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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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Author: Asna, A C × End date: 2018 × Start date: 2018 × Type: Thesis × Thesis Type: Ph.D ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Characterization and distant hybridization for biotic stress tolerance in bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.)
    (Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2018) Asna, A C; KAU; Jiji, Joseph
    Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) is one of the important cucurbitaceous vegetable valued for its nutritional and medicinal properties. Bitter gourd has been in use for centuries in the traditional system of medicine of several countries like India, China, Africa, and Latin America. Even though, cultivated bitter gourd (M. charantia var. charantia) is highly vulnerable to most of the pests and diseases, its wild/semi-domesticated type (M. charantia var. muricata) is endowed with resistance/tolerance to some of the common pests and diseases of cucurbits. In bitter gourd, the major disease prevalent in south India is powdery mildew caused by fungus, Erisiphe cichoracearum. The disease severity even goes up to 80 per cent during December – January. The identification of resistance sources to major pests and diseases is essential for developing resistant cultivars. Attempts to develop disease resistant cultivars in bitter gourd by earlier workers have not found much success. The present study was taken up in this background at COH, Vellanikkara during 2014-18 to characterize and screen the selected accessions of wild/semi domesticated bitter gourd (M. charantia var. muricata) for powdery mildew resistance and to assess the possibility of transferring this tolerance/resistance to commercial varieties. Fifty accessions of wild/ semi domesticated bitter gourd and three check varieties viz., Preethi, Priyanka and Pusa Purvi formed the material for the study. These accessions were subjected to morphological and biochemical evaluation. The morphological evaluation based on 35 qualitative and 28 quantitative characters was done using the descriptor developed by NBPGR (2001). Vitamin C, iron, fibre content and total antioxidant capacity were estimated following standard procedures for biochemical characterization. Clustering based on quantitative characters was done following agglomerative hierarchical clustering method. Wide variability was observed among the accessions for all the qualitative traits except primary leaf shape and margin, stem pubescence, stem shape, leaf margin, leaf shape, fruit ribs and blossom end shape of fruit. Variation expressed by the accessions in terms of both fruit and seed quantitative traits was also high. Among the wild genotypes, IC 467681 was having the highest fruit weight, fruit length and fruit width. However, its yield was only 969.49 g/plant. The highest yield was observed in the cultivated types followed by AC-16/1 (1493.88 g). The cluster analysis based on quantitative characters resulted in four clusters at 90 per cent similarity level. Clustering clearly separated wild genotypes from cultivated ones by placing Preethi and Priyanka in cluster III and IV respectively. High heritability coupled with high genetic gain was observed (>20%) for number of fruits per plant, yield per plant, fruit length, number of seeds per fruit and 100 seed weight. The biochemical characters viz., Vitamin C, iron, fibre content and total antioxidant capacity ranged from 76.53 to 125.67 mg/100 g; 1.48 to 3.31 mg/100g; 12.17 to 30.44 per cent and 41.88 to 92.01 mg AAE/g respectively. Based on organoleptic evaluation, the maximum score for overall acceptability was obtained for Priyanka followed by Preethi and AC-16/1. All the bitter gourd accessions were screened under natural field conditions during 2016 and 2017 for their reaction to powdery mildew and mosaic diseases. Based on per cent disease severity of the accessions during two consecutive crop seasons, five accessions viz., IC 213312, AC-16/1, AC-16/4, AC-16/9, and AC-16/21, which were resistant to both diseases were identified and crossed with susceptible check varieties in Line × Tester design. All the fifteen hybrids along with five parents were evaluated for powdery mildew tolerance/resistance and yield characters. Nine crosses were immune to powdery mildew disease. The better performing wild genotypes with respect to yield, fruit weight, organoleptic score and resistance, viz., AC-16/1, AC-16/16, IC 467681 and JJNS-15/65, should be further tested in large scale yield trials and recommended for commercial cultivation especially for homestead farming.