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 - 9 of 55

Open Access
Development and quality evaluation of microencapsulated banana pseudostem juice powder
(Department of Food and Agricultural Process Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2016) Saranya, S; KAU; Sudheer, K P
Banana pseudostem, often discarded after the harvest of bunch is very good for health. Its disposal in the field lead to unhygienic surroundings and environmental pollution. Juice from banana stem is a well-known remedy for urinary disorders. But the major problem associated with the pseudostem juice is its perishability and immediate browning reactions which lead to reduction of its acceptability by consumers. Considering these facts, a study was undertaken to obtain powdered products from pseudostem juice. The intention of the study was to develop a process protocol for microencapsulated banana pseudostem juice powder, standardisation of the spray drying parameters, and quality analysis of developed product. Three powder based products were developed from banana pseudostem juice by spray drying technology. Product-I comprised of pseudostem juice-sugar combination with ginger as flavourant. Product-II consists of a blend of banana pseudostem and horse gram with ginger extract. However, the third product from banana pseudostem juice was fortified with milk, horse gram extract and cardamom flavour. The process parameters were optimised as inlet temperature of 180ºC and outlet temperature of 65-68ºC for product-I & II, whereas inlet air temperature of 185°C and outlet temperature of 74-92°C were chosen for Product-III. The feed pump rpm of 15 and main blower rpm of 1800 were kept constant for developing all three products. The physicochemical characteristics, reconstitution and flow properties were determined. Standardised products were stored in aluminium pouches and quality parameters of product-I and II were analysed up to six months at an interval of two months and Product- III was stored up to three months for verifying its stability during storage. Based on quality analysis and sensory evaluation, best samples were selected from product-I, II and III i.e., T6-180°C (15% sugar + 25% maltodextrin + 56% pseudostem juice), T6-180°C (25% maltodextrin + 30% horse gram extract + 43% pseudostem juice), and T12-185°C (50% milk + 30% horse gram extract + 20% pseudostem juice), respectively. Cost analysis of the products was done and cost of production of one kilo gram was estimated as Rs.195/-, Rs.208/- and Rs.243/- for product I, II and III, respectively.
Open Access
Development and evaluation of a jackfruit peeler cum corer
(Department of Food and Agricultural Process Engineering , Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2016) Hareesha Shidenur, T; KAU; Santhi Mary, Mathew
India is the largest producer of jackfruit followed by Bangladesh and Thailand. Kerala, which lies in the southernmost part of Western Ghats, is well known for its diversity in jackfruit with cultivated area of 90,225 ha and production of 294 million fruits per year. Peeling, coring and bulb separation of jackfruit are time consuming, causes drudgery and very tedium in manual operation. However, a major chunk of the production is wasted due to lack of post-harvest technological interventions, andhence jackfruit isconsidered as underutilized fruit. The present study aims at development and evaluation of a jackfruit peeler cum corer machine. The principle operation of the machine is, as the jackfruit rotates peeling was done helically due to the linear motion of the blade from bottom to top. Similarly cutting-coring operation was performed by screw mechanism which pressed the core removing tool against the fruit and cut into four portion. Finally bulbs were separated manually. Performance evaluation of the machine was conducted in the laboratory to optimize the speed of fruit holder (90, 120 and 150 rpm) and corer pulley (110, 130 and 150 rpm) with three size of jackfruit, by considering the minimum processing time and bulb wastage with higher efficiency. The peeling operation at optimized speed (90 rpm) showed minimum bulb wastage for small (7.85%), medium (7.24%) and large (6.20%) sized fruits with high peeling efficiency of 85.27, 83.51 and 80.64% with a trend of increasing operational time of 38.24, 44.58 and 50.34 secrespectively. Similarly coring operation at optimal speed (130 rpm) showed processing time of 16.98, 22.39 and 24.83 sec and high coring efficiency of 92.85, 90.32 and 82.03% with bulb wastage of 10.337, 7.81 and 6.09% respectively. The average power consumption of optimal operational speeds for medium size jackfruit with load was found as 0.0149±0.0029 kWh/fruit whereas in without load condition was found to be 0.0104±0.0007 kWh/fruit. As per the comparative study, the average time taken for peeling, cutting-coring and bulb separation was more (28.8 min/fruit) during manual operation and in case of mechanical operation it was only 13.3 min/fruit. The maximum throughput of machine was 37.5 kg/h, whereas in manual operation 17.36 kg/h. The cost of the machine has been estimated as Rs. 46950/-. The operational cost of the machine was Rs. 52.97/h whereas, in manual operation, it wasRs. 47.5/h. The benefit-cost ratio of the developed machine was 2.32:1 and in case of manual operation, it was2.66:1.
Open Access
Development of an automatic cleaning mechanism for roof water harvesting
(Department of Land and Water Resources and Conservation Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2016) Lakshminarayana, S V; KAU; Sathian, K K
One of the easiest and efficient way of water conservation to solve drinking water scarcity is rooftop water harvesting. However, the technology has some limitations with regard to its purification system. The commonly used sand and gravel filter is very prone to clogging and its cleaning is not an easy job. At the same time, the alternative upward flow mesh filter needs further improvement in cleaning efficiency and some hassle free drain cum back washing mechanism. Hence, a study has been taken up on the upward flow filter system to improve its filtration efficiency and incorporate an automated drain cum back washing mechanism. The study also included the performance evaluation of a first flush system when attached to the inlet side of the micro mesh filter. To evaluate the performance of the filter and first flush, inflow and outflow of the rooftop water samples were analysed for pH, EC, TDS, SAL and TSS parameters. In general, the PH, electrical conductivity, and TDS of the roof water samples were within the drinking water standards and the filter system was found to reduce TDS values. In the case of TSS, mostly the impurities were organic in nature and concentration varied between 220 to 280 mg/l, a level much higher than WHO and BIS standards. The 3 micron mesh filter is removing 100% of the organic TSS impurities. The filtration rate of this filter is about 0.37 lps at a hydraulic head of 1.5 m and hence suites to rooftop rain water harvesting. First flush system showed better cleaning efficiency when attached to the inlet side of the coarser micro mesh filters. Automatic flush developed for the removal of stagnant water with impurities were performing well by removing all the stagnant water and about 92 % of the impurities. It can be concluded that 3 micron mesh filter with automatic flush can function as a near fool proof mechanism for filtering rooftop rain wate
Open Access
Development and optimization of microwave assisted process for extraction of nutmeg mace essential oil
(Department of Food and Agricultural Process Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2016) Nukasani, Sagarika; KAU; Prince, M V
Essential oils which are the volatile components distilled from the aromatic plant materials, have gained importance in cosmetic, therapeutic, aromatic, fragrant and spiritual uses. But the conventional methods of distillation carry the disadvantages mainly concerned with the quality of final product such as loss of some volatile notes, low extraction efficiency and degradation of unsaturated ester compounds through thermal or hydrolytic effects. These processes also requires high extraction times and energy consumption. However, in order to reduce these difficulties microwave energy could be effectively used to mediate extraction of essential oil in place of steam or water heating in order to introduce its inherent advantages. As in the case of microwave heating of food materials, the internal heating of the in-situ water within the plant material by the microwaves leads to the rupture of the glands and oleferous receptacles freeing the essential oil which is then evaporated by the in-situ water of the plant material. The water then evaporated could then be passed through a condenser outside the microwave cavity where it is condensed. This study envisages development of a microwave assisted extraction system for extracting nutmeg mace essential oil. The developed extraction system consists of a microwave cavity, extraction unit, supporting stand and energy meter. In order to evaluate the developed system towards extraction of nutmeg mace essential oil, the process parameters like solid: water ratios of 1:14. 1:10 and 1:6, power densities of 9.6, 14.4 and 19.2 W/g and soaking times of 2, 3 and 4 h which would influence the essential oil yield, extraction time and energy consumption were chosen as independent variables. The physical quality characteristics like refractive index, specific gravity, solubility and colour of essential oil were selected as dependent variables. The optimized conditions of solid: water ratio, power density and soaking time for extracting nutmeg mace essential oil in microwave assisted process was found to be 1: 14, 14.4 W/g and 4 h respectively. Therefore, microwave assisted extraction could be considered as an extraction technique that results in the production of high quality oil in higher quantity in less time with minimum energy consumption.
Open Access
Development and quality evaluation of millet fortified tuber based extruded RTE products
(Department of Food and Agricultural Process Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2016) Seema, B R; KAU; Sudheer, K P
As the eating patterns are changing day by day, snack foods play very important role in the diet of the modern consumer. Extrusion technology has a pivotal role in the snack and ready to eat breakfast food industry. The development of new value added products like pasta and expanded products would enhance their food, and economic value. Such products are more palatable and acceptable to the modern day consumers. So the present study was undertaken to develop ready to cook (RTC) pasta and ready to eat (RTE) expanded products from corn, ragi, rice, atta, elephant yam, purple yam and drumstick. Six combinations of pasta products consists of flour mix containing tuber, wheat, millet flour and a binding agent like guar gum in different proportion. The quality parameters cooking properties (cooking time, swelling power, solid loss and WAR), physical properties (expansion ratio and bulk density) and engineering properties (colour and texture) for various pasta products were determined. Pasta products were packed in 400 gauge LDPE and kept for storage studies up to three months. For development of RTE product, preliminary trials was conducted and based on those trials feed moisture content and screw speed were fixed. The blends of seven different combinations were extruded at temperature of 100, 110 and 120°C at a screw speed of 350 rpm and 17.5% feed moisture content. Considering the results of sensory evaluation, seven combinations were selected out of 21 extrudates. The seven extruded product was evaluated for physical, functional, colour and textural properties. The proximate composition in terms of protein, fat, carbohydrate and total energy were also analysed. The extruded products were stored in aluminium pouches and with nitrogen flushing. The quality parameters (moisture content, water activity, colour and textural properties) of stored RTE products were analysed upto one month with an interval of 15 days. Based on optimization and sensory evaluation, Ragi(25%): Corn(20%): Atta(25%): Elephant yam(10%): Purple yam(15%): Drumstick(3%): Guar gum(2%) i.e., P6 pasta sample and Corn(60%): Elephant yam(15%): Purple yam(20%): Drumstick(5%) (P4T1) RTE product was selected as the best combination out of all combinations under concern.
Open Access
Development of low cost electrostatic spray-charging system for liquid formulations
(Department of Farm Power Machinery and Energy, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2016) Dipak Khatawkar, S; KAU; Dhalin, D
The introduction of electrically charged sprays in agricultural application has become inevitable for better control on droplet transference with reduced drift and increase in application efficiency with less spray chemical requirements. In the present study was under taken to develop an electrostatic induction spray charging system as attachment to powered knapsack mist-blower. A high voltage generator was fabricated on the basis of Cockcroft-Walton voltage multiplier principle with input of 6 V DC battery to provide high voltage required at the developed charging electrode assembly (Model III, Model IV and Model V) for inducing electrostatic charge on spray droplets. As the existing (Model I) and redesigned (Model II) nozzle failed to give fine atomization, a self-atomizing hydraulic nozzle was developed for delivering the droplet spectrum required for effective electrostatic charge induction. The three working models (III, IV and V) were evaluated for charge to mass ratio (mC.kg-1) at five electrode potentials (1 kV, 2 kV, 3 kV, 4 kV and 5 kV), four electrode placement positions (0 mm, 5 mm, 10 mm and 15 mm) and five distances (50 cm, 100cm, 150 cm, 200 cm and 250 cm) from the nozzle. Model V with electrode voltage potential at 5 kV and EPP at 5 mm shown the maximum CMR value (1.088 mC.kg-1), followed by Model III (0.888 mC.kg-1) and Model IV (0.777 mC.kg-1) with same combination of variables. In contrast with commercial system (ESS-MBP90) it was observed that except at 50 cm distance from nozzle, Model V (at 4 kV and 5 kV) surpassed commercial system in CMR from 100 cm to 250 cm distance. To avoid air blast injury of plant, the nozzle has to be 100 cm to 150 cm away from the plant. The droplet spectrum of the developed system was analysed and observed that the size of droplets were 100 to 200 μm. The deposition efficiency of the developed system was on par with that commercial unit, and was within the range of 60 to 70 per cent. The developed system found to be cost effective and significantly consistent than the commercial system.
Open Access
Development and Evaluation of a Continuous Cacoa Pod Breaker
(Department of Food and Agricultural Process Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2016) Srikanth Vankayalapati; KAU; Rajesh, G K
Cocoa {Theobroma cacao) is a commercial plantation crop in India. It is the main raw material in the production of chocolates, cosmetics, health drinks, pharmaceuticals etc. The cocoa beans which are embedded in a mucilaginous pulp inside the pod consist of two parts- seed coat and seed cotyledon. Seed cotyledon is the material in which characteristic flavour and aroma produced during fermentation. At present, cocoa pod breaking and bean extraction from crust pod are done manually by using sickle which is a labour intensive method. Manual chopping could increase the number of damage bean which leads to fungal attack. In order to eliminate the drudgery involved in manual cocoa pod breaking, avoid injury to workers, increase efficiency and to ensure high quality products, an attempt was made to develop a continuous cocoa pod breaker. Before the fabrication of machine, the engineering properties of cocoa viz., physical, mechanical and frictional properties of fresh cocoa pod were determined. Physical properties studied were size, shape, mass and density. The mechanical and frictional properties viz., compression test, angle of repose and co-efficient of friction were determined as per the standard procedures. The continuous cocoa pod breaker consists of hopper, metal rollers, chute, rotating cylindrical strainers, frame, prime mover and pulleys. Cocoa fruit was fed manually in to breaker unit through hopper. Gap between the rollers was set so as the cocoa kernels were not damage during the pod breaking process. Tangential force of the roller pushed the cocoa pod towards the gap resulted in breakage. Cocoa pod, kernels and placenta then discharged to strainer through chute. Rotation of strainer separated the cocoa kernels from cocoa pod and placenta, and passed through the pores of the strainer. It was then collected and could be directly send for fermentation process. The broken pods were remained above the strainer and got separated. Performance of the machine was evaluated in terms of capacity, energy requirement, percent bean damage, per cent bean recovery, shelling efficiency and machine efficiency. The average capacity and breaking efficiency of cocoa pod breaker was 550.5 kg/h and 95-98 percent, respectively. Bean damage percentage was 0.5 per cent. The shelling efficiency and beans separation efficiency of the strainer at inclination, 45° 96.42 and 86.5 per cent, respectively. The performance of the developed cocoa pod breaker was compared with traditional method of pod breaking, the total time required to break 100 kg cocoa pods and collect the beans for mechanical and manual method was 10.44 and 50.17 minute, respectively. The field evaluation of the developed machine was done with two cocoa varieties viz., Criollo and Forastero. The performance of the machine was evaluated based on its capacity, per cent bean damage, efficiency of cocoa pod breaker and energy requirement. From the field trail it is understood that, the efficiency of the machine is higher for Criollo variety as compared to Forastero variety. The fermentation studies were conducted in artificial fermentation chamber, poly house and ambient condition and it was compared with three different environmental conditions (ambient, poly house and fermentation chamber). The effects of treatments on dependent variables like temperature, pH. moisture content and microorganisms during fermentation process were studied. In this study, fermentation of cocoa beans on all methods in the artificial fermentation chamber found the best among the other treatments for the production of good quality cocoa. Similarly, the box method was found the best among the other treatments for the production of good quality cocoa. The cost of operation of cocoa pod breaker of 550 kg/h capacity was estimated as Rs.74.42/-
Open Access
Development of Neera Powder using spray drying process
(Department of Processing and Food Engineering, KCAET,Tavanur, 2019) Anjali, A V; KAU; Santhi Mary, Mathew
The Coconut Palm (Cocos nucifera) is one of the most important crops grown in humid tropics, cultivated for its multiple utilities, belongs to Arecaceae family. Since most of the components of coconut palm is getting transformed to useful products, it is referred to as “Tree of life”. Neera is a delicious health drink collected from the immature unopened inflorescence of coconut palm. It is a nector like liquid having slightly alkaline pH and translucent in color. Neera is a rich source of natural sugars, minerals and vitamins and it contains substantial amounts of iron, phosphorus and ascorbic acid. The major difficulty associated with neera production is its natural fermentation. The product undergoes fermentation within 2-3 hours under ambient temperature. Thus the shelf life of the sap is identified as a major issue in the long distance transport of neera. The only solution is the development of neera powder by spray drying technology, so that it will arrest the fermentation by reducing the available water. This study mainly concentrated on development of a process protocol for spray dried neera powder, standardization of the spray drying parameters and quality analysis of neera powder. The neera used in the study was collected from two different sources, CPCRI (Kalparasa) and KAU (Keramrutham). The optimum parameters obtained for Kalparasa powder was 3.53% MD+0.353% GA as feed material combination, an inlet air temperature of 168ºC and 4.25 rpm feed flow rate. Whereas for the Keramrutham powder the obtained optimum condition is 7.58% MD+0.758% GA as feed material combination and 171.89ºC inlet air temperature with 4.82 rpm feed flow rate. The blower speed of 1200 rpm and air pressure 2kg/cm2 were kept constant for developing the products. The physico chemical characteristics such as pH, TSS, Colour, moisture content, and reconstitution properties were determined. The optimally produced products were packed, stored in retort pouches and the quality characteristics such as pH, moisture content, vitamine C, antioxidant activity and phenolic content were also analysed up to 5 months. Both powders showed good acceptance in the sensory evaluation. The cost analysis of the product was done and cost of one kilogram was estimated as Rs 2168.6/-.
Open Access
Soil water balance studies in subsurface drip irrigation for amaranthus
(Department of Land and Water Resources and Conservation Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2016) Neetha Shaju; KAU; Priya, G Nair
Subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) is advanced drip irrigation where the tubing and emitters are buried beneath the soil surface. Field experiment was done at the instructional farm, KCAET, Tavanur. Experiment was aimed to optimize the depth of installation of laterals and spacing between laterals under subsurface drip system. This study also computed deep percolation from different layers with different lateral depths. Soil moisture was taken from different depths and horizontal distance and soil moisture contour maps were plotted. Results showed that moisture content increased with depth from the surface due to less evaporation loss. Also, amount of moisture was found to be decreased with time. Moisture content at the surface layer for 10 cm lateral was 14.5 per cent whereas the same for 20 cm lateral was 11.6 per cent due to surfacing. Moisture distribution pattern was uniform for lateral with 15 cm depth. Maximum values of yield were observed for the treatment T4, and then T1 (which have 15 cm and 10 cm lateral depth respectively). Highest water use efficiency was for treatment T4 with a value of 37.96 kg/ha-mm followed by treatment T1 with 34.6 kg/ha-mm. In statistical analysis, it was observed that, there were significant variations between treatments. Number of leaves was influenced by both spacing between laterals and depth of laterals. Stem girth was varied significantly by spacing between laterals. Both spacing between laterals and lateral depth had remarkable effect on crop height. Deep percolation was relatively less from the surface layers than from the deeper layers in higher lateral depths (i.e., 20 cm lateral depth). From this study, it is evident that treatment T4 (lateral spacing = 95 cm, lateral depth= 15 cm) has showed maximum response while considering moisture distribution, crop yield, biometric properties and deep percolation.

Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur

Browse

Thesis Type

Type

Author

Date

Subject

Search Results