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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: Soil Science and Agriculture Chemistry × Author: Devi Krishna × End date: 2005 × Start date: 2005 ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Impact of organic farming practices on soil health,yield and quality of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis (L.) Verdcort)
    (Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2005) Devi Krishna; KAU; Usha P B
    The research work entitled “impact of organic farming practices on soil health, yield and quality of cowpea [Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis (L.) Verdcort]” was conducted at the Instructional Farm, College of Agriculture, Vellayani. The study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of different nutrient sources (organic, inorganic and integrated) on soil health, yield and quality of cowpea using the variety Sharika. The experiment was laid out in RBD with three replications. Vermicompost, poultry manure, farmyard manure, their combinations with PSM, POP recommendation and NPK alone application as inorganic fertilizer constituted the eight treatments. The nutrient application was according to the POP (KAU, 2002) recommendation @ 20 : 30 : 10 kg ha-1 along with 20 t farmyard manure in all the treatments except the treatment receiving only inorganic fertilizer. Soil characters like porosity, water holding capacity, pH, CEC, organic C content, available nutrients (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Mn, Zn and Cu), enzyme activities (dehydrogenase and phosphatase) were significantly enhanced with vermicompost application either alone or in combination with PSM, but bulk density, soil temperature and C : N ratio get decreased with it. S status was improved by poultry manure addition. Available soil P significantly increased with PSM application. The growth characters including height of plant, number and weight of effective nodules, leaf area index recorded the highest values with vermicompost + PSM application (T5). Regarding yield, the treatment with POP recommendation (T1) was found to have higher pod yield and harvest index. Bhusa yield and total dry matter production got the highest values with vermicompost + PSM application. Statistically pod yield was found to be on par in (T1),(T5) and (T4) treatments. Concerning the quality attributes vermicompost + PSM application got superior values. The highest protein content, shelf life and the lowest fibre content were with vermicompost + PSM application. Organoleptic result showed superiority of poultry manure and vermicompost application. The nutrient content (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Mn, Zn and Cu) in bhusa at 50 per cent flowering stage and at harvest stage was the highest with vermicompost + PSM application (T5) except Mn and Cu which got slightly higher values with vermicompost application alone. P values were higher with PSM application for the three manures. S got higher values with poultry manure + PSM application. Regarding N, P, K, Ca and Mg, the treatment with POP recommendation showed a greater difference in values between the two stages of analysis. Pod nutrient status also showed the same trend, except the fact that the highest value for pod Mn was with the treatment receiving vermicompost alone. The bhusa, pod and total uptake values for N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Mn, Zn and Cu was with vermicompost + PSM application except Zn which got higher values with vermicompost alone application. S uptake was highest with poultry manure + PSM application. All the soil characters, plant growth characters and yield attributes were best correlated with yield. Uptake of all nutrients and quality attributes showed positive and significant correlation. From the above points, it can be concluded that POP recommendation registered the highest pod yield, even though statistically it was on par with T5 and T4. While concerning environmental safety and quality of products, vermicompost + PSM application stands supreme.