Archives of Agriculture and Environmental Science
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Farming in the mountains of Nepal: crops, soil fertility, livelihoods and farm-forest linkages
Get PDFIn national plans, policies, and earlier development programs, livelihoods of mountain people in the Nepal Himalayas were overlooked, rendering them more susceptible to climatic risk and disaster. The management of marginal mountain agricultural land is crucial for food security, improved living conditions, and environmental protection. For enhancing livelihoods and ecological benefits, mountain agriculture is vital, however, a consolidated review on mountain farming is limited in Nepal. We used "mountain" AND "Nepal" AND "farming" OR "agriculture" in the literature's title published between 1978 and 2021 on Google Scholar and did an in-depth review of papers on the four thematic areas: mountain crops, soil fertility, livelihoods, and farm-forestry linkages. We observed a variety of nutrient-rich mountain crops with a market potential as niche products, low and deteriorating soil fertility of agricultural lands, a weakening of the farm-forest links, and an increase in the diversity of mountain livelihood choices. Small landholdings, labor outmigration mainly men, feminization of mountain farming, and food insecurity are the greatest challenges to the growth of agriculture in mountainous regions. There are, however, ample opportunities to make mountain regions green through agroforestry and community forests, to improve livelihoods by introducing niche value chains for products, to explore payment for ecosystem services through downstream-upstream linkages, and to recognize their traditional knowledge and practices through citizen science research and development
Assets possession and food consumption level of haor people in a selected area of Bangladesh
Get PDFAssets possession and calorie intake level of a household member reflect the livelihood patterns and food security condition of the household. The study was conducted to analyze the socioeconomic characteristics, identify the assets possession, determine the calorie intake level and analyze the perception of the households’ livelihood improvement. An interview schedule was used in field survey for primary data collection. The DFID approaches of livelihood and the consumption data of haor households of seven days were used in the study. The findings revealed that about 24.61% of the respondents were illiterate, 32.31% respondents were can sign only and 30.77% respondents had primary education, average family size was 9.66, about 51% respondents’ annual income was below Tk.60,000 (US$ 690) and, most of the respondent’s (84.62%) occupation was agriculture and fishing. The human, social, natural, physical and financial capital of the haor respondents was in a vulnerable position. The findings also revealed that about 44.61% of the respondents belonged to the ultra-poor whose per day per person calorie intake was 1350.56k.cal. All of the respondents demanded the improved road and communication facilities which are essential for their livelihood and food security improvement. The haor is being tarnished fast due to mishandling and damaging activities. The government should take necessary steps to improve the road and communication facilities in the haor area which will foster the socioeconomic development of haor people in Bangladesh
Comparative characterization of vegetable oils from bulk suppliers/vendors in Nasarawa town market in Nigeria
Get PDFThe comparative characterization of vegetable oils from bulk suppliers/vendors was made in Nasarawa town market in Nigeria. For this a total volume of 400 cm3 vegetable oils were collected (200 cm3 from the top and 200 cm3 from the bottom of storage after stirring) separately into labeled plastic bottles from three major suppliers. Composite of each sample were made and physicochemical properties including densities, temperatures, boiling points, viscosities, refractive indexes free fatty acid, iodine values, saponification values and peroxide values were determined using standard procedures. The results showed the density of sample ranging from 0.91 ± 0.007 to 0.92 ± 0.007 gcm-3; temperature of sample: 27.3 ± 0.578 to 30.3 ± 1.525 ºC; boiling point of sample 230.7 ± 1.528 ºC to 202 ± 2.000 ºC; viscosity of sample A: 1.03 ± 0.183 to 0.72 ± 0.106 mPa.S; refractive index of sample: 1.47012 ± 0.00002 to 1.45709 ± 0.00005; free fatty acid of sample A: 0.73 ± 0.057 mgKOH/g to 0.6 ± 0.173 mgKOH/g; iodine value of sample: 87.979 ± 5.870 mgKOH/g to 54.144 ± 3.595 mgKOH/g; saponification value of sample: 195.830 ± 0.499 mgKOH/g to 197.846 ± 0.856 mgKOH/g, and peroxide value of sample A: 10.1 ± 0.741 mgKOH/g to 9.9 ± 0.663 mgKOH/g. These parameters were also compared with the standards prescribed by NAFDAC and SON, which suggest that the sampled oil is suitable for consumer use. Thus, processing of vegetable oils from industrial and locally/traditionally extracted vegetable oils and vegetable oils supplied by the three vendors in the Nasarawa town market are hereby recommended as long as the suppliers maintain the standards of production, packaging and handling
Performance of black gram varieties to mungbean yellow mosaic disease at different sowing dates under spring and summer condition in western terai of Nepal
Get PDFA field experiment was conducted at Grain Legumes Research Program (GLRP), Khajura, Banke, Nepal during spring and summer season 2019 to elucidate the effect of date of sowing and blackgram varieties on mungbean yellow mosaic disease severity and yield. The experiment was conducted in 2 factorial randomized complete block design with 3 replications. Factor A comprised date of sowing (S1= 5th April 2019, S2= 20th April 2019, S3= 5th May 2019, S4= 20th May 2019, S5= 25th July 2019, S6= 10th August 2019, S7= 25th August 2019 and S8= 10th September 2019) and factor B (Variety): V1= Khajura Mas 1 and V2= Rampur Mas. Disease severity was scored in 1-6 scale. Results revealed that mean values for days to disease appearance, disease score and grain yield in spring season sowing was 26 days, 3.72 and 635 kg/ha, whereas for summer season sowing was 14 days, 5.04 and 185 kg/ha. Among the date of sowing, April 5th sown crop recorded minimum mean disease score (3.1) with highest yield (719 kg/ha). Whereas, September 10th sown crop recorded maximum mean disease score (5.1) with lowest yield (174 kg/ha). Black gram varieties showed significant response to mean disease score and yield at early sowing condition but when the sowing date was delayed, there was no significant response of varieties to mean disease score and yield. The contribution of regression (R2 =0.791) and (R2 = 0.655) for spring season and summer season indicate that 79% and 65% of the blackgram yield would be affected by disease for the respective season. Therefore, it is better to sow blackgram in early season to escape mungbean yellow mosaic disease and minimize yield loss
Job satisfaction of local extension agents for fisheries: Insights from farm level survey in Bangladesh
Get PDFThe present study was conducted to assess job satisfaction of local extension agents for fisheries (from here and later in LEAFs) in Melandaha and Islampur sub-districts under Jamalpur district of Bangladesh. Data were collected by the researchers from LEAFs during September to November 2021 through face-to-face interviews by using a structured interview schedule. Descriptive statistics, rank order, and coefficient of correlation were used to analyze the data. Almost all of LEAFs (97.8 percent) had low to medium job satisfaction in extension service delivery. Among fifteen job satisfaction indicators, ‘supervisor’s guidance’ was identified as the most important one. The least ranked indicator was ‘job security’. Correlation analysis showed that age, level of education, job experience, training exposure, and organizational participation of LEAFs are significantly associated with their job satisfaction. All of the LEAFs (100 percent) faced medium to high problems in the research area. The most severe of the fourteen problems was ‘farmers’ reluctance to accept new technologies,’ followed by ‘shortage of manpower’. The least important problem of LEAFs was ‘farmers are non–cooperative’. Therefore, it is highly recommended that if an advance training program for LEAFs could be organized to solve their problems, it would be great to get quality extension services and build a well-organized fisheries sector in Bangladesh which will finally help to enhance nutritional security and poverty reduction in the country
Growth and production performance of Mud Eel, Monopterus cuchia (Hamilton, 1822) using different types of feed in the Northern region of Bangladesh
Get PDFThe experiment was conducted to assess the growth and production performance of freshwater Mud Eel (Monopterus cuchia) using different types of feed in nine earthen ponds in Bogura and Naogaon district of Bangladesh over a period of 180 days from 01 July, 2020 to 31 December, 2021. Three different treatments having three replicates each [T1 {Live fish spawn (60%), Vermi compost (40%)}, T2 {Live fish spawn (40%), Fish paste (60%)} and T3 {Vermi compost (40%), fish paste (40%), Rice bran (10%) and Wheat flour (10%)}] were used where significantly higher (P< 0.05) gross production and low FCR were recorded in T1 treatment. Juvenile cuchia were stocked @ 400 nos/dec in each treatment having mean initial body weight of 25 g and mean initial body length of 20 cm where highest weight gain of 130.09±1.79 g was found in T1 (p<0.05), followed by the T2 (112.89±1.51 g) and T3 (95.02±0.16 g). Survival rate (82.11±2.21%) and specific growth rate (1.01± 0.02 % day-1) were also found to be highest in T1 compared to the T2 and T3. Feed were applied twice a day up to satiation level using feeding tray to check feeding performance of fish. Water quality parameters like temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH and alkalinity were in the optimum range for fish culture. Results from the present study clearly indicate that live fish spawn and vermi compost is suitable for the grow-out culture of M. cuchia in earthen ponds for its better growth, survival rate and production
A comparative study of the effect of peeling and drying on phytochemical and proximate composition of ginger varieties in Nepal
Get PDFThe handling and processing of ginger are done by farmers in Nepal by following primitive practices that result in poor and unhygienically processed ginger of low quality. Due to little information on the quality and compositional aspects of ginger and its value-added product (essential oil), there is a need to improve traditional methods of processing and drying for a better quality of ginger and its product. This study aimed to assess the effects of peeling and drying conditions on two local ginger varieties in Nepal. A three-factor Completely Randomized Design (CRD) experiment was laid out at Ginger Research Program, Kapurkot, Salyan, Nepal. Three treatment factors were variety (Bose ginger and Nase ginger varieties), peeling (peeled and unpeeled ginger), and drying methods (direct sun drying and oven drying). After drying ginger rhizomes, the dry recovery percentage was calculated and the dried ginger rhizomes were ground to powder and subjected to laboratory analysis, where essential oil content and proximate composition of ginger powder were evaluated. Then, the extracted essential oil was subjected to GC-MS (Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry) analysis to know the chemical composition of essential oil. The result obtained showed that unpeeled oven-dried gingers retained higher essential oil content (2 %). The moisture content of oven-dried peeled ginger was reduced to 10.49 % which is within the standard of 7-12 % acceptable to the international market unlike that of direct-sun drying which could only attain about 17% moisture content in the study area. Likewise higher dry recovery percentage (22.25%) was observed in unpeeled sun-dried gingers. Ether extract (5.05 %) and crude fiber (5.05 %) were higher in the Nase variety whereas nitrogen-free extract (75.51 %) was more efficient in Bose variety. From the GC-MS analysis of ginger oil, α-Zingiberene (16.61-21 %) was found to be a major chemical constituent of ginger essential oil followed by (E, E)-α-farnesene (8.68-10.99 %) and β-Sesquiphellandrene (8.26-10.23 %). The use of an oven to dry unpeeled ginger will improve the retention of essential oil; However, peeling of ginger showed reduced fiber content in the ginger
Socio-economic analysis of coffee growers in Gulmi district of Nepal
Get PDFCoffee is a major plantation cash crop of hills of Nepal. Gulmi is one of the popular districts for coffee production and export in Nepal. This research is an attempt to assess the production potentiality and profitability of coffee in Gulmi district. This study was carried out in four rural municipalities of Gulmi district namely Ruru rural municipality, Dhurkot rural municipality, Satyawoti rural municipality and Musikot municipality. A total of 100 samples (25 from each rural municipality) were selected using simple random sampling technique. Face to face (FtF) interview method was used to collect primary data using pretested semi-structured questionnaire. The economic indicators of coffee production like gross revenue, gross margin, benefit-cost ratio (BCR) and profitability index (PI) were calculated. BCR and PI were found to be 2.84± 0.59 and 2.50± 1.25, respectively. Gross margin per ropani was calculated to be NRs. 15675.29 ± 7189.72. The contribution of coffee in total household income was 12% in Gulmi showing it to be one of the major influencing commodities. The major production problem was found to be insect attack in the district while the major marketing problem was the low market price. The insights of this research were that coffee has the potentiality to uplift the rural income of Gulmi but at the same time there were poor extension services for coffee growers such that farmers had shown dissatisfaction towards coffee enterprise. Therefore, effective package of production and value chain monitoring should be introduced by the Nepal government in order to address the production and marketing constraints of coffee producers
Assessing the influence of integrated nutrient management on growth and yield of Black gram (Vigna mungo L.)
Get PDFThe present study was undertaken to observe the effect of combined application of organic manures and inorganic fertilizers on growth, yield and yield contributing characters of black gram. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. The experiment comprises eight treatments viz. Control (no application of manures and fertilizer), Recommended doses of fertilizer (RDF), Cowdung @ 5 t ha-1 + 50% of RDF, Poultry manure @ 5 t ha-1 + 50% of RDF, Vermicompost @ 5 t ha-1 + 50% of RDF, Cowdung @ 5 t ha-1 + Poultry manure @ 5 t ha-1 + 50% of RDF, Cowdung @ 5 t ha-1 + Vermicompost @ 5 t ha-1 + 50% of RDF and Poultry manure @ 5 t ha-1 + Vermicompost @ 5 t ha-1 + 50% of RDF. Combined application of organic manures and inorganic fertilizers exerted significance influence on growth, yield and yield contributing characters of black gram. At growth, the tallest plant (38.74 cm), the highest number of leaves plant-1 (15.55), leaf dry weight plant-1 (6.99 g) and stem dry weight plant-1 (3.01 g) of black gram at 50 days after sowing (DAS) were obtained from poultry manure @ 5 t ha-1 and vermicompost @ 5 t ha-1 along with 50% of RDF. While, at 50 DAS, the highest number of nodules plant-1 (55.22) was recorded from cowdung @ 5 t ha-1 along with 50% of RDF and the highest number of SPAD value plant-1 (42.03) was found in poultry manure @ 5 t ha-1 along with 50% of RDF. Again, at maturity, the highest number of seeds pod-1 (5.86), yield plant-1 (7.77 g), grain yield m-2 (130.70 g) and total dry weight plant-1 (17.21 g) were obtained from poultry manure @ 5 t ha-1 and vermicompost @ 5 t ha-1 along with 50% of RDF. Therefore, it can be concluded that poultry manure @ 5 t ha-1 and vermicompost @ 5 t ha-1 along with 50% of RDF combination might be a promising practice for black gram cultivation
Socioeconomic, livelihood and cultural profile of the Meghna River Hilsa Fishing Community in Chandpur, Bangladesh
Get PDFThe goal of the study was to build a comprehensive portrait of the socioeconomic, livelihood, and cultural profile of the Meghna River fishing community in Chandpur, Bangladesh. Shatnol Malopara, an ecologically and economically suitable fishing community under the Matlab Uttor Upazila of Chandpur district, was selected for the in-depth investigation, where 410 fishermen relied solely on fishing for their livelihood. This community is made up of 185 households, supporting close to 1000 people. They are all Hindus, and fishing was their ancestral profession. A well-structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. The research revealed that the majority (35%) of fishermen were in the 18-30 age range. The community preferred nuclear families (98%), and the average family size was 5-8 individuals, which is predominant at 80%. About 60% of households lived in tiny tin shades and 40% in medium tin shades, while 60% did not have their own land. They (80%) rely on solar energy for illumination and for health facilities 50% of fisher households depend on the local pharmacy to take medication. Almost 100% of the residents in this community used potable drinking water, and 50% of fishers have ring slab latrines while the other 50% have pits. According to the survey, 60% of fishermen were very poor, 20% were poor, and 20% were moderately poor. Based on the survey, the majority (70%) of the fishermen earned between the ranges of 3000-5000 BDT (Bangladesh Taka) per month. During the ban period, the majority of fishers (50%) took out loans from various sources. Non-governmental organizations that operate microcredit businesses provided 70% of the loans to fishermen. According to the survey, 32% of fishermen had a boat and gear, while 68% worked as labor or engaged in catch-sharing with Mohajons' boats and gear. A range of crafts (Dingi nouka, Kosa nouka with mechanization) and fishing gear (Kona jal, Gulti jal, Dhon jal, Chap jal, Bada jal, Current jal, Chewa jal, etc.) was observed to be used in the study area. They have a plethora of traditional ecological knowledge as a result of their fishing ancestors. The study revealed that hilsa fishermen had a variety of issues. Extortion by local extortionists was the principal concern; other issues included inadequate credit and alternative income sources during the ban period. To assist the community in raising its standard of living, government agencies, nonprofits, and other relevant groups of organizations should adopt a number of steps. It is imperative to prioritize alternative income-generating options in this context