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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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
Develpment and evaluation of protein enriched RTE extruded food products
(Department of Processing and Food Engineering, KCAET, Tavanur, 2019) Athira, K; KAU; Rajesh, G K
Malnutrition causes major health problems due to qualitative and quantitative insufficiency of dietary protein and calories intake. Protein energy malnutrition is a serious threat especially in children in developing countries. Fortification or combination of two or more food ingredients can make a solution for this nutritional insufficiency to a certain extend. Food products with improved nutritional profile can be produced by blending legumes. Ready to eat food products are plays a major role in modern consumer’s diets. Extrusion cooking is a novel technology adopted by food industries as it is a rapid, continuous and cost-effective process. Therefore, an investigation has been taken up to develop a protein enriched ready to eat food products from rice, ragi, Bengal gram, ground nut and soybean using extrusion cooking. The feed composition selected for the extrusion were 60% rice, 10% ragi, 10% Bengal gram, 10% soybean and 10% groundnut flour and the physico chemical analysis of the feed mix was conducted and recorded. The process variables used in the study were temperature (120,130 and 140°C), moisture content (12, 14 and 16%) and screw speed (300, 350 and 400 rpm). The optimisation of process parameters was analysed using RSM based on the quality characteristics of the extrudates. The optimum operating conditions of extrusion process namely, barrel temperature, moisture content and screw speed was found to be 140°C, 12.20% and 383.96 (384) rpm respectively. The storage studies of optimally produced extrudates were conducted by using different packaging materials (LDPE and laminated aluminum) and packaging technologies (Active and passive MAP). The extrudates packed in laminated aluminum with active MAP had good overall acceptability after three months of storage and they were microbiologically safe. The total production cost of 1kg of extruded RTE product was found to be Rs. 113.29/-.
Open Access
Investigations for the development of electrostatic pollinator
(Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2019) Rinju lukose; KAU; Dhalin, D
The problems in fruit setting with artificial pollination (contact type) can eradicate by the application of electrostatic forces (non - contact pollen collection and deposition), hence the study was undertaken to develop an electrostatic pollinator. Anagha variety of tomato and Preethi variety of bitter gourd were selected. Morphological characteristics of these flowers were studied for design of pollinator. A high voltage amplification unit with flyback transformer and MOSFET, a spherical shaped electrode and a DC input source were the major components of the electrostatic pollinator. The pollen collection capacity of two electrodes E1 (10 mm) and E2 (7.5 mm) were evaluated at voltage potentials of 3 kV, 4 kV, 5 kV and 6 kV at 5 mm, 10 mm and 15 mm distance from the anther tip of flower. The maximum number of pollens (409 for tomato and 2827 for bitter gourd) was collected by electrode E1 with a charging potential of 6 kV at 5 mm distance, both in case of tomato and bitter gourd. This high pollen collection rate was due to high detaching forces acting on the pollen grains at shorter distance between the anther tip and electrode. The pollen collection capacity was minimum (87 for tomato and 1227 for bitter gourd) for electrode E2 with an electrode potential of 3 kV at 15 mm distance. Pollens were deposited into the flower using the two electrodes (E1 and E2) at voltage potential of 1 kV, 3 kV and 6 kV at 5 mm distance from the tip of stigma. The fruit set efficiency of electrostatic pollination in tomato was 80% and artificial manual pollination was 40%. In bitter gourd, fruit set efficiency of electrostatic pollination and artificial pollination was 100%. But damage of stigma during hand pollination caused reduction in size, weight and number of sound seeds.
Open Access
Design development and testing of a power operated paddy hill seeder
(Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2019) Bandi Nageswar; KAU; Manoj Mathew
Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is important leading food crop and it is widely cultivated in India. The farmers are facing problems due to lack of labour, time, inputs cost and also due to drudgery in work. Nevertheless, mechanization in paddy cultivation can boost higher productivity and considerably reduce the cost of production. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to design and develop a power operated paddy hill seeder in paddy cultivation. The power operated paddy hill seeder was developed and tested based on the, engineering and physical properties of dry and pre-germinated paddy seeds. The tests were conducted on sand bed to evaluate the seed metering mechanism performance with respect to spacing, seed rate, quality of feed index, multiple index, miss index, and seed damage at two different forward speeds (1.5 and 1.8 km h-1), two cell sizes and three transmission speeds (1:1.7, 1:1.2 and 1:0.95). The mean hill to hill spacing was ranged from 0.09-0.20 m, 3 to 7 seeds per hill, seed rate of 21-58 kg ha-1. The missing index and multiple indexe were less for the different combinations of study parameters (speed 1.5 kmph, cell size 9 mm, Transmission ratio 1:1.7), (Speed 1.8 kmph, Cell size 9 mm, Transmission ratio 1:1.7) and (Speed 1.8 kmph, Cell size 12 mm, Transmission ratio 1:1.7). The quality feed index were 86.1, 88.6 and 91.1 respectively for above sequence of combinations of study parameters. The average field capacity of the paddy hill seeder was 0.22 ha h-1 and 0.26 ha h-1 with efficiency of 80.00% and 76.00 % for forward speeds of 1.5 and 1.8 kmph respectively. Based on the performance evaluation results, it is concluded that the developed power operated paddy hill seeder is economical and efficient for direct sowing of paddy.
Open Access
Design and development of a multipurpose tool carrier for homestead agriculture
(Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2019) Arya, K T; KAU; Shaji James
Homesteads lack appropriate machinery that suits their diverse requirements. Homestead agriculture warranted an affordable and versatile powered multipurpose tool carrier capable of improving the efficiency of human power. Hence development of a MPTC powered by the engine of a 1.5 kW backpack brush cutter which is commonly available in farming households was under taken so as to avoid the requirement of different implements and power sources for different operations. Main components of MPTC were support frame along with handle, transmission systems with gear reduction units which converted 9340 rpm of the engine to 226 rpm with necessary transmission shafts and transportation wheels. Tools developed as attachments to MPTC were rotary tiller/weeder for vegetable crops, paddy weeding attachment, surface pulveriser cum two-row vegetable weeder, horizontal auger for coconut basin listing and vertical auger for digging pits. The multipurpose tool carrier with its different attachments was tested in fields with moisture contents ranging from 10 to 30%. From the field evaluation of rotary weeding attachment, it was found that the depth of cut was 3-5 cm and the average weeding efficiency was 90.07%. The fuel consumption, field efficiency, average weeding efficiency and average plant damage in the case of paddy weeder were 0.675 l h-1, 66.4%, 71.09% and 4.87%, respectively. Surface pulveriser cum two-row vegetable weeder attachment for row crop vegetables gave an average weeding efficiency of 80.27% with a fuel consumption of 1.64 l h-1 and a field capacity of 0.024 ha h1. Coconut basin lister could make 14-25 shallow basins per hour based on soil conditions. Earth auger could dig 8 pits with a maximum depth of 45 cm and 15 cm diameter. Total cost of fabrication of different attachments with MPTC was Rs.35640/-.
Open Access
Development of automated drip fertigation system using GSM based controller
(Kelappaji college of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2019) Akhila Shiney, P; KAU; Sajeena, S
Lack of sufficient water to grow enough crops for meeting the food demand of the increasing population is the major threat to Indian agriculture. The surface irrigation techniques cause seepage losses, erosion and water logging problems, deep percolation, salinization and runoff. To get satisfactory growth, application of right quantity of water at right time and at right place is very important and this can be accomplished only through micro irrigation techniques. Through automated drip fertigation, we can easily attain the agriculture intensification. The present study was focused on the development of GSM based automated drip fertigation system. In this study, calibration of capacitance type soil moisture sensors were carried out in laboratory for different soil types viz. laterite soil, black soil and costal alluvium soil. Field study was carried out with an Ujwala (KAU) variety of chilli crop under three treatments such as 100 percent irrigation and 100 percent fertigation with automation (T1), 100 percent irrigation and 100 percent fertigation without automation (T2) and 100 percent irrigation and 70 percent fertigation with automation (T3). The automated drip fertigation system consists of four capacitor type sensors, electronic fertilizer injection pump and fertilizer mixing device. Total yield and crop growth parameters showed better performance under 100 percent irrigation and 100 percent fertigation with automation (T1). Combination of 100 percent irrigation and 70 percent fertigation with automation (T3) also gave the good result which was on par with T1. Therefore, it could be concluded that with 30 percent less fertilizer, better performance of crop was obtained with automated drip fertigation system. It could also be shown that the right quantity of water at right time at right place is giving better performance of crop. The developed automated drip fertigation system is cost effective, portable, can perform better in field.
Open Access
Development and evaluation of an automated pulse irrigation system
(Department of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2019) Prasang H Rank; KAU; Vishnu, B
Irrigation sector consumes more than 80% of the fresh water resources in India. The irrigation efficiencies of the major irrigation systems in India are around 40%, increasing of which could save large amounts of water. The irrigation efficiencies could be increased through the adoption of cost-effective and efficient irrigation technologies, which will reduce water demands, increase agricultural production, minimize soil and water pollution and reduce the cost of agricultural production. Drip/Trickle irrigation is a highly efficient irrigation method which could save tremendous amounts of water when adopted in the place of the wild flooding irrigation. Pulse drip irrigation technology enables lower application rates - that will permit sufficient aeration in the root zone and alleviate plant stress due to inadequate root respiration– from an emitter with a higher application rate by intermittent water applications. This study attempted to develop and evaluate a sensor based automated pulse drip irrigation system which is affordable to the lowincome farmers of the nation. The soil properties of the experimental field were used to estimate the parameters of several soil water characteristics curve (SWCC) models. Among the models; van Genuchten (1980) model of SWCC, was found to be the best in representing the soil moisture retention characteristics of the soil used in the study. An open-source electronics platform, the Arduino was used for the development of the automation system using moisture content sensors and solenoid irrigation valves controlled through relays, by writing program coding in the Arduino programming language. The sensors were calibrated to read the moisture content, which was compared to the management allowed deficit (MAD) and field capacity (FC) soil moisture content values to control the start and stop of irrigation water application. Pulse irrigation design methodology was used to derive the ON and OFF time periods for the pulse cycle. The system was programmed to start the water application as per the designed pulse cycle at a moisture content defined by the MAD moisture content and to stop the water application at the field capacity (FC) moisture content sensed by the moisture sensor. The wetting front movements and the soil moisture contents in the root zone were measured at different time 182 intervals of 1 hour, 2 hours and 3 hours after the start of water application using both continuous irrigation and pulse drip irrigation under 2 LPH, 4 LPH and 8 LPH online drip emitters. The soil aeration was also determined for these treatments and was found to be better during the pulse irrigation as compared to the continuous drip irrigation. The pulse irrigation application was also found to be decreasing the deep percolation loss of water. The developed automated pulse drip irrigation system is found to provide the required aeration in the root zone with reduction in deep percolation loss of water.
Open Access
Swat model evaluation using generated data and assessing the impact of land use changes
(Department of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2018) Nethi Naga, Hari Sairam; KAU; Anu Varughese
Land and water are the primary natural resources which are useful for all the living beings on earth surface. Degradation of the land surface and lack of water availability are the two major important problems mankind is facing in this century. In order to overcome these problems, there is a need of effective management of these resources. Watershed models are the tools which are not only useful for the effective management of these natural resources, but also useful for the proper understanding of the hydrological behavior of the watershed. These models play a vital role in simulating the hydrology of the watershed. Among the different categories of the model, a physically based, semi distributed hydrologic model SWAT was used for the assessment of the calibration and validation of the hydrologic model SWAT adapted to the study area. The data scarcity is one of the major problems in the ungauged watersheds. In order to overcome this problem, CFSR (Climate Forecast System Reanalysis) data which is a global, high resolutions, coupled atmoshphere ocean land surface sea ice system is available as an alternative option for solving the data deficiency in the watershed. The land use change also plays a vital role in altering the hydrologic system and has a large impact on the stream flow. This is mainly due to the rapid socio economic development. So, based on the above mentioned problems, SWAT output comparison using CFSR & observed meteorological data as inputs was take up. The impact of land use change on the hydrology of watershed was also studied. The platform used for the study was ArcGIS 10.3 with the Arc SWAT interface. The SWAT model set up was done for the Kunthipuzha river basin and the calibration and validation of the model was also done to make the model suitable for use in the area. This model was later used to understand the hydrologic behaviour of the watershed. The model was simulated for the period 1991 to 2013 for calibration and validation of the model was done using the data for the period 2014 to 2016. Before the model calibration and validation, sensitive parameters were evaluated using SWAT CUP (Calibration and Uncertainty Program). CN2 (Initial SCS runoff curve number for moisture condition II) and ALPHS_BF (Base flow alpha factor) were found to be the most sensitive parameters for the study area. The NSE and R2 before and after calibration were 0.81 & 0.83 and 0.82 & 0.85 respectively. The NSE and R2 for the validation were 0.70 & 0.87 respectively. Based on the statistical measures and the criteria used, the model performance is "very good" in the calibration period and "Good" in validation period. To analyse the possibility of using CFSR data instead on observed meteorological data, the developed model was run with observed meteorological data and predicted meteorological data (CFSR)was done separately without changing any other inputs for the period 1991 to 2013. The NSE, R2 and RMSE for the observed meteorological data were 0.82, 0.85 and 29.25 respectively where ad for the predicted meteorological data (CFSR) the values were 0.70, 0.72 and 37.18 respectively. Based on the statistical measures, the performance of the observed meteorological data is better than the predicted meteorological data. From the graphical analysis, it was clear that the values of predicted meteorological data were highly correlated with the observed meteorological data except at peaks. Hence, CFSR data can be used as a reliable data source in data scarce areas. The land use change impact play a major role in alternating the stream flow because of the rapid socio-economic development. The land use map for the year 2000 and 2017 were prepared. While comparing the land use for the year 200 and 2017 , it is found that the urban areas drastically increased from 3.01 to 20.01 % because of the rapid socio economic development. The forest land reduced from 22.24 to 21.31%. The percentage area under paddy decreased from 17.57 to 6.12 %. The model was simulated for the period from 1989 to 2016 with the two years of warm up period. Then the comparison of simulated discharge for the year 2000 and 2016 were evaluated. The results showed that there is no significant change in stream flow when the land use alone is changed keeping all other factors same.
Open Access
Development and testing of potting mixture Filling machine for filling grow bags
(Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2019) Amal Dev, J; KAU; Jayan, P R
Grow bag cultivation is getting popular in our state due to urbanisation. It necessitated easy method of filling grow bags as per the favourable agronomic conditions for crop growth. A grow bag filling machine was hence developed and tested for filling grow bags of different size. The machine was developed by modifying the KAU manure pulverizer by suitably fixing a collecting hopper beneath the sieve, grow bag holders attached to one leg of the stand for holding different bags and pedal for controlling the filling. The machine consists of an electric motor, a feeding chute, pulverizing drum, transmission unit, rotating blades, sieve and a supporting stand. Materials were pulverized and mixed due to rotations of the blade which caused the cutting and shearing actions and got pulverized in the clearance between the blade and the sieve. The grow bag mixture was discharged through the sieve and got collected in the bottom hopper. A pedal operated valve was inserted into the small hopper to facilitate metered discharge of the potting media. As and when it is allowed to open a metered quantity of the mixture was discharged into the grow bags placed below it. The machine was tested to determine its performance and to optimize the machine parameters and material parameters at different moisture contents of 10,15,20,25 and 30 percent, clearances of 15, 20 and 25 mm, two ratios of soil: coir pith: FYM as 1:1:1 and 1:0.5:1 mixture and for three bag sizes of small medium and large. Dried soil, coir pith and FYM get pulverized, mixed and filled in the grow bags. The properties of grow bag mixtures obtained were found out and were on par with the ideal recommendations. The properties such as water holding capacity (165.02 percent), bulk density (0.493 g.cm-3), porosity (65.43 percent), fineness modulus (5.31), angle of repose (46.66º), pH (6.76), electrical conductivity (2.19 dS.m-1) and uniformity of mixture were observed at the ratio 1:1:1 (S:C:FYM) at the moisture content of 15 percent. Performance parameters such as weight of bags filled (6.18 kg) time of operation (230 s), capacity of the machine (385 kg.h-1), number of bags filled (63) and energy consumption (0.31 kWh for four bags) were obtained with an overall efficiency of 97.70 percent. The cost of grow bag filling machine is Rs.49500. The hourly cost of operation for the machine is calculated as Rs.357. The analysis of the results indicated that the performance of the machine was optimum for filling large grow bags at 15 percent moisture content at the ratio S: C: FYM as 1:1:1 for all clearances.

Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur

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