminodes and hardiness of husk. Variations expressed by the accessions in terms of both floral and pod quantitative traits were also high. Among the exotic accessions, COCA 3370-3 was having the highest pod weight, pod length, pod breadth, ridge thickness and furrow thickness. However, its wet bean weight accounted only for 14.79 percent of the pod weight. Among the indigenous types, Konni local 2 was the best performer for these traits. The characters of economic interest viz., pod weight, number of beans/pod, dry weight of peeled bean, percentage of flat beans/pod and pod index ranged from 318.67g to 1268.33g, 22.93 to 49.27, 0.58g to 1.72g, 0.00 to 12.60 percent and 12 to 49 respectively among the exotic accessions. The corresponding traits in the case of indigenous accessions ranged from 416.67g to 719.33g, 31.60 to 46.27, 0.93g to 1.52g, 0.75 to 7.86 percent and 17 to 34 respectively. Among the accessions evaluated R (10) (MEX) was found to be a desirable one with low pod index value (12) and flat bean content/pod (0.81%) coupled with high number of beans/pod (49.20) and dry weight of peeled bean (1.68g). This is followed by EET 400 having a pod index of 15. The exotic accessions Criollo, KER 9 and CLM 90 failed to satisfy the international standard for dry weight of peeled bean viz., 0.8g or more. The fat content ranged from 40 percent to 60 percent and total polyphenol content from 2.25 percent to 9.09 percent. The cluster analysis based on qualitative and quantitative characters resulted in nine and seven clusters respectively for exotic accessions and five and three clusters respectively for indigenous ones. The accessions belonging to same qualitative cluster were found to fall in different quantitative clusters indicating that even though they are similar at qualitative level they are different at quantitative level. With respect to biochemical characters majority of accessions were remaining as independent units even at one percent similarity level and hence could not be clustered. Among the exotic types, the maximum genetic divergence was observed among the accessions falling in quantitative cluster I and V as indicated by the highest inter cluster distance (33763.40). In the case of indigenous ones maximum divergence was found among the accessions falling in cluster I and II (148447.4). Mealy bug and tea mosquito bug were the major pests and black pod was the major disease affecting the pods resulting in yield loss. Besides, rodents like rats and squirrels also caused damage to the pods. Among the accessions evaluated, COCA 3370-3 having high husk thickness was found to be tolerant to the major pests and diseases affecting the pods and can serve as donor parent in resistance breeding programme. A statistical key was developed using key qualitative and quantitative characters which can serve as a preliminary tool for predicting the performance of the accessions.