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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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ThesisItem Open Access Population dynamics and management of aphids in vegetable ecosystem(Department of Agricultural Entomology, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2009) Thamilvel, D; KAU; Hebsy, BaiEight species of aphids viz., A. gossypii, A. craccivora, A. spiraecola, A. fabae, A. nerii, H. setariae, M. persicae and L. erysimi were recorded from 32 vegetables in a survey conducted in the four taluks of Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala. Occurrence of A. gossypii on C. grandis, M. oleifera and P. tetragonolobus; A. craccivora on C. gladiata, P. tetragonolobus and S. grandiflora ; A. spiraecola on A. tricolor, C. sativus, C. tetragonoloba, M. oleifera, M. charantia, M. koeingii, P. tetragonolobus and S. androgynus ; M. persicae on A. tricolor and R. sativu; A. nerii on C. annuum and C. frutescens was recorded for the first time from the State and H. setariae on A. tricolor and A. dubius from South India. One hundred and twenty two other plants were identified as host plants of the different aphids. A. gossypii was the dominant species noted, closely followed by A. craccivora, and A. spiraecola. Maximum species of aphids were recorded on amaranthus followed by winged bean. Among the vegetables surveyed, chilli and coccinia were highly susceptible to A. gossypii and winged bean and cowpea to A. craccivora. Mosaic disease incidence was noted in 10 vegetables. Predators were the predominant group of natural enemies associated with the aphids with the coccinellids constituting the major predatory fauna. Twenty species of coccinellids were recorded from different species of aphids on various host plants of which 13 species were new records from Kerala. M. sexmaculatus was the dominant species followed by C. transversalis, S. latemaculatus and C. septempunctata, Four species of syrphids were recorded of which I. scutellaris was predominant. P. yerburiensis and D. aegrota were recorded for the first time from Kerala. Leucopis sp. was the only Chamaemyiid species recorded from the vegetable fields. The chrysopids, C. carneae and A. octopunctata and the hemerobiid, Micromus sp. were the Neuropteran predators of the aphids recorded of which Micromus sp. was dominant. A. octopunctata was recorded for the first time from Kerala. Eleven species of spiders were observed in the vegetable fields among which, O. javanus, T.mandibulata, O. quadridentatus, O. shweta and Phidippus sp. were the frequently encountered species. Aphidius sp. was the most dominant parasitoid in the vegetable ecosystem. Aphelinus sp. and D. rapae were the other parasitoids recorded. Seven species of ants were observed attending the aphids. Studies on the population fluctuation of A. gossypii in chilli and A. craccivora in winged bean during a cropping season indicated that high population was seen during November and December. Correlation studies revealed a significant and positive correlation between the population of both the aphids with the insect predators, spiders and parasitoids. None of the climatic parameters had any significant influence on the aphid population. Excepting, maximum temperature which had a positive influence, all the other weather parameters viz., minimum temperature, relative humidity, rainfall and wind velocity had a negative influence on the population of the predators and parasitoids. Among the botanicals screened in the laboratory, only neem oil- garlic emulsion 2% and NeemAzal T/S 4 ml/l recorded more than 50 per cent mortality of A. gossypii and A. craccivora. Among the insecticides, the neonicotinoids viz., acetamiprid 0.002% imidacloprid, 0.003%, and dimethoate 0.05% proved superior to all other treatments. Dimethoate 0.05% was highly toxic to the coccinellids, syrphids and a hemerobiid (Micromus sp.) predator under laboratory condition. Between the two neonicotinods, acetamiprid 0.002% registered higher mortality than imidacloprid 0.003% whereas NeemAzal T/S 4 ml/l and neem oil + garlic emulsion 2% were safe to the predators. Foliar application of dimethoate 0.05%, acetamiprid 0.002% and imidacloprid 0.003% gave good control of A. gossypii, A. biguttula biguttula, S. dorsalis and A. dispersus in chilli and A. craccivora, A. dispersus, R. pedestris and M. vitrata in winged bean. NeemAzal T/S 4ml/l and neem oil garlic emulsion 2% too checked the population of the pests appreciably. Dimethoate 0.05% was highly toxic to the predators and parasitoids followed by acetamiprid 0.002% both in the chilli and winged bean fields. Comparatively, imidacloprid 0.003% was less toxic. The botanicals were safer to the natural enemies. Dimethoate 0.05% was highly toxic to soil fauna and flora whereas acetamiprid and imidacloprid were less toxic while NeemAzal T/S 4ml/l and neem oil + garlic emulsion 2% were non toxic. In both the trials, significantly higher yield was obtained from all the treatments. However, no significant difference was noted in the yields obtained from acetamiprid 0.002%, imidacloprid 0.003% and dimethoate 0.05% treated plots. Residues of imidacloprid were detected in chilli and winged bean fruits five days after spraying. While on the tenth day after spraying, residues of acetamiprid, and dimethoate were detected in chilli fruits, only residue of acetamiprid was recorded from winged bean pods. Imidacloprid was below detectable level (BDL). Residues of all the three insecticides were below detectable level when estimated fifteen days after spraying. Based on the results of the study, early detection of aphids on weeds and other host through regular monitoring, proper weed and ant management, conservation of the beneficials, application of neem oil + garlic emulsion 2% or NeemAzal T/S 4ml/l during the early stage of infestation and use of imidacloprid 0.003% when needed are suggested for aphid management in vegetables.ThesisItem Open Access Phytase supplementation on the availability of different minerals and their interactions in pigs(Department of Animal Nutrition, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, 2009) Shyama, K; KAU; Mercy, A DTwo feeding experiments were conducted using 100 weaned piglets to study the effect of dietary supplementation of calcium, phosphorus and phytase in different levels and their interactions on growth, nutrient digestibility, mineral availability and blood and bone mineral profile. In experiment one, sixty four weaned Large White Yorkshire x Desi piglets (32 castrated male and 32 female) belonging to the Centre for Pig Production and Research, Mannuthy were used as experimental animals. All animals were dewormed before the start of the experiment. The piglets were divided into eight groups as uniformly as possible with regard to age, sex and weight. Piglets of each group were allotted randomly into four pens with two piglets in each pen. Piglets in each replicate were maintained under identical management conditions throughout the experimental period of 88 days. Restricted feeding was followed throughout the experimental period and daily feed intake was recorded. Clean drinking water was provided ad libitum in all the pens throughout the experimental period. The animals were fed with standard grower ration with 18 per cent CP and 3200 kcal of ME/kg of feed up to 50 kg body weight and finisher ration with 16 per cent CP and 3200 kcal of ME /kg of feed from 50 kg body weight. Eight dietary treatments with two levels of calcium (0.6 and 1 per cent) and two levels of phosphorus (0.3 and 0.6 per cent) were used with phytase (750 units /kg) and without phytase in a 2x2x2 factorial completely randomized design. The pigs were weighed at the beginning of the experiment and later on at fortnightly intervals. Blood samples were collected at the beginning and on 85th day of the experiment and a digestibility trial was conducted at the end of the experiment to determine the digestibility of nutrients and percentage availability of minerals of the experimental diets by total collection method. The results of the first experiment indicated that the levels of Ca, P and phytase had no effect on average daily gain, feed efficiency and DM intake among pigs reared under the eight dietary treatments, while there was significant interaction between Ca x P (P<0.05) and Ca x phytase (P<0.01) on DM intake. The level of Ca and P and Ca x P x phytase interactions were significant for DM digestibility which resulted in lower DM digestibility for rations T3, T5 and T7 than that of other rations. Dietary levels of P and interaction between Ca x P (P<0.01) and Ca x phytase (P<0.05) were significant for EE digestibility. Hence rations T7 and T8 had lower (P<0.01) EE digestibility than the rest of the experimental rations. Crude fibre digestibility was affected by phytase and P x phytase interaction. Calcium availability was higher (P<0.01) in all phytase supplemented rations. Significant interactions between dietary Ca x phytase (P<0.01) and dietary P x phytase (P<0.05) were observed for Ca availability. Interactions between dietary levels of Ca x P (P<0.05) and Ca x phytase (P< 0.05) were found significant for availability of Cu and Mn respectively. Data on blood samples collected on 85th day revealed that phytase supplementation had significant effect (P< 0.01) on the plasma Ca levels of the animals fed the eight dietary treatments. The interaction between dietary Ca x P levels was also found significant (P< 0.01) for plasma Ca. Dietary levels of both Ca (P< 0.01) and P and interaction between Ca x P (P< 0.01), Ca x phytase and P x phytase (P<0.01) were found to affect plasma P significantly. In case of plasma Zn dietary Ca was having significant (P< 0.01) effect and the interactions between dietary Ca x P (P<0.01), Ca x phytase (P<0.05) and P x phytase (P<0.01) were also found significant. Dietary Ca, P and phytase levels had significant (P<0.05) effect on the plasma ALP activity. Cost of feed per kg body weight gain of pigs was lowest for ration T1. Ration T1 with low Ca, low P and without phytase gave similar growth and feed efficiency with lowest cost of production compared to the other rations and thus T1 was taken as the control ration for the second experiment. The second feeding experiment was conducted for 114 days using 36 weaned Large White Yorkshire x Desi weaned piglets (18 castrated males and 18 females) belonging to the Centre for Pig Production and Research, Mannuthy and the animals were randomly allotted to the three dietary treatments, T1- Control ration containing 0.6 per cent calcium and 0.3 per cent phosphorus, T2 -Control ration without any mineral supplements and with 750 units of phytase/kg feed and T3 - Control ration without phytase and mineral supplementation. A digestibility experiment was conducted to determine the digestibility of nutrients and availability of minerals. Blood samples were collected before the start of the experiment and on 16th week. Radiological examination of femur and mandibles of the representative animals of three groups at the end of the study were done. All the male animals were slaughtered on attaining slaughter weight of 70 kg and the data on dressing percentage, loin eye area, back fat thickness, weight of internal organs were collected. Photograph of rib bone was taken during slaughter and bone ash percentage, bone calcium and bone phosphorus were estimated. Kidney samples were examined histologically to assess pathological changes, if any, due to the experimental rations. Body weight of pigs belonging to T2 (phytase supplemented ration) was significantly higher (P<0.05) than that of T3 in fortnights 4, 6, 7, 8 and 9, while the difference between that of T1 and T2 were non significant in all the fortnights. There was no difference in feed efficiency and digestibility of nutrients among pigs reared under the three dietary treatments. The availability of Ca, P and Mn for T2 ration was higher than that of the control ration while the Mg availability was lower for T2 and T3 than that of T1. Zinc availability was lower for T3 than that of T1 ration. Dressing percentage was lower (P<0.01) for T2 and T3 than that of control and loin eye area was lower (P<0.05) for T3 than that of T1 and T2. There was no gross abnormality of femur and mandible on x-ray examination of pigs reared on three experimental rations. Histopathological examinations of kidney samples also were normal for pigs of T1 and T2 and T3. However ricketty beads were seen on ends of ribs on carcass evaluation, in pigs reared under T3. The bone ash content was also lower (P<0.01) for animals fed ration T3 than that of T1 and T2. Thus feeding ration without any mineral supplementation showed deleterious effects on growth, mineral availability and bone ash content, but supplementation of phytase improved utilization of nutrients and minerals than that of T3 during the period of 114 days of the experiment. Feed cost /kg gain of T1 pigs was higher than that of T2 (P< 0.01) and T3 (P< 0.05). But the difference in the cost of production between T2 and T3 were non significant (P>0.05). It can be concluded that phytase supplementation of rations resulted in decreased feed cost / kg gain.ThesisItem Open Access Characterization and in vitro multiplication of bittergourd (Momordica charantia L.) genotypes(Department of Olericulture, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2009) Resmi, J; KAU; Sreelathakumary, IThe research project “Characterization and in vitro multiplication of bittergourd (Momordica charantia L.) genotypes” was carried out at the Department of Olericulture, the Department of Plant Biotechnology and the Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, College of Agriculture, Vellayani during 2005-2008. The objective of the study was to catalogue the genotypes based on the IBPGR descriptor for cucurbits, to estimate the genetic parameters for different traits in the germplasm for identifying superior lines based on yield, quality, pest and disease resistance, to document the biochemical traits, to characterize the genotypes using molecular techniques (RAPD analysis) and to standardize the in vitro techniques for bittergourd. Thirty three genotypes of Momordica charantia collected from various sources upon cataloguing pointed out wide variation for several morphological characters. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences among the genotypes for all the characters except fruit fly infestation (%) studied namely, days to seedling emergence, vine length, internodal length, number of primary branches, number of secondary branches, days to first male flower, days to first female flower, node to first male flower, node to first female flower, sex ratio, days to first fruit harvest, fruit length, fruit girth, fruits per plant, average fruit weight, yield per plant, seeds per fruit, 100-seed weight and mosaic incidence. Among the genotypes, MC 20 (Priyanka, KAU) recorded the maximum yield (5.89 kg), average fruit weight (578.75 g), fruit length (38.83 cm) and fruit girth (25.53 cm). MC 1 was the longest in vine length (620.00 cm). MC 33 (1.25 cm) was shortest in internodal length along with least vulnerability index for mosaic (10.00). MC 10 was characterized by maximum fruits per plant (34.25). MC 16 was the earliest to flower (36.00 days for female flowering) while, MC 32 was the earliest to harvest (43.50). High phenotypic and genotypic coefficients of variation were observed for yield per plant and average fruit weight. High heritability coupled with low genetic advance was observed for most of the characters. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance was observed for vine length and average fruit weight. Correlation studies and path coefficient analysis revealed that average fruit weight and number of fruits per plant are the primary yield components as evidenced from its high positive correlation as well as direct and indirect effects on yield. In the discriminant function analysis, the genotype MC 20 (Priyanka, KAU) ranked first, followed by MC 10 (MDU-1, TNAU), MC 26 (Thripunithara, Ernakulam), MC 22 (Chathamangalam, Kozhikode) and MC 27 (Charuplasseri, Palakkad). They were found to be promising based on their superiority in yield, fruit quality, earliness in male and female flowering, narrow sex ratio, fruit fly infestation and mosaic resistance and hence they may be utilized for further crop improvement. Based on the analysis for genetic divergence, the 33 genotypes of M. charantia were grouped into five clusters, with the highest intercluster distance observed between clusters III and IV. The keeping quality studies indicated that maximum shelf life, lower percentage loss in weight, lowest rotting percentage and slower change in colour was obtained from fruits of the genotype MC 25. The organoleptic quality evaluation revealed that all the genotypes differ significantly for attributes like appearance / colour, doneness, flavor, taste and bitterness. In general, fruits with light green skin colour had overall acceptability and were superior to others based on the score. The biochemical characterization revealed that the medium sized fruits were associated with higher β-carotene while, small sized fruits found to have higher iron content and large fruited genotypes contained higher ascorbic acid content. Genotypes with higher the chlorophyll content, greater will be the bitterness value. A distinct difference in the content of vitamins and minerals is observed in different genotypes. However, correlation between colour of fruits and their iron content is found in some of the genotypes. The DNA isolated from the 33 genotypes of M. charantia were subjected to RAPD analysis. Out of the 80 decamer primers, fifty six yielded amplification products. A total of 158 RAPDs (average 1.98 bands per primer) were generated by the 56 primers, of which 86.08 per cent were polymorphic (136 bands) and twenty two were monomorphic. Eight primers viz., 0PA-02, 0PA-18, OPB-01, OPB-06, OPB-12, OPE-14, UBC-03 and UBC-05 showed high level of polymorphism and were informative enough to analyse the genotypes The selected primers yielded 56 scorable bands (average of 7.00 bands per primer) of which 23 were monomorphic and rest, 33 were polymorphic (58.93 %). The overall Jaccard’s similarity coefficients ranged from 0.65 to 0.90. Cluster analysis revealed that at about 0.65 similarity coefficient, the thirty three genotypes of M. charantia grouped into two clusters which clearly separates genotypes based on average fruit weight and fruit skin colour. By characterizing all the thirty three genotypes of Momordica charantia using morphological (selection index and D2 analysis) and molecular (RAPD marker analysis) methods revealed that morphologically distinct and superior lines were genetically differentiable. The clustering pattern based on yield related traits and molecular variation was different. Also, the diversity based on yield related traits and molecular analysis was not in consonance with ecological distribution. The induction of potentially organogenic callus and better proliferation of callus successfully from all the explants was obtained either on the MS medium supplemented with IBA (4.00 mg l-1) + BA (0.50 mg l-1) + 2,4- D (2.00 mg l-1) or NAA (2.00 mg l-1) + BA (0.50 mg l-1) + 2,4- D (2.00 mg l-1) in combination with 30.00 g l-1 sucrose and 6.30 g l-1 agar level. The shoot tip explants were more responsive among all the explants tried in terms of callus induction and subsequent plant regeneration. Shoot regeneration response from shoot tip derived callus was best on MS medium fortified with 0.05 % AC + 1.00 mg l-1 BA with earlier regeneration, highest regeneration percentage, lengthy adventitious shoot and more number of leaves under light conditions.ThesisItem Open Access Effect of brewery waste on nutrient digestability of paddy straw based diet in lactating cows(Department of Animal Nutrition, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, 2009) SenthilKumar, S; KAU; Viswanathan, T VTwo experiments were conducted, one to assess the effect of brewery waste on nutrient digestibility of paddy straw based diet in lactating cows and the other to study the in vitro disappearance, degradability and rumen fermentation characteristics of various experimental feeds in Rumen Simulation Technique (RUSITEC). In animal study, eighteen early lactating cross bred cows within 20 days of lactation were selected and grouped into three as uniform as possible with regard to their age, body weight, parity, previous milk yield and stage of lactation. They were randomly allotted to the three dietary treatments T1, T2 and T3. The control concentrate mixture and paddy straw formed the T1 ration. The animals of T2 and T3 were fed with experimental concentrate mixture containing 25 per cent brewery waste (on DM basis) and paddy straw as roughage. In T2, the brewery waste was fed separately on wet basis, while in T3, the brewery waste to be incorporated in the concentrate mixture was treated with required quantity of paddy straw, three days before feeding. A feeding trial was carried out for a period of 60 days. There was no significant difference (P>0.05) in body weight and average daily dry matter intake (DMI) of experimental animals among the treatment groups T1, T2 and T3. The animals maintained on the three dietary treatments T1, T2 and T3 showed an average daily milk production of 8.03, 10.14 and 11.09 kg, respectively during the 60 day period of the experiment. The milk production was significantly increased (P<0.05) from fourth week onwards in brewery waste fed groups (T2 and T3) when compared with control (T1). The cost of feed per kg milk produced was lower in animals maintained on T2 and T3 rations (Rs. 7.89 and 8.37, respectively) than those fed control ration (Rs. 10.40). The brewery waste feeding did not affect milk composition such as percentage of total solids, milk fat, solids not fat (SNF) and milk protein and milk urea nitrogen (MUN). The four per cent FCM yield and total yield of milk fat and protein remained unaffected by brewery waste incorporation. Animals in all the three groups showed similar blood parameters such as haemoglobin, plasma glucose, plasma urea nitrogen (PUN) and plasma calcium and phosphorus. The MUN and PUN concentrations were significantly higher (P<0.05) in T2 at 60th day than that of T1 and T3. There was no significant difference (P>0.05) in rumen fermentation parameters, such as ruminal pH, NH3-N and TVFA concentration of the animals fed three experimental diets T1, T2 and T3. There was no significant difference (P>0.05) in apparent digestibility of DM, OM, CP, EE, NFE, ADF, cellulose and gross energy among the three treatment rations. Brewery waste fed groups (T2 and T3 ration) recorded significantly higher apparent digestibility of CF and NDF (P<0.05) and hemicellulose (P<0.01) than those fed control diet. An in vitro experiment was conducted to study the disappearance, degradability and rumen fermentation parameters such as pH, total gas production, CO2 production, NH3-N and TVFA and their fractions such as acetate, propionate, isobutyrate, butyrate and valerate concentration of experimental feeds incubated at different incubation periods in RUSITEC. The following experimental feeds were incubated in the RUSITEC, 1) control feed; 2) experimental feed (75%) + fresh brewery waste (25%) (EFFBW); 3) experimental feed (75%) + dried brewery waste (25%) (EFDBW); 4) fresh brewery waste (FBW); 5) dried brewery waste (DBW); 6) paddy straw (PS) and 7) brewery waste incorporated paddy straw (BWIPS). Among the feeds experimented in RUSITEC, disappearance was more in the control feed, EFFBW and EFDBW when compared to other experimental feeds. Similarly, the disappearance was more in BWIPS compared to paddy straw. The in vitro DM, CP, CF, NDF, ADF, hemicellulose and cellulose disappearance rate at all incubation periods were higher for FBW than those for DBW. The control feed, EFFBW and EFDBW had higher ‘a’ and ‘b’ fractions, rate of degradation ‘c’ and in vitro effective degradability of DM and CP than other experimental feeds such as FBW, DBW, PS and BWIPS and paddy straw showed the lowest. The BWIPS showed higher in vitro effective DM and CP degradability compared to paddy straw. The FBW showed higher DM and CP ‘a’ and ‘b’ fractions, rate of degradation ‘c’ and effective degradability than DBW. A low in vitro DM and CP disappearance of 33.24 and 30.75 per cent, respectively were recorded at 72 hours of incubation (effective DM and CP degradability of 30.59 and 28.64 per cent, respectively), whereas the BWIPS had improved in vitro DM and CP disappearance of 42.25 and 38.36 per cent, respectively, at 72 hours of incubation (effective DM and CP degradability of 39.93 and 36.32 per cent, respectively). The data on in vitro rumen fermentation characteristics indicated that during initial incubation periods (2, 6, 12 and 24 hours), the control feed, EFFBW, EFDBW and FBW showed higher in vitro gas production than other experimental feeds, whereas, during later incubation periods (48 and 72 hours), DBW, paddy straw and BWIPS showed higher in vitro gas production than other experimental feeds. Almost similar in vitro CO2 production and pH were recorded at all periods of incubation in seven experimental feeds incubated in RUSITEC. The FBW showed the highest in vitro NH3-N production at all incubation periods, followed by control feed and EFFBW. The paddy straw had the lowest NH3-N production at all incubation periods compared to other experimental feeds. However, the BWIPS showed slightly higher NH3-N production at all incubation periods than paddy straw. The EFFBW and DBW were intermediary NH3-N production at all periods of incubation compared to other experimental feeds in RUSITEC. The TVFA concentration was comparatively higher in control feed, EFFBW and EFDBW at all periods of incubation than the rest of experimental feeds. The FBW had higher TVFA concentration than DBW in later incubation periods (12, 24, 48 and 72 hours). The EFFBW had higher TVFA concentration during initial incubation periods (2, 6 and 12 hours) than DBW, whereas the DBW had higher TVFA concentration during later incubation periods (24, 48 and 72 hours). During initial incubation periods (2, 6, 12 and 24 hours) all the experimental feeds showed higher acetate concentration than later incubation periods (48 and 72 hours). The EFDBW showed the highest acetate, propionate and iso butyrate concentration (349.64, 266.54 and 90.63 mmol/l, respectively) at 24 hours of incubation, compared to other experimental feeds. The paddy straw and BWIPS showed lower acetate and propionate concentration at all incubation periods. From the RUSITEC experiment, the effective CP degradability of paddy straw, control concentrate mixture and experimental concentrate mixture (containing 25 per cent brewery waste) were 28.64, 53.97 and 52.37 per cent, respectively. The average daily RUP intake of the animals of three experimental groups T1, T2 and T3 calculated using the effective degradability values were 0.68, 0.71 and 0.72 kg, respectively and the values are higher than the NRC (2001) recommended requirement of 0.50 kg RUP per day for early lactating cows producing 15 kg of milk. Inclusion of brewery waste at 25 per cent (DM basis) in concentrate mixture in a paddy straw based diet resulted in significantly improved milk production as well as digestibility of crude fibre, NDF and hemicellulose in medium yielding cows in early lactation. The cost of feed per kg milk produced was reduced by 24 per cent by incorporation of brewery waste at 25 per cent level in concentrate mixture (DM basis) in early lactating crossbred cows producing about 10 kg milk per day.ThesisItem Open Access Genetic analysis of resistance to pod borers and yield in yard long bean(Vigna unguiculata subsp.sequipedalis(L.) verdcourt)(Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2009) Jithesh, V G; KAU; Radhadevi, D SYard long bean [Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis (L.) Verdcourt] known as asparagus bean or vegetable cowpea is one of the important vegetable crops grown in Kerala. The long tender pods are highly nutritious containing carbohydrate, minerals, fibre, calcium, phosphorus, iron and many vitamins. Infestation by pod borers Maruca vitrata (Fab.) and Lampides boeticus (Linn.) which are the most important post-flowering pests of yard long bean. This research programme was carried out at the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, College of Agriculture, Vellayani during 2006-2008 with the objective to study the genetic basis and inheritance pattern of important quantitative and qualitative characters for resistance to pod borers and yield and to formulate a suitable breeding programme for developing varieties resistant to pod borers and with high yield in yard long bean. Fifty genotypes of yard long bean collected from different parts of Kerala were evaluated adopting randomized block design with three replications. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences for almost all the characters. High GCV was observed for pod length, pod weight, pods per plant, pod clusters per plant, pod yield per plant and 100-seed weight, which indicate that there exists high genetic variability and better scope for improvement of these characters through selection. The characters pod clusters per plant, pods per plant, pod yield per plant, pod weight, pod length, seeds per pod and 100-seed weight had high heritability coupled with high genetic advance. In the present study high heritability and low genetic advance was noted for pod breadth and seeds per pod. Yield per plant showed strong positive correlation with pod weight, pod length, pod breadth, seeds per pod and 100-seed weight. The characters pod weight, pods per plant, 100-seed weight, seeds per pod and pod clusters per plant had positive direct effect. Mahalanobis D2 analysis clustered the 50 genotypes in to nine groups. Maximum divergence was shown between the clusters I and VI. Among the seven characters considered pod yield per plant contributed maximum towards divergence. Selection indices were computed based on yield and yield related traits, five genotypes viz; Trailing Red Poded (L1), NS 621 (L2), Ettumanoor local (L3), Vellayanai local (L4) and Palakkad local (L5) with high yield were selected as female parents in the line x tester analysis. The same fifty genotypes were screened for various damage parameters of pod borers by using randomized block design with two replications. All the damage parameters exhibited remarkable variability with respect to different genotypes. Based on all the damage parameters three genotypes with low plant resistant indices namely Kurappunthara local (T1), Kanichar local (T2) and KMV-1 (T3) were selected as testers in the line x tester analysis. Significant variability was present for different morphological and biochemical characters among the 50 genotypes. High coefficient of variation was noticed for number of trichomes on pod wall. High heritability was noticed for all the characters except crude fibre content. The characters peduncle length, trichome number and protein content of pods showing high genetic advance. In line x tester analysis L1 showed high values of gca effect for pods per plant, seeds per pod, pods per cluster, 100-seed weight and pod length. Among the testers T1 showed significant negative gca effects for all the damage parameters for pod borers. In morphological and biochemical traits line L3 showed positive gca effect for peduncle length, trichome number and protein content of pods but L1 for leaf chlorophyll content. Tester T1 showing positive gca effect for all the morphological and biochemical traits. Based on specific combining ability, the crosses L1 x T1, L3 x T1 and L5 x T1, showed maximum sca for yield attributes and minimum for damage parameters. Many of the crosses showed significant positive sca effects for most of the morphological and biochemical traits. The crosses L1 x T1, L3 x T1 and L5 x T1 exhibited significant positive estimates with high magnitude of yield attributes and morphological and biochemical traits indicating considerable heterosis with respect to the important yield characters. Further the relative and standard heterosis exhibited significance in the negative direction for all damage parameters. This results leads to the conclusion that low relative performance of pod borers larvae in these crosses may be due to its trichome number, protein content of pods, leaf chlorophyll content or fibre content which can offer resistance to pod borers in yard long bean and can form the basis for selection of yard long bean genotypes for pod borer resistance or tolerance. The three superior crosses viz., L1 x T1 (Traling Red poded x Kurappunthara local), L3xT1 (Ettumanoor local x Kurappunthara local) and L5 x T1 (Palakkad local x Kurappunthara local) were utilized for generation mean analysis inorder to detect the gene action with regard to the various traits. Presence of epistasis was tested and subsequently interaction effects viz; additive x additive, additive x dominance and dominance x dominance effects were computed. Significance of scale A and B for most of the characters suggested that the simple additive x dominance model was inadequate for defining the inheritance of these characters. Presence of non-allelic interactions was noticed for days to 50 per cent flowering, primary branches per plant and days to first harvest. Hybridization and selection can be resorted to for improving the character of earliness in this crop. The positive significance of dominance x dominance interactions for pod weight points out that a breeding strategy for improving pod weight should be based on direct selection or hybridization and selection for high pod weight. Presence of all three types of digenic interactions was observed for pods per plant and pod yield per plant. The direction of dominance effect and dominance x dominance interactions suggests the presence of non-allelic duplicate gene action for crop duration, main stem length, pod clusters per plant, pod weight and pod breadth in their expression. For damage measurements additive gene action was significant for all the damage parameters. Additive x dominance gene action was significant for peduncle length. The same direction of dominance gene effect and dominance x dominance interactions is an indication of non-allelic complementary gene action in the expression of this character. For leaf chlorophyll content additive gene action was significant for all the hybrids. The L1 x T1 had positive significance in dominance x dominance epistatic interaction for number of trichomes on pod wall. Predominance of additive gene action in a positive direction was observed for protein content but significant additive x dominance interaction in a negative direction. Additive gene effect was significant for crude fibre content of pods. The positive significance of dominance x dominance interactions points out that a breeding strategy for reducing the fibre content should be based on direct selection or hybridization. The result suggest ample scope of improvement of yield through selection based on the characters pod weight and pod length. The genetic analysis for yield and resistance to pod borers brought to light genotypes which could be used as source of resistance. Two superior crosses in which high yield potential and tolerant to pod borers were identified. Less attack of pod borers larvae to these crosses may be due to high values for any of the two characters namely trichome number or crude fibre content coupled with mechanical barriers with restricts their access to pod surface compared to other crosses. The magnitude and direction of the gene effects underlying the pest damage parameters offers a favourable background for the breeder to develop pod borer resistant/tolerant yard long bean genotypes. Presence of additive, dominance and epistatic interactions for all the characters identified indicated that recurrent selection or recombination breeding can be followed for future breeding programmeThesisItem Open Access Biopotency of Indian privet, Vitex negundo Linn. (Verbenaceae) against Spodoptera litura fab. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) and Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata Fab. Ccoleoptera: Coccinellidae)(College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2009) Deepthy, K B; KAU; Sheela, M KThe present investigations on “Biopotency of Indian privet, Vitex negundo Linn. (Verbenaceae) against Spodoptera litura Fab. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) and Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata (Coleoptera: Noctuidae) were carried out in the Department of Agricultural Entomology, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara during 2005-2008. The objectives of this study were to screen the different parts (leaf, shoot and flower) of V. negundo for its biological efficiency with different solvent extracts against S. litura and H. vigintioctopunctata and to test the V. negundo extracts for their biological responses as with ovipositional deterrency, ovicidal action, antifeedancy, morphogenic effects and reproductive inhibition against the test insects. Experiments were also conducted to assess the potency of V. negundo extracts in combination with different entomopathogens. Screening experiments revealed that among the different parts viz., leaves, shoots and flowers of V. negundo, leaves showed significant bio response against S. litura and H. vigintioctopunctata. Methanol and hexane extract of leaves of V. negundo at six per cent resulted in maximum mortality of S. litura and H. vigintioctopunctata. V. negundo extracts with methanol (6%) indicated significant ovipositional deterrency with 94.02 and 100 per cent reduction in egg laying of S. litura and H. vigintioctopunctata respectively. Methanol extract (6%) proved as an efficient ovicidal agent against S. litura. Against H. vigintioctopunctata acetone aqueous extracts showed pronounced ovicidal action at lower concentration of four per cent resulting in cent percent reduction in hatching. Studies on growth and developmental effects of V. negundo extracts revealed that methanol and acetone extracts resulted in maximum reduction in pupal weight and pupation of S. litura. Delay in moulting of S. litura was observed in different treatments with V. negundo. S. litura reared in treated castor leaves and semi synthetic diet recorded maximum larval duration (19 and 26 days respectively) with acetone (6%) while water extract resulted in greater duration of 17.67 days in banana fed larvae. V. negundo cause no antifeedant action against S. litura and H. vigintioctopunctata. Food consumption and utilization studies on S. litura and H. vigintioctopunctata revealed that V. negundo extracts caused a drastic decline in growth parameters like, Efficiency of Conversion of Ingested Food (ECI) and Efficiency of Conversion of Digested Food (ECD), larval growth and Relative Growth Rate (RGR) thus indicating the inhibitory action of V. negundo on the growth of test insects. All the solvent extracts (except aqueous extract) reduced ECI and ECD against both S. litura and H. vigintioctopunctata proving the potency of V. negundo as an efficient growth inhibitor. Acetone extract (6%) resulted in maximum reduction in RCR of S. litura and H. vigintioctopunctata. Hexane, acetone and methanol extracts caused highest growth inhibition in H. vigintioctopunctata. Correlation studies revealed that there is a highly significant positive correlation of ECI and ECD with RGR both in S. litura and H. vigintioctopunctata. Solvent extracts of V. negundo were found to induce pupal and adult malformations in S. litura and H. vigintioctopunctata. Hexane and methanol extracts caused highest pupal and adult malformations in S. litura larvae. All the solvent extracts (6%) caused significant reduction in longevity and fecundity of both S. litura and H. vigintioctopunctata. Methanol extract was proved to be the most toxic (least LD50 value) against S. litura and against H. vigintioctopunctata, hexane extract showed maximum toxicity. Compatibility studies revealed that methanol extract inhibited growth of both Metarhizium anisopliae and Beauveria bassiana. Combination treatment of methanol extract with M. anisopliae resulted in reduction in mortality of S. litura leading to antagonistic interaction. Combination studies conducted with Bacillus thuringiensis and Nuclear Polyhedrosis Virus (NPV) resulted in enhanced mortality and reduction in Median Lethal Time (LT50). The results of the present study thus indicate the multiple modes of action of V. negundo against insect pests and hence there is good scope of its utilization as an efficient component in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programmes against S. litura and H. vigintioctopunctata.ThesisItem Open Access Documentation and quality evaluation of selected traditional foods of central zone of Kerala(College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2009) Aneena, E R; KAU; Indira, VThe study entitled “Documentation and quality evaluation of traditional foods of central zone of Kerala” was taken up with the objectives of identifying and collecting information on the various traditional foods of central zone of Kerala and documenting their mode of processing, and evaluating quality characteristics of the selected less used traditional foods. The study was conducted in four districts namely Eranakualm, Thrissur, Palakkad and Malappuram comprising the central zone of Kerala. Senior citizens who possess the details of traditional food items and preparations in each locality were selected as the respondents. The respondents were categorised based on the communities they represent. Details of traditional food habits with respect to preference for traditional foods, the reasons for the preference, frequency of preparation of traditional foods, traditional foods prepared during special occasions, festivals/rituals and during physiological conditions and traditional foods included for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks were collected from the selected respondents. Transition that occurred in the traditional food pattern and in the preparation of traditional foods was also collected. Quality evaluation of selected traditional foods was conducted at laboratory level with respect to chemical constituents, acceptability and microbial growth. The foods were packed in suitable packaging materials and stored under different conditions and the quality evaluation of foods was carried out during storage. Majority of the respondents preferred traditional foods due to their health benefits and palatability. Most of the respondents prepared traditional foods for break fast and lunch and also prepared different traditional snack items. Most of the respondents did not prepare traditional health foods at home due to the laborious procedure involved in the preparation and the commercial availability of these products. Respondents belonging to different communities prepared various traditional foods during special occasions, festivals/rituals and consumed traditional foods during different physiological conditions. Most of the respondents included traditional food items for breakfast and lunch. Changes were observed in the traditional food pattern and traditional foods over different years with respect to ingredients, method of preparation and vessels/ utensils used for preparation. The recent trend of food consumerism was portrayed by the increased frequency of eating out habits, purchase of instant mixes and bakery items. From the traditional food items collected, twelve traditional foods namely inderiyappam, kala kala, kaliyadakka, karinellikka, madhura puttu, manda, muttayappam, niracha pathiri, paniyaram, poruvelangai, rankayyan and vishu katta and three beverages namely, cherunaranga then vellam, inji paneeyam and paanakam which were least used, nutritionally viable and organoleptically acceptable were selected and replicated under laboratory level. Quality evaluation of these foods was conducted initially and during storage. Evaluation of the chemical composition of the traditional foods showed that most of the traditional foods are rich in certain macro and micro nutrients. Organoleptic evaluation of the replicated foods indicated that most of the traditional foods were acceptable to the younger generation. The replicated traditional foods were packed in suitable packaging materials and stored under ambient or ambient and refrigerated conditions for different intervals. Among the different replicated foods inderiyappam, muttayappam, niracha pathiri, rankayyan and vishu katta were highly perishable and could be stored only for a day. The quality attributes of paanakam, cherunaranga then vellam and inji paneeyam also decreased considerably during storage. From the present study, it was found that the selected traditional food items could be replicated under the prevailing conditions without change in their quality aspects. Hence, these technologies should be popularised as an attempt to conserve the traditional cuisines of Kerala.ThesisItem Open Access Enhancement of in vitro propagation efficiency and induction of polyploidy in orchids(College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2009) Priyakumari, I; KAU; Sabina, George TStudies were conducted at the Department of Pomology and Floriculture and theDepartment of Plant Biotechnology, College of Agriculture, Vellayani during 2005 - 2008 to enhance the in vitro propagation efficiency and induction of polyploidy in orchids. Commercially important Dendrobium cultivars such as Rungnappa Red, Miss Snow White and Earsakul were selected for the present study. The effects of explant, plant growth regulators, basal culture medium and media supplements during various stages of in vitro propagation were studied. The effect of colchicine in inducing polyploidy under in vitro condition was also studied. Stem nodal explants from kiekies were identified as the best explant for the initial culture establishment of the selected Dendrobium cultivars. Varietal difference in response to plant growth regulators and media supplements was significant among the three cultivars. Half MS medium was found the best basal medium with respect to earliness in bud initiation as well as maximum number of shoots produced. Half MS medium supplemented with kinetin 2.0 mg l-1 + NAA 0.1 mg l-1 gave early bud initiation in cv. Rungnappa Red where as the combination of kinetin 1.0 mg l-1 + NAA 0.1 mg l-1 gave early bud initiation in cv. Miss Snow White. In cv. Earsakul, BA at 4.0 mg l-1 gave early bud initiation. In multiple shoot production stage, in cv. Rungnappa Red, BA 1.0 mg l-1 + NAA 0.1 - 0.5 mg l-1 gave maximum number of shoots. In cv. Miss Snow White maximum number of shoots were observed in BA 0.5 mg l-1 + NAA 0.5 mg l-1 and in cv. Earsakul maximum number of shoots were observed in kinetin 2.0 mg l-1 + NAA 0.1 mg l-1. CW at 200 ml l-1 was found superior with respect to early bud initiation and maximum shoot production in all the three varieties. CH at 1000 mg l-1 gave maximum shoot production in cv. Earsakul. Sucrose at 60.0 g l-1 recorded maximum number of shoots in cv. Rungnappa Red while sucrose at 30.0 g l-1 recorded maximum number of shoots in cv. Miss Snow White. Activated charcoal at 0.5 g l-1 was found beneficial in all the three varieties. The effective concentration of polyamine, spermine for maximum shoot production was at 1.0 mM, 0.5 mM and 1.0 mM in cvs. Rungnappa Red, Miss Snow White and Earsakul respectively. The effective concentration of polyamine, spermidine for maximum shoot production was at 1.0 mM in cvs. Rungnappa Red and Miss Snow White. The optimum concentration of steroid plant growth regulator 28- HBL, that gave maximum shoot numbers in cvs. Rungnappa Red, Miss Snow White and Earsakul were 0.5 mg l-1, 2.0 mg l-1 and 4.0 mg l-1 respectively. Early root initiation in cv. Rungnappa Red as well as in cv. Miss Snow White was observed at 0.5 mg l-1 IBA, and in cv. Earsakul, at 0.5 mg l-1 NAA. The planting out media comprising charcoal and brick pieces in equal proportion gave maximum survival rate in all the three varieties. Shoots regenerated from 0.1 % colchicine treated stem nodes of Miss. Snow White for 5 days were observed to have unusual morphology characterized by slow growing shoots with reduced internodes and thicker and greener leaves.ThesisItem Open Access Entrepreneurial effectiveness of agripreneurs in Kerala(College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2009) Gopika, Somanath; KAU; Seema, BThe study entitled ‘Entrepreneurial effectiveness of agripreneurs in Kerala’ was undertaken with the major objective of measuring the entrepreneurial effectiveness of the agripreneurs in Kerala, their socio-personal characteristics, the economic dimensions of the enterprises as well as the extent of possession of the entrepreneurial attributes by the agripreneurs. The study also aimed at inventorizing the agripreneurs operating in the selected districts of the state. The research project was undertaken in the Kasargod, Thrissur and Thiruvananthapuram districts of the state. From each district 60 agripreneurs comprising 20 on-farm agripreneurs, 20 off-farm agripreneurs and 20 commercial farmers were selected. Thus a total of 180 agripreneurs selected from the three districts constituted the sample for the study. The data collected was statistically analyzed using arithmetic mean, percentage, correlation, analysis of variance and principal component analysis. The inventory of the agro-enterprises prepared for the selected districts revealed that the on – farm agri-business activities such as mushroom cultivation, floriculture, apiculture, ornamental fish culture, and the animal based enterprises were found to be more predominant in the Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur districts while sericulture was more popular in the Thrissur and Kasargod districts. Nursery production was a principal agri-business activity in the Thrissur district and the number of nurseries in the district largely out numbered those in the other two districts. Among the off-farm agri-business activities, the food related processing units, the mat weaving units, the jute products units, the palm spathe products units and the paper bag units were found to be more concentrated in the Thrissur district followed by the Thiruvananthapuram district while the beedi making units were found to be more predominant in the Kasargod district. The commercial farmers were found to be more or less evenly distributed in the three districts with the commercial tobacco and areca nut farmers being restricted to the Kasargod district. The study revealed that the off-farm agripreneurs were entrepreneurially the most effective category followed by the on-farm agripreneurs and the commercial farmers who were found to be on almost on par in their effectiveness. The district-wise and category-wise comparison of the six sub-dimensions of entrepreneurial effectiveness namely production management effectiveness, finance management effectiveness, marketing management effectiveness, labour management effectiveness, risk management effectiveness and time management effectiveness revealed that majority of the respondents in all the categories in case of each sub-dimension belonged to medium effectiveness category. The on-farm agripreneurs, off-farm agripreneurs and commercial farmers exhibited significant differences in their effectiveness only in case of marketing management effectiveness and risk management effectiveness where as significant difference was observed between the agripreneurs belonging to the three districts in case of the possession all the six sub-dimensions of entrepreneurial effectiveness. The district based categories of the agripreneurs exhibited significant differences in their overall entrepreneurial effectiveness scores while the activity-based categories of agripreneurs exhibited no significant differences in their entrepreneurial effectiveness. The Principal Component Analysis of the six sub-dimensions of entrepreneurial effectiveness indicated that the first principal component accounted for the largest percentage variance in the entrepreneurial effectiveness scores of the agripreneurs with the largest magnitude of variation contributed by the sub-dimension viz. ‘Market management effectiveness’ followed by ‘Production management effectiveness’ and ‘Finance management effectiveness’. Thus it was deduced that it is the effectiveness of the agripreneurs in the management of the market for their produce which largely determine their effectiveness in the business followed by their effectiveness in the management of production and finance. Analysis of the relationship between the socio-personal variables and the entrepreneurial effectiveness of the agripreneurs revealed that age of the agripreneurs was negatively correlated with the entrepreneurial effectiveness of the agripreneurs, indicating that the agripreneurs belonging to the younger age groups were entrepreneurially more effective. The variables such as education, annual income, social participation, extension contact, mass media exposure, and the diversification of the agri-business activities were found to have positive and significant correlation with the entrepreneurial effectiveness of the agripreneurs, while the training received was found to have no significant relation with the entrepreneurial effectiveness of the agripreneurs since majority of the entrepreneurs in all the three categories received no training in relation to their enterprise activities. The correlation between the possession of the entrepreneurial attributes by the agripreneurs and their entrepreneurial effectiveness revealed that the possession of all the entrepreneurial attributes studied namely achievement motivation, self confidence, personal resourcefulness, attitude towards self employment, internal locus of control, risk orientation, economic opportunism, innovativeness, market perception and strategic visioning were positively and significantly correlated with the entrepreneurial effectiveness of the agripreneurs. The most important constraints faced by the on-farm and off-farm agripreneurs in their decreasing order of importance are the high cost of the inputs, the difficulty in securing credit and the shortage of labour and high wage rates occupying the first three ranks respectively. In case of the on farm agripreneurs the other major problems were the lack of storage facilities and the exploitation by the middle men while in case of the off-farm agripreneurs the constraints securing the fourth and the fifth ranks were the exploitation by the middle man and the lack of adequate training facilities. The commercial farmers also rated the high cost of inputs as the most important constraint followed by the labour shortage and the ever increasing wage rates, the difficulty in securing credit, the constant fluctuations in the market prices of the produce and the incidence of pests and diseases in the crops. Some of the important suggestions for improvement of the agri-business in the state includes fostering linkages between the institutions undertaking research and development activities in agriculture with the farmer’s organizations thereby ensuring them better technical back up, putting the credit systems in place, ensuring the availability of good quality inputs at reasonable costs, popularization of simple, affordable and durable post-harvest technologies for use at the farm level, establishment of small-scale collecting, cleaning, pre-cooling, grading and packaging centers in the Panchayats to reduce the post harvest losses and increase the shelf life of the perishables, establishment of contributory chilling and pasteurization plants at the village level, formation of self-help groups by the farmers for the preparation of value added products and undertaking group marketing of the products, ensuring better insurance cover for the farmers, linking the farmers co-operatives with the district or state co-operatives, to ensure better access to market intelligence, introducing facilities for grading, standardization and branding of the agricultural commodities to increase the consumer acceptance and providing incubation facilities for the processing and value addition of the agricultural produce, with suitable agencies for use by the resource poor agripreneurs.