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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: Plant Physiology × Author: Amrutha, Vijayakumar × End date: 2022 × Start date: 2020 ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Effect of high temperature on physiological, biochemical and yield parameters in tomato(Solanum lycopersicum L.)
    (Department Of Plant physiology, College Of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2020) Amrutha, Vijayakumar; KAU; Beena, R
    An experiment entitled “Effect of high temperature on physiological, biochemical and yield parameters in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)” was conducted in the Department of Plant Physiology, College of Agriculture, Vellayani during Rabi 2019-2020 with the objective to study the effect of high temperature on physiological, biochemical, yield and quality parameters in tomato. Twenty two different tomato varieties were used for the study. The experiment was laid out in completely randomized design with two treatment levels i.e. control and high temperature stress (36+/-2oC) with three replications each. The high temperature stress was induced from flower initiation to maturity stage by keeping the pots in a temperature controlled green house facility for 45 days. Phenological, physiological, biochemical parameters were taken at flowering stage. Also quality parameters and yield parameters were taken at harvesting stage. All the tomato genotypes under heat stress showed delayed flowering and fruiting. Delay in flowering was found to vary between the varieties. Kashi Vishesh showed minimum delay in first flowering (10-12 days) than that of control whereas, Pusa Rohini showed maximum delay in flowering (25-30 days) than that of the control plants. Kashi Vishesh showed less delay in first fruiting (8-12 days) than that of control whereas, genotypes like Arka Rakshak, PKM-1, Pusa Rohini showed maximum delay (30-35 days) in fruiting under stress conditions. Under high temperature condition, Arka Sourabh showed the highest exerted stigma length and there is significant variation for flower burning and flower drop. A decrease in Membrane Stability Index (MSI) was observed for varieties on 15th day after stress induction and further reduction for 25th day after stress induction when compared to control plants. Under heat stress conditions, Nandi (51.8%) and Arka Rakshak (25.13%) showed maximum and minimum MSI respectively. The percentage reduction in MSI was highest in Pusa Ruby (52%) and lowest in IIHR-2200 (11%). Under high temperature conditions pollen viability reduced significantly for all varieties with maximum viability for Nandi (87.38%) and minimum for Arka Vikas (36.31%). Similar results were obtained for physiological parameters like total chlorophyll content (mg g-1 fresh weight), photosynthetic rate (A) μ CO2 moles m-2 s-1), transpiration rate (E) (mmol H2O m-2 sec-1), stomatal conductance (Gs) (mmol H2O m-2 sec-1) and chlorophyll fluorescence (CF-Fv / Fm). The percentage reduction in photosynthetic rate under high temperature condition was highest in Palam Pride (30%) and minimum for Manulakshmi (9%). The percent reduction in transpiration rate was maximum for Arka Sourabh (67%) and minimum for Kashi Vishesh (12%). Significant genotypic differences for starch content and soluble sugar content were observed in tomato plants under high temperature. Among the genotypes, Vaibhav (312.97 mg g-1 fresh weight) recorded the maximum starch accumulation while the minimum starch content was recorded in Arka Vikas (209.70 mg g-1 fresh weight) under control conditions. Under heat stress condition, the highest starch content was observed in Anagha (235.67 mg g-1 fresh weight), while the lowest was observed in Arka Sourabh (84.37 mg g-1 fresh weight). The percent decrease in soluble sugar content was more in Arka Rakshak (31.2%) and less in IIHR-2200 (3%) under high temperature condition. Titrable acidity (TA) and total soluble solids (TSS) of tomato fruits were highest in concentration under high temperature conditions compared to low temperature regimes. The percent increase in titrable acidity under heat stress was highest for Arka Alok (27%) and minimum for Pusa Rohini (2%). Highest TSS was recorded for Arka Samrat (5.72%) and lowest for IC-45 (2.32%) under control ambient condition. But under high temperature conditions highest TSS was recorded for Kashi Vishesh (6.23%) and lowest for IC-45 (2.57%). The lycopene content decreased with rise in temperature and the ambient condition recorded the highest lycopene content in fruits. The percent reduction in lycopene content under heat stress conditions was maximum for IIHR-2200 (52%) and minimum for Kashi Vishesh (3%). The yield attributes viz., number of fruits/plant, fruit set %, average fruit weight (g), yield per plant (g /plant) were significantly lower for varieties like Arka Saurabh, Arka Rakshak and Pusa Rohini. Under heat stress conditions only those genotypes that are tolerant as well as moderately tolerant, namely Nandi, Anagha, Akshaya, IIHR-2200, Vellayani Vijay, Kashi Vishesh, Arka Abha, Arka Alok, Vaibhav, Manuprabha, Manulakshmi, IC-45 and IIHR-26372 produced higher fruit yield per plant. But the varieties like Arka Saurabh, Arka Rakshak, PKM-1, Sakthi, Palam Pride, Arka Samrat recorded the maximum percent reduction in yield per plant (99%) and the minimum was recorded in Kashi Vishesh (69%). In polyhouse conditions, all the genotypes showed an increment in the plant height and total dry weight because of the shaded environment, high temperature and enhanced CO2 (570 ppm) conditions inside. With respect to yield and physiological data the varieties sharing similar characteristics can be classified under three categories viz, tolerant varieties, moderately tolerant and susceptible varieties. Tolerant genotypes (Nandi, Kashi Vishesh, Vellayani Vijay) exhibited similar characteristics like yield (10-30 g-1 plant), MSI (60-70 %), PV (50-70%), starch content (190-200 mg g-1 fresh weight), A (17-22 μmol CO2 m-2 sec-1), Gs (47-68 mmol H2O m-2sec-1), CF (Fv / Fm) (0.6-0.7). Moderately tolerant varieties (Akshaya, Manuprabha, IIHR-2200, Vaibhav) showed similar characteristics like yield (5-15 g-1 plant), MSI (40-50 %), PV (45-50 %), starch content (200 mg g-1 fresh weight), A (17-19 μmol CO2 m-2 sec-1), Gs (55-65 mmol H2O m-2sec-1), CF(Fv / Fm) (0.6-0.7) and susceptible varieties (Arka Vikas, Pusa Rohini, Arka Sourabh, Arka Rakshak) showed similar features like yield (0.5-5 g-1 plant), MSI (25-40 %), PV (44-45 %), starch content (90-110 mg g-1 fresh weight), A (13-16 μmol CO2 m-2 sec-1), Gs (30-37 mmol H2O m- 2sec-1) and CF (0.4-0.5). The correlation analysis revealed that under heat stress conditions yield showed positive and significant correlation with MSI, photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, starch content, soluble sugar content, CF(Fv / Fm), pollen viability, total chlorophyll content, number of fruits per plant, fruit set %, average fruit weight and negatively correlated with intensity of flower drop. Hence this study has importance in identifying genotypes that possesses important physiological traits to increase the thermo-tolerance, so that they could give moderately higher yield even under high temperature.