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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: Seed Science and Technology × Author: Anusree, R P × Start date: 2012 × Type: Thesis × Thesis Type: M.Sc ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Susceptibility of red flour beetle, tribolium castaneum (herbst) (coleoptera:
    (Department of Seed Science and Technology, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2019) Anusree, R P; KAU; Berin, Pathrose
    The red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) is a cosmopolitan stored grain pest, causing postharvest losses of more than 20 per cent in developing countries and up to nine per cent in developed countries. Even though several practices are available for management of T. castaneum, chemical control remains the most efficient, easy and economic method to reduce the insect pest populations to acceptable levels. Selection pressure from insecticides, however has led to development of resistance in T. castaneum to insecticides. Tribolium castaneum ranks 17th among the 20 most insecticide resistant arthropods in the world and it has already developed resistance against phosphine, methyl bromide, organophosphates, pyrethroids and insect growth regulators which are the commonly used insecticides for its management. The present study entitled “Susceptibility of red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) to insecticides” was undertaken at the Department of Agricultural Entomology, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara during October 2018 to July 2019. The objective of the study was to assess the susceptibility of red flour beetle populations to selected insecticides, to study the biochemical basis of resistance and to screen new molecules for the safe management of T. castaneum. Different populations of T. castaneum were collected from five different godowns of Food Corporation of India (FCI), viz., Thikkodi, Olavakkode, Mulangunnathukavu, Angamaly and Valiyathura. These five strains, along with the susceptible strain of T. castaneum (procured from Division of Entomology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi) which was maintained without exposure to any insecticides for more than 35 years, were used to conduct the experiments. Residual film bioassay with malathion, dichlorvos and deltamethrin, which were the recommended and commonly used insecticides in FCI godowns, revealed that susceptibility to malathion was lowest in the Angamaly strain of T. castaneum, while susceptibility to dichlorvos and deltamethrin was lowest in Olavakkode and Thikkodi strains, respectively. While, all the three recommended pesticides were toxic to the susceptible strain. Resistance ratio for all the field collected strains, with malathion, ranged from 10.95 in Thikkodi strain to 13.34 in Angamaly strain. There was a significant decrease in susceptibility to dichlorvos also. Biochemical basis of insecticide resistance was investigated by estimating the amount of detoxifying enzymes such as carboxyl esterase, glutathione-Stransferase and cytochrome P450 in different strains of T.castaneum. The activity of all the three detoxifying enzymes were significantly higher in field collected populations over that of the susceptible strain. Correlation studies indicated that carboxylesterase and cytochrome P450 levels were significantly correlated with the LC50 values. Residual film bioassay was done to evaluate the susceptibility of different strains of T. castaneum to new insecticide molecules viz., bifenthrin, chlorfenapyr, spinosad and flubendiamide. Bifenthrin and chlorfenapyr was found to be most toxic to all the T. castaneum strains, while, spinosad and flubendiamide were not effective in controlling T. castaneum. When compared to malathion, bifenthrin was 104 to 378 times more toxic, while chlorfenapyr was 1214 to 2236 times toxic to the field collected strains. The most effective insecticides, selected based on the relative toxicity studies along with FCI recommended pesticides, were sprayed on small jute bags containing 1 kg of rice. A method was developed and validated to analyse the residues of malathion, deltamethrin, chlorfenapyr and bifenthrin in rice samples with limit of detection and limit of quantification of 0.02 and 0.08 ppm, respectively. Pesticide residue analysis was carried out at different sampling intervals. When the sprayed sample was analysed after 2 hours of pesticide spray, 0.084 ppm of malathion was detected, which was below the MRL level of 4 ppm. However, residue levels, 1 and 3 days after spraying were below detection limit. In case of chlorfenapyr, bifenthrin and deltamethrin the residue levels were below detection limit throughout the study period.