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.

Browse

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 8 of 8

Open Access
Assessment Of Bacteriological quality Of Raw Milk In Trichur And Its Public Health Importance
(Department of Veterinary Public Health, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences,Mannuthy, 1995) Anju Raghunathrao, Kapre; KAU; Nanu, E
In the present study an effort has been made to assess the bacteriological quality of raw milk obtained from three different sources in Trichur. A total of 21 individual and seven pooled samples were collected from each sources (S1, S2 and S3), over a period of five months. The samples were subjected to different bacterial counts and also for the isolation and identification of S. aureus and E. coli. The isolates were tested for their sensitivity to various chemotherapeutic agents. The average total viable count of individual milk samples from S1, S2 and S3 were 7.5 x 104, 1.4 x 105 and 2 x 105 CFU per ml respectively. Significant difference (P < 0.01) between the counts from S1 and S2; and S1 and S3 was noticed. The average coliform count for S1 was 2.4 x 10, for S2 was 4.8 x 104 and for S3 was 3.8 x 103 CFU per ml. There was significant difference (P < 0.01) between the counts from S1 and S2 ; S1 and S3 ; and S2 and S3. The average counts for thermotolerant coliforms in samples from S1, S2 and S3 were 2.2 x 10, 2.4 x 104 and 2.4 x 103 CFU per ml. The counts from S1 and S2 ; and S1 and S3 differed significantly (P < 0.01). The average faecal streptococcal counts for the sample from S1, S2 and S3 were 1.5 x 102 , 2.1 x 103 and 1.7 x 103 CFU per ml. Significant difference (P < 0.01) between the counts from S1 and S2 , and S1 and S3 was noticed. The staphylococcal counts in samples from S1, S2 and S3 averaged 5.7 x 102, 2.8 x 103 and 6.8 x 103 CFU per ml respectively. Significant differences (P < 0.01) between the counts from S1 and S2 , and S1 and S3 were noticed. The average S. aureus count in samples from S1 was 8.5 x 10, from S2 it was 1.8 x 102 and from S3 , 7.1 x 10 CFU per ml. The average E. coli counts in samples from S1, S2 and S3 were 2 x 102, 1.2 x 104 and 1.5 x 103 CFU per ml respectively. The counts in samples from S1 and S2 ; S1 and S3 ; and S2 and S3 differed significantly (P < 0.01). The average total viable count in pooled milk samples from S1 , S2 and S3 were 4 x 104 , 1.8 x 106 and 2.1 x 105 CFU per ml respectively. Significant difference (P < 0.01) between the counts from S1 and S2 and S1 and S3 was noticed. The average coliform counts at 370C of incubation in the pooled samples from S1, S2 and S3 were 5.5 x 10, 2 x 105 and 6.4 x 103 CFU per ml respectively. The counts from S1 and S2, S1 and S3 ; and S2 and S3 were found significantly different (P < 0.01). The average thermotolerent count in samples from S1, S2 and S3 were 2.8 x 10, 3.6 x 104 and 4.4 x 103 CFU per ml respectively. Significant difference (P < 0.01) in the counts of S1 and S2 ; and S1 and S3 was noticed. The average faecal streptococcal count in samples from S1, S2 and S3 were 2 x 102, 4.8 x 103 and 2.9 x 103 CFU per ml respectively. Significantly different (P < 0.01) counts were noticed between S1 and S2 ; and S1 and S3 was noticed. The average staphylococcal count in samples from S1 was 9.2 x 102 from S2 was 5.3 x 104 and from S3 was 1.3 x 104 CFU per ml. The counts in samples from S1 and S2 ; and S1 and S3 were significantly different (P < 0.01). The S. aureus counts in milk samples from S1, S2 and S3 averaged 1 x 102, 4.8 x 102 and 1.1 x 102 CFU per ml respectively. The average E. coli count in samples from S1, S2 and S3 were 2.7 x 102, 8.9 x 104 and 1.9 x 103 CFU per ml respectively. Significant difference (P < 0.01) between the counts of samples from S1 and S2 ; S1 and S3 ; and S2 and S3 was observed. All the individual samples from S1 were either of very good or good grades (95.24 and 4.76%) respectively. All the pooled milk samples from this source was of very good grade. Most of the individual samples from S2 were of very good or good grades ( 76.20 and 23.80%) respectively, but the pooled milk samples from S2 were of very good, good, fair and poor grades (42.84, 28.60, 14.28 and 14.28%) respectively. Among the individual samples from S3 source all were of either very good or good grades (80.95 and 19.05%) respectively. Pooled milk samples from the same source had very good and good grade (57.14 and 42.86%) respectively. None of the samples from this source were of fair or poor grades. Of the 60 suspected colonies isolated, 54 were identified as S. aureus. Antibiogram of S. aureus isolates showed highest sensitivity to cloxacillin (100%) and gentamicin (100%) followed by amoxicillin (87.03%), chloramphenicol (77.80%) and penicillin – G (35.20%). Of the 70 suspected colonies isolated 66 were identified as E. coli. The E. Coli. Isolates were most sensitive to gentamicin (96.96%) followed by amplicillin (93.92%), furazolidone (80.30%) and carbenicillin (15.155). Doxycycline was least effective drug with no sensitivity and high resistance (90.90%).
Open Access
Identification of bacterial critical points and antibacterial effect of lactic acid on beef carcass
(Department of Veterinary Public Health, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, 1994) Rajeev, K; KAU; Soman, M
During the process of slaughter and subsequent processing, the beef carcass is exposed to bacterial contamination. Bacterial load is one of the parameters for assessment of the sanitary conditions in slaughter operations. It is tedious and time consuming to evaluate bacterial load of carcass surface as a whole. Therefore assessment of bacterial load on certain points (critical points) in the carcass which are more frequently exposed to contaminants will help in quick assessment of sanitaty standard. In the present study six critical points were selected on beef carcasses to evaluate the bacterial contamination. Carcasses from two slaughter houses differing in infrastructural facilities were used for this assessment and comparison. There was significant difference in the level of bacterial contamination on critical points of carcasses obtained from the two sources. Significant difference was noticed between points as well. Among the critical points, neck-lateral has shown highest level of contamination. This may be due to chances of exposure to contaminants during bleeding and flaying. The abdomen-medial was comparatively less contaminated. In spite of conscious precautions, carcasses invariably get contaminated. In order to minimize the bacterial load on carcass at the end of slaughter line, washing carcass with sanitizers is one of the methods adopted in meat trade. Lactic acid one percent solution, when used as sanitizer for washing beef carcasses immediately after slaughter, has shown significant reduction in total viable count, coliform count and faecal streptococcal count estimated 1 h after treatment. When hot lactic acid solution at 700C was used for washing, significant reduction in the above counts in comparison to the first treatment was observed. This added benefit can be attributed to the enhanced temperature of the solution. It is concluded that one percent lactic acid solution, preferably at 700C, can be effectively used as a sanitizer on beef carcass surface for reduction of initial bacterial load and this helps in prolonging the storage life under the retail marketing condition.
Open Access
Development of monospecific anti-beef sera
(Department of Veterinery Public Health, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, 1995) Thangthuama, R; KAU; Prabhakaran, P
Agar gel immunodiffusion is a simple and relictle test for identifying the species origin of meat, povided the antisera to be used are monospecific. A study was undertaker to make Rabbit anti-cattle serum (RACS) and Rabbit anti-buffalo serum (RABS) monospecific by absorption with the freeze dried sera of goat (GFD), buffalo (BFD), cattle 'CFD) and a combination of GFD and CFD or CFD and BFD Though it was found that the RACS was made mono- specific by absorption with BFD, production of monospecific RABS through absorption with GFD or CFD, is more desirable Absorption of RABS with GFD alone enabled to identify both beef and buffalo meat samples which can be further confirmed by RABS absorbed with BFD RABS absorbed with BFD and RABS absorbed with CFD could identify a level of 25 per cent or above adulteration with beef and buffalo beef respectively Filter paper was found to be good carrier of beef and buffalo meat extract antigens and storing it for upto 30 days did not influence the test result with unabsorbed antisera All the three eluants, NaCl, PBS and PBS-T were found to be equally useful for elution of the meat antigen from the dried filter paper
Open Access
Effect of acetic acid and propionic acid on bacteriological quality of beef
(Department of Veterinery Public Health, College of Veterinary and Animal Science, Mannuthy, 1993) Latha, C; KAU; Nanu, E
The bacterial contamination of meat surface is posing a threat to public health and meat trade. It is necessary to minimise the bacterial load at all levels of production, storage and marketing. Use of sanitizer is one of the methods suggested for reducing the bacterial load on carcass surface. The study was undertaken to assess the efficiency of acetic and propionic acids at one and two per cent strength as sanitizer on beef. Carcasses obtained from Kerala Agricultural University Slaughter House, were subjected for the study. The samples were maintained at ambient temperature for 24 h. The acid treatment of samples was done immediately after slaughter. The total viable count,coliform count and faecal streptococcal count were estimated by standard methods at zero, one, five, nine, and twenty-four hours of storage. An upward trend of bacterial load was observed during storage. At all intervals, the bacterial load was significantly lower in treated samples compared to that of control. The bacterial load was found to be significantly lower in samples subjected to acid treatments at two per cent level than one per cent. The persistence of the effect was found to be inversely proportional to the duration of storage. The bacterial load could generally be confined with one per cent acetic acid upto five hours and nine hours with two per cent acetic acid within the initial count Though propionic acid at one and two per cent levels had beneficial effect acetic acid was found to be better
Open Access
Occurrence and survivability of yersinia in pork
(Department of Veterinery Public Health, College of Veterinary and Animal Science, Mannuthy, 1994) Sunil, B; KAU; Prabhakaran, P
Investigation was carried out to find out the the presence and survivability of Yersinia in pork. One hundred and seventy one samples were collected from 39 animals. Three isolates of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis were obtained using Yersinia isolation agar (Himedia). Two of the isolates were from the buccal cavity and tonsil of the same animal and the third from the tonsil of another animal. Even when the organism could not be isolated by direct plating, cold enrichment enabled isolation of the organism from the same sample. The organism could be recovered from inoculated and stored (40 C) pork samples upto seven days. At – 150 C storage, the organism could be recovered upto 30 days by direct plating. Direct plating failed to recover the organism on 45th day, but resuscitation techniques was effective, which underlined the importance of resuscitation for isolation of the organism from frozen samples. On 60th day resuscitation also failed to recover the organism.
Open Access
Effect of electrical stimulation on chevon quality
(Department of Veterinary Public Health, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, 1990) Major, Emmanuel Mathew; KAU; Padmanabha, Iyer R
Electrical stimulation of carcasses is considered as a means of improvement in meat quality. The present study was undertaken to determine the effects of ES on goat carcasses and to observe improvement in meat quality, if any. The study was conducted on longitudinally split carcasses of ten adult goats (aged 8-11 years ) by stimulating one half from each carcass while the other half served as control. ES was done within 25 minutes of exsanguination using pulsed alternating current at 150 volts, 50Hz, and 20 pulses per second and with a stimulation cycle of two seconds ‘on’ and one second ‘off’ for a total duration of 120 seconds. Samples of Longissimus dorsi muscles were collected from both stimulated and non stimulated sides and stored at ambient and refrigeration temperatures. They were subjected to study the changes in PH, glycogen content, sarcomere length, fibre diameter, water holding capacity and extract release volume at specified time intervals. Sensory evaluation was done 24 hours after ES. The main observations were rapid drop n PH during stimulation, early attainment of ultimate PH, slower rate of PH fall during post-stimulation period, accelerated rate of glycolysis, increase in sarcomere length, lower WHC and initial increase in ERV in stimulated muscles when compared to NS muscles. There was no significant difference in fibre diameter. Taste panel studies indicated significant improvement in tenderness of stimulated muscles stored at ambient and refrigeration temperatures. The connective tissue ratings were also significantly favourable for ES muscles stored at both temperatures. The overall acceptability improved markedly in the case of stimulated muscles than in NS muscles. There were no changes in flavor and juiciness ratings attributable to electrical stimulation.
Open Access
Physico-chemical quality of buffalo meat under refrigeration
(Department of Veterinary Public Health, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, 1996) Abdulkader Kunhy, P A; KAU; Kuttinarayanan, P
eat is accepted all over the world as a rich source of high quality assimilable protein containing all the essential amino acids. Meat quality per se is contributed by its physic-chemical, biochemical, nutritional, microbiological and organoleptic qualities. Though some of these are predetermined depending on animal physiology, others can be changed by manipulating the meat handling practices. It is learned from the literature that studies on physic-chemical quality of buffalo meat are scanty. Hence the present study was undertaken to assess the various physico chemical qualities of buffalo meat under refrigeration (40C). Fifteen meat samples were collected from the municipal slaughter house, Kuriachira, thrissur and analysed for PH, water holding capacity, glycogen content, fibre diameter, sarcomere length and organoleptic qualities at 1 h and stored at refrigeration temperature (40C) for further analysis at 8, 24 and 72 h of refrigeration. The PH and the glycogen content of the samples reduced steadily during the storage period from 1h to 72h. However significant differences in water holding capacity, fibre diameter and sarcomere length were not observed during the course of study. In the organoloeptic evaluation, flavor and tenderness did not differ significantly during different hours of storage, though the meat was significantly juicer (P<0.05) with a score 5.85+ 0.19 at 1 h and reduced further during subsequent hours of storage.
Open Access
Effect of electrical stimulation on beef quality
(Department of Veterinary Public Health, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, 1993) Sunil, M; KAU; Padmanabha Iyer, R
Application of electrical stimulation to pre-vigor muscle is considered as a method to prevent cold-shortening and to improve tenderness and consumer acceptability. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of electrical stimulation on changes in PH, non-protein nitrogen (NPN) content, Total viable count (TVC) and organoleptic characters of beef stored at ambient and refrigeration temperatures, at specified intervals of time. Ten carcasses of adult cattle were subjected to the study. Electrical stimulation (ES) (alternating current at 110V, 50Hz and 20 pulses per second) was applied on left fore-quarter for 120 seconds. The right fore-quarter was kept as control ( c) . Triceps brachii muscles were collected from ES and C sides immediately after stimulation and stored at ambient temperature for 12 h and at refrigeration temperature for 24h. The rate of fall in PH in ES was highly significant than in C at all intervals except at 24 h.The fall in PH in C was faster at ambient temperature compared to that under refrigeration temperature upto 8 h. Highly significant increase in NPN was observed during storage in ES compared to C. TVC was found to increase on storage at both temperatures. But the increase was significantly lower in ES than in C at ambient temperature at 8h. In refrigerated samples, at 12 h TVC in ES was lower than in C and the difference was significant (P<0.05). The organoleptic characters of samples were evaluated by a 5 member semi-trained taste panel. The flavor score for ES at ambient temperature was significantly higher than for C at 8h. The juiceness score was significantly higher in ES than in C at 0 and 8h at ambient temperature and at 24h at refrigeration temperature. Tenderness score at 8h was significantly higher in ES than in C at ambient temperature. Under refrigeration temperature difference in tenderness score between C and ES samples was highly significant at 8 and 24h. No significant difference was noticed in connective tissue score between C and ES samples. There was highly significant increase in overall acceptability for ES than for C at 8h at ambient temperature and 24h at refrigeration temperature.

Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur

Browse

Thesis Type

Type

Author

Date

Subject

Search Results