About Us
The Kerala Agricultural University is the primary and principal instrumentality of the State of Kerala that provides human resources, skills and technology required for the sustainable development of its agriculture through conducting, interfacing and integrating education, research and extension. The College of Horticulture is a premier institution for higheragricultural education in the central part of Kerala, established as a constituent academic institution of Kerala Agricultural University. Ever since its inception, the College of Horticulture has been providing high quality professional education as evidenced by the consistently brilliant track record of the students in various national competitions.
The College of Horticulture is situated in the main campus of Kerala Agricultural University, at Vellanikkara in the Madakkathara Panchayat of Thrissur district. Thrissur, known as the cultural capital of Kerala, finds a pride of place in the tourism map of the country as the land of temples and "Pooram".K.A.U.islocated almost in the middle of the State on the National Highway (NH 47) at about 13 km from the Thrissur Railway Station and 50 km from the International Airport, Kochi. The College of Horticulture is easily accessible by road, rail and air. The geographical co-ordinates of the college are 100 32' N and 760 16' E with an altitude of 22.5m above MSL (Fig. 1.1).The area enjoys a warm humid tropical monsoon climate and thesoil is sandy loam with pH of 5.1
Historical Background
Kerala is known to the world as the cradle of plantation crops, spices and medicinal plants. Bordered by the Western Ghats on the east and Arabian Sea on the west, it enjoys an undulating topography ranging in altitude from below the Sea level to 2694 m above the MSL. The variations in topography coupled with differences in edaphic and biotic factors create a rich biodiversity. With diverse climate and soil, it has high potential to raise many crops of horticultural importance. Out of the total cropped area of 30, 21,224 ha, horticultural crops occupy 77 per cent. Horticultural crops contribute 85 per cent of the state's agricultural economy. Kerala is the leading producer of horticultural crops like coconut, cardamom, black pepper, cashew and rubber and an array of tropical fruits and vegetables. It also provides a mammoth share to the country's foreign exchange earnings through export of different horticultural produces. ln the field of agricultural research and education, little importance was given to horticultural crops. The syllabus for B.Sc. (Ag) course of sixties did not give adequate importance to horticultural crops. Considering the importance and potential of horticulture in the state, the need for starting undergraduate programmes in horticulture and producing graduates with a sound knowledge was strongly felt. Thus the College of Horticulture was established on 28th October l972 in the Mannuthy campus of the Kerala Agricultural University with the main objectives of starting graduate programme in horticulture and strengthening research and extension activities in horticultural crops. The college was shifted to the new academic buildings at the main campus of the University at Vellanikkara during March 1978; B.Sc. (Hort) degree programme was started with an intake of 20 students during 1972. The intake capacity was subsequently increased to 40. The B.Sc. (Ag) programme was also introduced in the college from 1977 with an intake of 50 students, which was subsequently raised to 90. Later, it was felt that instead of two separate undergraduate programmes in Horticulture and Agriculture, one programme with a unified syllabus giving due importance to horticulture was ideal for the State. In 1980-81, the B.Sc. (Hort) degree programme was discontinued and B.Sc. (Ag.) degree programme with unified syllabus was started. At present, the annual intake capacity for B.Sc. (Ag.) is 59 students. Post graduate programmes were started in six disciplines in 1976. From 1979 onwards, Ph.D. programmes also commenced. Subsequently, M.Sc. programmes were started in eight more disciplines. Though the undergraduate programme in horticulture was discontinued, post graduate programmes were strengthened with the formation of four statutory departments viz. Olericulture, Pomology & Floriculture, Plantation Crops & Spices and Processing Technology. During 2003-04 PG programme was initiated in Plant Biotechnology for admitting students selected through national entrance examination conducted by JNU.
Institutional Growth
From the humble beginning with an initial intake capacity of mere 20 undergraduate students in a small building in the Veterinary College campus, the College of Horticulture has undergone spectacular growth over the years and attained the status of a premier institution of advanced learning in Central Kerala offering undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral degree programmes in all major branches of agriculture. There was a steady growth in the number of graduates and post graduates who passed out of the college over the years.
So far the college has produced:
Graduates in Agriculture and Horticulture : 1688 Postgraduates in Agriculture, Horticulture, Agricultural Statistics and ,Food Science and Nutrition : 923 Doctorate holders : 138 UG Diploma holders : 359 PG Diploma holders : 77At present, a total of 355 students are on the rolls of the college which include:
Undergraduate students : 236 Postgraduate students : 95 Doctoral students : 24The infrastructure necessary for running the academic and research programmes has been established. Apart from the academic blocks, hostels, staff quarters, department laboratories, field laboratories, library, seminar halls, examination halls, auditorium and stadia, several new facilities such as Computer Centre, Radio Tracer Laboratory, Centre for Plant Biotechnology and Molecular biology, Centre for e-learning, Bio-informatics centre etc. have also been established in the college. In addition to the Instructional Farm having an area of 95.35 ha, the different departments have farms of their own in a total area of 72.24 ha.