Archives of Agriculture and Environmental Science
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A review on use of agrochemical in agriculture and need of organic farming in Nepal
Get PDFThe growing use of chemical pesticides haphazardly and their harmful influence on ecosystem and human health highlight the necessity for safe and sustainable organic production in our time. The article reviews a general overview of organic farming; the impact of organic farming on soil health and climate mitigation in comparison with conventional farming practice in Nepal. The article identifies the problems and possibilities of organic farming to resuscitate the pesticide-dominated conventional practice in Nepal. Organic farming now has been embedded in the natural agriculture policy in Nepal. Organic farming benefits in terms of environmental protection along with better living health. Various governmental and non-governmental bodies, farmers, and individuals are working to promote organic farming in Nepal. With the increase in awareness of health and environmental concerns, the adoption of organic agriculture and the demand for organic agricultural products is increasing. It holds a great prospect in countries like ours where an integrated crop-livestock system is still prevalent in many parts of the country. As a result, an organic farming system in Nepal must be thoroughly investigated and supported through proper regulations and tactics. It is urged to supplant pesticide-based conventional farming with organic farming that leads towards agricultural sustainability for the upcoming generation
Assessment of potentiality of known bacterial blight resistant genes against Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae pathotypes exist in Bangladesh
Get PDFBacterial blight (BB) caused by X. oryzae pv. oryzae is a destructive disease of rice and causes 30-50% losses to rice depending on the outbreak. Development BB resistant rice varieties have long been considered as one of the most effective approach to control the disease. However, the durability of host resistance is breaking down due to the change of pathotypes of X. oryzae pv. oryzae globally. Pathotypic analyses of 239 X. oryzae pv. oryzae Bangladeshi isolates on Near Isogenic Lines (NILs) containing resistance (R) gene (s) revealed the existence of eight pathotypes of X. oryzae pv. oryzae. Among eight pathotypes, pathotypes IV and V were considered as major comprising maximum number of isolates, (30.13% and 23.01%, respectively), whereas pathotype VIII considered as minor consisting only 2.51% of total isolates. Pathotype, I showed highest virulence or aggressiveness compatible with all NILs, whereas pathotype VIII exhibited lowest virulence to these NILs. Bacterial blight resistant genes viz. Xa1 (75.00%), Xa11 (62.50%) and Xa21 (50.00%) showed resistance to most of the pathotypes while Xa4 performed worst as compared to all others R-genes. In pyramid lines, IRBBB63 (Xa5+Xa7+Xa13) and IRBB57 (Xa5+Xa7 +Xa21) showed resistance reaction and IRBB61 (Xa4+Xa5+Xa7), IRBB60 (Xa4+Xa5+Xa13+Xa21), IRBB54 (Xa5+Xa21), and IRBB53 (Xa4+Xa21) showed susceptible reaction to X. oryzae pv. oryzae pathotypes. These results collectively indicated the deployment of Xa1, Xa11, Xa4, Xa5, Xa7, Xa13 and Xa21 either alone or in combination against BB would be a best choice for the development of BB resistant rice varieties in Bangladesh
Growth, mortality and stock assessment of greenback mullet, Planiliza subviridis from northwest Arabian Gulf, Iraq
Get PDFThe growth, mortality and stock parameters of greenback mullet, Planiliza subviridis from Iraqi marine waters, northwest Arabian Gulf was assessed using FiSAT II software for length-frequency data collected from February 2020 to January 2021. P. subviridis is one of the species caught in large quantities as commercial by artisanal fishers. Fish samples were collected by the Shaheen steel-hulled dhow and from the artisanal fishermen. The total length and body weight relationship of fish was estimated as W= 0.034L2.670, indicating negative allometric growth. Of 3350 specimens, growth and mortality parameters were evaluated. The asymptotic length (L∞), growth rate (K) and growth performance index (Ø') were 33.8 cm, 0.30 and 2.535, respectively. The total mortality rate (Z), natural mortality rate (M), and fishing mortality rate (F) were 1.11, 0.74 and 0.38, respectively. The present exploitation rate (Epresent) of P. subviridis computed as 0.34. Length at first capture (L50) was 17.47 cm. Recruitment of P. subviridis was observed throughout the year, with a peak during July. The yield per recruit analysis indicates that the current exploitation rate was below the biological target reference points (E0.1 and Emax), which refers to the stock of P. subviridis is underexploited. Virtual population analysis results showed that mid-lengths (16-22 cm) experienced the highest fishing mortality. The length at first capture (L50) was higher than the length at first maturity (Lm) of the species. So, for management purposes, more yields could be obtained by increasing the fishing activities on this species for a substantial harvest
Does adoption of agroforestry increase farm production and dietary diversity in the hills of Nepal?
Get PDFThere are few studies on the influence of agroforestry intervention in the farming and food system. We thus conducted this study to assess farm production diversity and household dietary diversity in the coffee-based agroforestry in Deusa village, Solukhumbu district, Nepal. This study collected data through questionnaire survey, food diary checklist for 24 hours diet recall, transect walk, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews. We compared farm production diversity and household dietary diversity scores between two agroforestry types - traditional and coffee-based. We used Pearson’s Chi-Square and Fisher’s Exact tests to assess the association between agroforestry type and 16 food groups wise consumption. Results showed that the farm production diversity is positively associated with the household dietary diversity. Among 16 food groups, households under coffee-based agroforestry system were more likely to consume dark green leafy vegetables (Chi square- 5.385; df=1; p<0.05), and descriptive statistics showed relatively higher consumption for most of the other food groups. It indicates that agroforestry intervention can be beneficial to improve farm production diversity and household dietary diversity in the longer run. Thus, agroforestry promotion is not only important in enhancing biodiversity and farm income but also equally vital in improving food and nutrition security for smallholders
Production status, export analysis, and future prospects of ginger in Nepal
Get PDFGinger is one of the high-value spices crops of Nepal possessing the huge potential of export to the global market. Among Nepal’s natural gifts are agricultural diversity and varied topography making the land suitable for ginger production. The main aim of this study was to scrutinize the current status of ginger production, annual growth rate, its import and export as well as prospects of the Nepali ginger. Fundamentally, secondary data were collected from authentic sources, and then were assembled in Microsoft Excel, and diagrams were generated. ArcGIS software was used to create the map. Findings revealed that the production of ginger is in an increasing trend with an average annual growth rate of 6.67%. Nepal contributed about 9.2% of the global ginger production, despite its small area. Ginger is exported primarily to India because of the lack of an internationally accredited testing laboratory. From this study, it can be concluded that Nepal has comparative advantages in growing ginger, which is noticeable with the geographical features and well-adapted local varieties. The trend of enormous growth in ginger production and its export indicates that ginger production and trade could be a potential enterprise contributing to the national economy. It is recommended to focus on enhancing ginger productivity by providing training and extension services to farmers, subsidies, establishing ginger processing units, easy and reliable certification within the country, and enhancing diplomatic relations for easy market accessibility for strengthening the ginger sub-sector. 
Crop diversity in jhum cultivation: A case study of Upper Siang District of Arunachal Pradesh, India
Get PDFCrop diversity is a source of food, medicines, and fodder; it provides a proximate composition including carbohydrates, proteins, minerals, vitamins, fats, essential elements, and nutraceuticals for healthy growth and development of a body. Jhum cultivation is a source of multiple crops and study on multiple sources of nutrients help in the dept understanding of diet and also framing of food policy; Present work was carried out to study the multiple cropping in Jhum agriculture field of the Upper Siang District of Arunachal Pradesh. To fulfill the objectives, field visit, open-end questionnaires and purposive samplings methods were used. A total of forty-three (43) crops were recorded to be cultivated in the Jhum field. Crops varieties of the study site could be classified into leafy vegetable crops, cereal crops, oil crops, pulses, spices crops, fruit crops, medicinal food plants, tuber crops and fiber crops
Response of nitrogen and potassium fertilization on the growth performance of aromatic Boro rice
Get PDFAn experiment was conducted at the Agronomy Field Laboratory, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, during December 2017 to May 2018 to study growth performance of aromatic Boro rice (cv. BRRI dhan50) in response to nitrogen and potassium fertilization. The experiment consisted of four levels of nitrogen viz., 0, 50, 100 and 150 kg ha-1, and four levels of potassium viz., 0, 30, 60 and 90 kg ha-1. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The results revealed that nitrogen and potassium fertilization and their interaction exerted significant influence on growth performance of BRRI dhan50. Application of 100 kg N ha-1 produced the tallest plant (82.17 cm), the highest number of tillers hill-1 (10.08) and chlorophyll content (52.21) at heading stage. While, application of 90 kg K ha-1 produced the tallest plant (81.44 cm) at physiological maturity stage, the highest number of tillers hill-1 (9.66) and chlorophyll content (51.54) at heading stage. In case of interaction, the tallest plant (85.33 cm), the highest number of tillers hill-1 (10.83) and chlorophyll content (58.28) were obtained from 100 kg N ha-1 along with 90 kg K ha-1 at heading stage. Therefore, application of 100 kg N ha-1 along with 90 kg K ha-1 interaction appeared as the promising practice in aromatic rice (cv. BRRI dhan50) cultivation in terms of growth performance
Effect of foliar spray of micronutrients and hormones on cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis L.)
Get PDFIn order to achieve optimal plant growth and production, essential nutrients must be readily available in adequate quantities and in a balanced proportion to give a good yield, especially cauliflower which has health benefits that may not be found in many other plants. For this purpose, this experiment was carried out during the seasons 2020-2021 in the on station of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Khulna under Smallholder Agricultural competitiveness project. Although the treatments showed a positive effect on yield, quality and economics but, T1 revealed most significant influence on all parameters under study as compared to T0 (control). For micronutrients and hormone, T1 treatment produced the highest curd yield (29.99 t ha-1) and the lowest (17.04 t ha-1) was control from the varietal effect the highest curd yield was (35.14 t ha-1) from V4 (It Amazuku 33) and the lowest was (16.21 t ha-1) from V5 (BARI Fulcopi-1). In case of combined effect, the highest curd yield (45.16 t ha-1) was obtained from T1V4 and the lowest curd yield (10.27 t ha-1) from T0V1. Therefore, it can be suggested that the highest curd yield and good shape cauliflower curd can be obtained application of Zn 8.83 kg/ha, B 3.5 kg/ha, Ma 8.43 kg/ha and Flora (Hormone) 2 ml/1 L of water. Therefore, foliar application of micronutrients and hormone is suitable way to feed the cauliflower crop to enhance the marketable yield and quality
Bio-fortified maize: Cornerstone in plant breeding to combat hidden hunger in developing countries
Get PDFMalnutrition has been one of the major global health problems mainly in underdeveloped and developing world causing massive economic damage as well as distressing human life. Deficiency of useful micronutrients like vitamins and minerals including low level of availability of better quality protein causes hidden hunger which can be alleviate with the help of genetic bio-fortification of crops. Besides all the challenges, biofortified maize crops like quality protein maize along with the provitamin A and Zn hold a great future to address the malnutrition challenge combating the deficiency of malnutrtients. This is the most sustainable, cost-effective and potentially wide-reaching approach which can bridge the gap between agriculture and nutrition. Biofortification can be achieved both by agronomic and genetic approaches. The Importance, genetics and potential of bio-fotification is thoroughly reviewed to provide useful findings for new readers and researchers
Article Retracted: Estimation of soil carbon stock in some wetlands of the northeastern region of Bangladesh
No full textThis article has been retracted due to authorship dispute among original authors