College of Agriculture, Padannakkad

College of Agriculture, Padannakkad, Kasargod came into existence back in 1994. The college initially commenced its operations in the RARS, Pilicode campus as the 3rd agricultural college of KAU and was later shifted to Padannakkad in 1998.

The genesis of the college was with the aim to instigate and steward agriculture education, research and extension services in Malabar region of Kerala, primarily focussing on the agricultural problems and prospects of the region.   

The erstwhile Coconut Farm (Nileswar III), Padannakkad, under the Department of Agriculture was transferred to the Kerala Agricultural University to initiate the founding of this College. An initial fund of Rs. 1.0 crore was raised by public subscription with much of the support coming from the 1994-95 Kerala Government budget. The current Padannakkad campus became functional in 1998, after the new building was inaugurated by the then Chief Minister of Kerala, Sri. E.K. Nayanar.

With accession of Karuvachery farm in 2019, the college at present has two instructional farms also under its management to cater the needs of the farmers by supplying quality planting materials and other major inputs required for scientific crop production and management.

Education

There are 21 functional departments in the college offering different courses for the Under Graduate, Post Graduate and PhD courses. The first batch of undergraduate students, comprising of 30 students graduated from this college in April 1999. At present, the annual student intake capacity for the undergraduate programme, BSc. (Hons) Agriculture, is 110 (Since 2020 batch). The postgraduate programme in the college started since 2010. At present 12 disciplines are offering MSc programmes and 2 discipline are offering PhD programmes (since 2020). The current strength of students in postgraduate studies is 42, of which 40 are in MSc programme and 2 are in the PhD programme.

In addition to the laboratories attached to the different departments, Agriculture Research and Information System (ARIS) lab for enhancing computer skills of students and Central Instrumentation Lab for carrying out cutting edge researches have been established in the college.

Though the college is relatively younger than its counterparts in Vellayani and Thrissur, the pace at which it has been striding ahead is noteworthy. In the last accreditation assessment of National Agricultural Education Accreditation Board (NAEAB), ICAR in 2019 College of Agriculture, Padannakkad was granted the highest score (3.10) among the other colleges under Kerala Agricultural University.

The college has also possess a strong and lively alumni network spread across different areas of professional specialisation and services, ranging from Agricultural Officers, Professors, Scientists, Bank Officers, Businessmen to Administrative officers in Diplomatic services across the country and abroad. Such a widespread network has helped in increasing the scope for the enhancing long-term value to the institution.

Research

The college serves as research and extension hub catering the needs, addressing the problems and identifying the prospects towards agricultural development of the farmers of the Malabar region. Several research outputs from the college have received significant recognition and acceptance among different stakeholders in the agriculture sector.

Among these, to name a few, are popular and widely adopted technologies like secondary nutrient mixture- Ayar and micronutrient spray- Microsol for soil fertility improvement, Pongamia oil soap for pest management in vegetables, Red ant technology for cashew pest control.

The college is having production units of biocontrol agents like Beauvaria bassina, Metarhizium anisophilae and biofertilizers like Pseudomonas, Trichoderma etc which are supplied year round to farmers through instructional farms.

Extension

The college has conducted more than 70 agri field clinics at various places in Kannur, Kasrgod and Wayanad districts. The clinic offer diagnosis and remedial measures for pest and diseases. The college has a multi-disciplinary diagnostic team which regularly visit farm fields upon intimations from farmers to offer integrated solutions. The scientist serve as resource persons for the farm radio programme of Kisanvani AIR and also for training programmes like mushroom cultivation, bee keeping, nursery management, plant propagation techniques etc. conducted by various agencies/ departments on a continual basis.

The college has also made efforts to collect and compile the indigenous technical knowledge of farmers in North Malabar Region and publish a book entitled “ Utharakeralathile Karshika Nattarivukal” for spreading the scope of these useful practices to the other farming communities.

Yearly Kisan Mela called "Mango Fest" are carried out in the college through active involvement of college union and student community. Myriad farmers and general public spread across the state attend the Mango Fest annually

Library

The college library provides textbooks, reference books and important periodicals in all subjects taught in the college. It is advised that the students should have their own collection of important textbooks. The library is provided with Internet facility and is linked with the University Central Library at Thrissur through VSAT.