Adiyodi began his teaching career as lecturer at St. Agnes College, Karnataka University, Mangalore (1958–1959).

Adiyodi joined University of Calicut in 1970 where he served as Reader in Zoology (1970 to 1977), Professor of Invertebrate Reproductive Physiology (1977 to 1994), and Dean of Faculty of Science (1988 to 1991).

Adiyodi was Vice-Chancellor, Cochin University of Science and Technology (1994–1996) and was the first Malayali to serve as a member of the Union Public Service Commission of India (1996–2001).

His work “Endocrine Control of Reproduction in Decapod Crustacea” published in Biological Reviews, Cambridge Philosophical Society (1970) was a notable landmark in his scientific career.

It was while attending an international conference on comparative endocrinology in London in the early 1970s that K. G. Adiyodi felt the need to bring all areas of invertebrate reproductive biology into a comprehensive discipline of its own.

His discussions with many like-minded participants at the London conference motivated him to take the initial steps to organize an international symposium dedicated to invertebrate reproduction.

Volume 41, Numbers 1-3 (September 2002) issue of this journal, published by Balaban Press was dedicated to the memory of Adiyodi.

The groundwork for putting together a multi-volume treatise on the reproductive biology of invertebrates was made when the Adiyodis were at Oxford University.

Boullin initiated this project at John Wiley & Sons, Inc. in 1978 and Stephen D. Thornton, helped with its work as Publishing Editor, Life Sciences.

[7] He also served as the President of Deseeya Sastra Vedi (National Science Forum), a similar organization.

Adiyodi's Keralathile Vishapambukal, a book on the poisonous snakes of Kerala was published in the weekly edition of Mathrubhumi in the early 1960s.

Pradhamika Janthusastram written for teaching zoology at the undergraduate level was published by the Kerala Sahitya Academy in 1967.