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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: Poultry Science × End date: 2009 × Start date: 2009 × Type: Thesis ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Influence of mating ratio on fertility and hatchability in Japanese quails
    (Department of Poultry Science, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences,Mannuthy, 2009) Suraj Amrutkar, A; KAU; Leo Joseph
    An experiment was carried out to study the influence of mating ratio on fertility, hatchability and other productive traits in Japanese quails maintained at University Poultry Farm, Mannuthy. A total of 376 breeder Japanese quails at 6 weeks of age were allotted randomly to four groups with a male female ratio of 1: 3 (T1), 1: 4 (T2), 1: 5 (T3) and 1: 6 (T4) with four replicate each. The number of male and female breeders employed in the treatment groups T1, T2, T3 and T4 were 24 & 72, 20 & 80, 16 & 80 and 12 & 72, respectively. Standard managemental practices were followed uniformly. Quail breeder ration which contained 22.75 per cent crude protein and 2650 kcal metabolizable energy per kg feed was fed to all mating groups. The T1, T2 and T3 treatment groups were similar but a T4 group differed significantly from the other groups for 6 weeks and 16 weeks body weight. The age at first egg, 10 and 50 per cent production was similar (p < 0.05) in all the treatment groups. The results revealed that mean egg number and mean per cent production did not differ significantly in all the treatment groups. Statistical analysis of the mean data on egg weight revealed no significant difference between treatment means at 8, 12 and 16 weeks of age. The overall mean fertility in the treatment groups T1, T2, T3 and T4 were 92.65, 90.45, 91.21 and 90.71 per cent, respectively and statistical analysis revealed no significant difference between treatment groups. The overall mean hatchability on total egg in the treatment groups T1, T2, T3 and T4 were 86.22, 84.71, 83.86 and 84.78 per cent, respectively and statistical analysis did not reveal any significant difference (p<0.05) between treatment groups. The overall mean hatchability on fertile egg in treatment groups T1, T2, T3 and T4 were 93.04, 93.62, 91.95 and 93.43 per cent, respectively and the means were statistically similar (P<0.05). The total number of chicks obtained from 9 to 16 weeks of age was similar in all treatment groups. Margin per quail housed in the treatment groups T1, T2, T3 and T4 were Rs. 113, 117, 125 and 132, respectively. The T4 treatment group had highest margin than other treatment groups. Cost of production per chick in the treatment groups T1, T2, T3 and T4 were Rs. 2.21, 2.19, 2.10 and 2.04, respectively. The T4 treatment group had lowest cost of production per chick as compared to other treatment groups. The critical evaluation of the result revealed that changing the mating ratio from 1: 3 to 1: 6 did not affect fertility, hatchability and other production traits. Therefore a sex ratio of 1: 6 is recommended in the quail line since it is more economical compared to other sex ratios of 1: 3, 4 & 5.