Archives of Agriculture and Environmental Science
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Evaluating the parameters influencing agricultural productivity due to the limitations of smartphone-related knowledge among farmers
Get PDFThe use of smartphones has improved individuals significantly in this age of information technology. Yet farmers cannot use this smartphone due to a lack of proper knowledge. Where smartphones could easily be used by farmers to solve their agricultural problems. The aims of the study to improve the daily life of a farmer as well as to gain skills in the use of smart phones. Nine characters have been selected to find out the relation between knowledge of farmers' use of smartphones in agriculture. The data are collected through interviews from 128 farm families from Mymensingh of Bangladesh. A semi-structured questionnaire is distributed for collecting data. Those data were pre-arranged and categorized by using M.S. Excel. Spearman's Rank Order were used to create correlations among the characteristics of farmers. Among the selected farmers 56% have low knowledge and only 3% of farmers have high knowledge about the use of smartphones in the agricultural sector. Among nine characters ages and firm experience have a strong negative significant correlation (-0.548* and -0.541*, respectively). On the other hand, extension media interaction has a strong positive relationship (0.588*). From this output, farmers will be able to gain a complete understanding of smartphones to solve the agricultural problems with proper training and experience
Existing agroforestry practices and their contribution to the socio-economic condition of the people of west Nawalparasi, Nepal: A case study
Get PDFThe modern agroforestry systems have the potential to improve livelihood through the production of food, fodder, and firewood as well as mitigation of the impact of climate change. Therefore, it's high time to study local people's perception towards agroforestry adoption and suggest potential agroforestry practices and their benefits for the upliftment of their livelihood. This research was conducted in Susta rural municipality, Pratappur rural municipality, and Bardaghat municipality of Nawalaparasi (West) district to explore the existing agroforestry practices followed by the people, its contribution to the economy of households, to understand the people's perception/attitude towards its adoption and finally to propose the potential agroforestry practices. Primary data were collected using Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) tools and secondary information through journals and reports. The analysis begins with distinguishing agroforestry systems and practices, preference of trees, benefits through these practices, people's perception, and problems regarding these practices. A total of 39 tree species and 30 food crop species were planted by 282 household people surveyed. Mangifera indica (relative prevalence 25.92%) is the most predominant fruit species whereas Dalbergia sissoo (relative prevalence 21.28%) is the most predominant timber species. It was found that the boundary planting pattern of the agroforestry system is most (40%) used by farmers of Parasi. The result demonstrated that agroforestry aids in the improvement of livelihood. Nevertheless, respondents have experienced increment incidences of pests and diseases to the annual crops and trees. Hence, the provision of training to improve the skills and knowledge of households seem to be the major need to flourish the agroforestry practices
Weight-length, length-length relationships and form factor of three flatfish species from the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh
Get PDFBiometrics such as weight-length relationships (WLRs), length-length relationships (LLRs), as well as form factor (a3.0) were investigated for three flatfish species, Cynoglossus lingua, Cynoglossus arel, and Brachirus pan which were captured using seines and gill nets between September 2021 and March 2022 from the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh. The lengths were measured to adjacent 0.1 cm accuracy with a digital caliper and weights to the accuracy of 0.01 g with a digital balance for each individual. The WLRs were accurately adjusted for all species (r2 > 0.9500). Brachirus pan had the lowest b value of 2.9543, whereas C. arel had the highest b value of 3.2924 amongst the three species. For the investigated species of fish, LLRs were also highly significant (r2 > 0.9600, p < 0.01). The estimated form factor values were 0.0023 for B. pan, 0.0026 for C. arel, 0.0027 for C. lingua. New maximum total lengths for C. arel and B. pan have also been recorded. Since there are no weight-length relationships (WLRs), length-length relationships (LLRs), as well as form factor (a3.0) data for these species in Bangladesh; the information supplied here expands the depth of knowledge for these species
Understanding farmers’ knowledge, attitudes and practices of pesticide use in Nepal: synthesis of a systematic literature review
Get PDFLiterature suggests a deeper understanding of farmers’ knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of pesticide use in agriculture, especially in developing countries, to identify interventions to reduce pesticide use in agriculture. In this paper, we thus performed a systematic review of literature on KAP of farmers on chemical pesticide use in Nepal through a systematic literature search on Scopus web repository published between 2000 and 2021. We got 114 publications initially, and with a well-defined inclusion and exclusion criteria, we finally reviewed 29 articles for data extraction. The results indicate (i) an inadequate KAP of farmers on pesticide use. For example, three in four farmers were found to wash their clothes after pesticide spray. One in four farmers wore boots and only one in ten farmers wore glasses during pesticide spray. Approximately 54% of farmers take a shower after pesticide spray and just one in four farmers bury empty pesticide containers in the soil. Prior studies identified that the lack of awareness and training on the handling practices is the major cause of pesticide misuse; and through formal education and introducing integrated pest management strategies for controlling pests could reduce pesticide misuse. Another notable finding is the lack of KAP theoretical understanding in the prior publications. Many studies in Nepal studied much less on ‘attitude” but much higher on “practice” of pesticide usage. We thus propose a new KAP study framework for future research to understand ground-level behavioral change and improve the effectiveness of the KAP-related programs and interventions
Weed suppressive ability of BRRI released popular monsoon rice varieties
Get PDFDeveloment of weed competitive crop cultivars is an attractive low-cost strategy of integrated weed management program that can reduce the heavy dependence of crop cultivation to chemical herbicides. Hence, to evaluate the weed competitiveness Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) released selected monsoon rice varieties, a field experiment was conducted during July to December 2018 at the Agronomy Field Laboratory of Bangladesh Agricultural University. Thirty-three rice varieties were grown under season long weedy and weed-free conditions. Plots without rice plants were also maintained to investigate the natural growth of weed in absence of rice. The experiment was conducted following randomized complete block design with three replicates. The results showed that rice varieties varied widely in yielding ability and weed competitiveness. Among rice varieties, BRRI dhan31 allowed the minimum weed growth (32.5 g m-2) while BRRI dhan51 allowed the maximum weed growth (155.3 g m-2). Grain yield ranged between 3.6 t ha-1 (BRRI dhan49) and 7.5 t ha-1 (BR10) under weed-free condition and between 2.2 t ha-1 (BRRI dhan70) and 3.9 t ha-1 (BRRI dhan34) under weedy condition. Weed imposed relative yield loss ranged from 10.2 to 66.9% among the rice varieties. BRRI dhan34 allowed the least yield penalty (10.2%) while BRRI dhan70 had the maximum yield penalty (66.9%) due to competition with weeds. Although BR10 appear as the most productive variety (7.5 t ha-1) its weed imposed relative yield loss was higher (51.3%) than many other varieties with low yield potential. On the other hand, BRRI dhan34 appeared as the most weed competitive variety (only 10.2% relative yield loss) with productivity of 3.9 t ha-1. Considering the yield, BR10 was the best but for weed suppressive ability BRRI dhan34 performed well
Adapting agriculture to climate change: A case study of women vegetable producers in rural communities of the Gambia
Get PDFIn Gambia, fruits and vegetable are the principal source of vitamins and minerals plays an important role in food, nutrition and income security of producers. Over the years’ climate change had an adverse effect on production and productivity of vegetables. The aim of the study was to address the problems faced by vegetable producers in relation to change using the climate smart agricultural technologies. The methodology of the study was random sampling administering semi-structure questionnaire, key informant interviews, and focus group discussion among producers. The finding showed that, onion registered 4000kg generating a net income of D196,000.00 followed by sweet pepper with net return of D112,000.00, however cabbage and bitter tomato there was no significant difference. Onion production was found to be the most outstanding commodity grown by women producer based on its comparative advantage. In addition, the second highest income earned was Gengi wollof’s with a net return of D707,616.00 thousand from vegetable production. Based, on the research findings I conclude that, crop diversification and intensification is the most effective and efficient resilient approach to mitigate the effects of climate change while increasing nutrition and income of vegetable producers. Therefore, recommends to government, partners, CSOs, and private sector to strengthening the capacity of women in the process of adapting and mitigating climate change related issues practicing climate smart agriculture
Efficacy of chemical fungicides against the fusarium rhizome rot of Ginger (Zingiber officinale)
Get PDFThe present investigation was conducted to analyze efficacy of different commercially available fungicides against the Fusarium spp. causing rhizome rot of ginger adopting poison food technique. The experiment was carried out in a completely randomized design (CRD) with 8 treatment and 3 replications. The fungicides SAAF (Carbendazim 12% WP + Mancozeb WP 63%), Nativo (Tebuconazole 50% WP + Trifloxystrobin 25% WP), Caviet (Tebuconazole 25% WP), Kingsin M (Thiophanate –methyl 70%WP), Moximate (Cymoxil 8% WP + Mancozeb 64% WP), Custodia (Azoxystrobin 11% SC + Tebuconazole 18.3% SC), Melody duo (Iprovalicarp 5.5% WP + Probineb 61.5% WP) were used as a treatment for poison food technique. The results of this study indicated that there was a highly significant difference (p≤0.001) among the treatments in mycelial growth of the pathogen and inhibition of pathogen by different fungicides. The maximum mycelial growth of pathogen was observed on control plate (79.67mm) which was followed by melody duo and Moximate with the radial mycelial growth of 57.33mm and 55.83mm, respectively. Whereas the least mycelial growth of pathogen was recorded in SAAF (0.00mm) which was followed by Nativo, Custodia, Caviet and Kingsin M with the radial mycelial growth of 10.33mm, 14.83mm, 15.50, 21.83mm, respectively. Therefore, SAAF fully inhibited the growth of pathogen and found most effective which was followed by Nativo, Custodia, and Caviet with 87.04%, 81.40%, 80.55%, respectively
Evaluation of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genotypes for spot blotch (Bipolaris sorokiniana Sacc) resistance in terai condition of Nepal
Get PDFSpot blotch caused by Bipolaris sorokiniana is a major disease of wheat in warm and humid regions of Nepal. The fungus has a worldwide distribution but as a pathogen, it is the most aggressive under the conditions of high relative humidity and temperature associated with the low fertility of soils in Nepal. The yield loss due to the disease is very significant in Nepal. This experiment was conducted to identify the genotypes having a good level of resistance against spot blotch. The experiment set was received from CIMMYT comprises 52 genotypes and arranged in alpha lattice design with two replications in 2017/18 at National Wheat Research Program, Bhairahawa, Nepal, and Regional Agricultural Research Station, Parwanipur, Bara, Nepal. Each plot size was 8 rows of 2 meters long. Three times disease scoring was done in the double-digit method and calculated the Area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC). Other data were analyzed by using R software (4.2.2). Heading days, days to maturity, plant height, number of grains per spike (NGPS), number of tillers per meter square (NTPM), mean AUDPC, thousand-grain weight (TGW), and grain yield were found highly significant. The genotype 8HLBSN47 was found the highest yielder (4996kg/ha) with a 304 mean AUDPC value. Seventeen genotypes (15.3%) found the lowest mean AUDPC, Penultimate leaf AUDPC, Flag leaf AUDPC, and the highest number of tillers per square meter, number of grains per spike, thousand-grain weight, and grain yield
Aquaponics a modern approach for integrated farming and wise utilization of components for sustainability of food security: A review
Get PDFAquaponics is the sustainable approaches of present day’s world for raising fish species along with vegetables in a symbiotic association for sustainable food production. People are facing food crisis not only because of the adverse environmental condition but also due to unbalance environment population ratio. That is the main reason why the entire world is more concerned about the production of more food for security and sustainability. Present day’s modern farming system mainly focus on the productivity increasing technology and in due course individual are utilizing more chemical compounds that result in the degradation of soil. It shows great impact on ecological environment. Most of the cultivable land is also turned out as a site of construction which reduces the cultivable land on earth and ultimately arising the food insecurity. In such a circumstance a new approach of aquaponics might be beneficial where water solely covers the two third of the total mass. Aquaponics is a soilless culture which gained immense popularity as it focuses on organic production of vegetables within a single recirculating aquaponics system. Along with the sustainability it also emphasis economic efficacy and enhancement of productivity. It can be grown used on non-arable lands such as deserts, degraded soil or salty, sandy islands. So, it can integrate livelihood strategies to secure food and small incomes for landless and poor households
Effect of different growing media on growth and yield of leafy vegetables in nutrient film technique hydroponics system
Get PDFThe purpose of this study was to determine the effect of growing media on the growth and yield of leafy vegetables in the Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) of Hydroponic cultivation. This research was carried out for two months (Nov to Dec 2020) in the research house of Wind Power Nepal Pvt. Ltd, located at an altitude of 1310 meters above sea level. The experimental design used in this study was a factorial randomized block design (RBD) with two factors. The first factor was growing media; namely cocopeat, sponge, and perlite. The second factor was crop types namely lettuce and pakchoi that were harvested in 30 days. The data were subjected to the ANOVA technique in R-studio software version 4.0.0 and Fisher’s protected LSD test was used to separate the means. The highest plant yield (12.55 g) was obtained from plants grown in cocopeat in the NFT hydroponics system. The longest plant shoot height (9.69 cm) was obtained from plants grown in the sponge, while the lowest plant shoot height (8.85 cm) was observed in plants grown in perlite. The broadest plant leaf width (5.54 cm) was observed in plants grown in the cocopeat when compared to the sponge (4.93 cm) and perlite (4.32 cm) growing media. The results of this study showed that growing media cocopeat followed by sponge performed better as compared to perlite. The combination of the two factors showed an insignificant result in growth and yield parameters. For the hydroponics cultivation of lettuce and pakchoi, cocopeat followed by sponges should be used as a growing medium for better growth and yield