Archives of Agriculture and Environmental Science
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Assessment of hospitals medical waste management in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province in Iran
Get PDFThe hospital wastes could threaten the surface waters, ground waters, soil, air environment and humans’ health. This study was intended to investigate the management of medical waste generated in hospitals of Charharmahal and Bakhtiari province, located in south west of Iran. The samples came from all 9 province’s hospitals with 1156 beds. The data forms and questionnaires were completed. The questionnaire contained questions about the generation of waste and practices related to separation, collection, storage, transport, treatment and final disposal, and training and awareness. The highest generation rate on a bed basis of 3.22±0.4 kg/bed/day was found in Shohada hospital, and the lowest rate was 1.37±0.2 kg/bed/day for Sina hospital. There was significant variation (P<0.05). The average general waste production rate was 2.12±0.37 kg/bed/day at all the surveyed hospitals. The highest percentage (63%) of total medical wastes were general, 36.05% were infectious wastes. About 44.44% of the hospitals have used autoclave to disinfect their infectious medical waste prior to disposal, while incineration is used in 33.33% of the hospitals. All hospitals (100%) indicated their needs and willingness to participate in future specialized training programs in medical waste management. It has been suggested that enhancing the education, awareness and promoting programs about medical waste management for cleaning workers, doctors, nurses, and technicians
Evaluation of yield performance and establishment methods of drought tolerant rice genotypes under rainfed condition in drought prone areas of Bangladesh
Get PDFTwo field experiments were carried out at farmer’s field of Rajshahi and Chapainawabgonj under the Department of Agronomy, BINA during aman season of 2017 and 2018 consecutively to evaluate the drought tolerant rice varieties under different establishment methods in rain fed condition. First experiment (E1) was conducted to find out the performance of varieties and second experiment (E2) was to find out the suitability of method of transplanting/sowing in combination with short duration aman varieties. Different methods were as direct seeding, puddled and un-puddled transplanting and cultivars were used to cultivate BRRI dhan56, Binadhan-7, Binadhan-17 (except in second experiment) and Huttra (local cultivar). The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The recommended fertilizer doses applied for the experiment were 80 kg N ha-1, 15 kg P ha-1, 50 kg K ha-1, 20 kg S ha-1 and 2 kg Zn ha-1. Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulphur and zinc were supplied from urea, TSP, MoP, gypsum and zinc sulphate monohydrate respectively while urea was applied in three equal splits. Among the cultivar Binadhan-17 produced statistically higher grain yield (5.62 t ha-1) at Chapainawabgonj. Among methods Binadhan-7 statistically higher grain yield 5.32 t ha-1 and 5.21 t ha-1, respectively) in puddle transplanting method both Chapainawabgonj and Rajshahi region during 2017. Among the cultivar Huttra (local) produced statistically higher grain yield (5.43 t ha-1) at Chapainawabgonj. Among methods, BRRI dhan56 statistically higher grain yield 6.37 t ha-1 and 6.19 t ha-1, respectively) in puddle transplanting method bothat Rajshahi and Chapainawabgonj during 2018. Overall results indicates that BRRI dhan56, Binadhan-7, Binadhan-17 performed better in puddled transplanting, Huttra (local) in direct seeding method in drought prone region of Bangladesh
Effects of plant growth regulators on growth, flowering, fruiting and fruit yield of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.): A review
Get PDFThis review provides a comprehensive overview of the basic and applied aspects of different plant growth regulators in the regulation of growth and development of cucumber plants. The study is completely based on the use of secondary sources of data; related journals, government institutes, and relevant reports. Foliar application of PGRs has been shown to change the physiological and developmental processes, including plant vegetative growth, sex expression, yield, and yield components in cucumber. There are basically two types of growth regulators; plant growth promoters such as auxin, gibberellins, cytokinins, maleic hydrazide, ethephon, etc. and plant growth inhibitors such as ethylene, abscisic acids, dormins, etc. The combined use of auxins and gibberellins result in increased secondary growth. Maleic hydrazide (MH) along with Ethephon at 100 ppm each increases the number of nodes and primary branches. Ethrel at 300-400 ppm retards the secondary development and increase femaleness, and at 200-300 ppm make fruit surface smooth. Silver nitrate (AgNO3) at 400 ppm enhances the maleness in cucumber. Application of Ethephon at 300 ppm reduces the harvesting time of the fruit. Salicylic acid (at 2 doses of 0.07 mm/l + 0.18 mm/l) increases chlorophyll content and its exogenous application increases the fruit yield. Maleic Hydrazide (MH) alone at 100 ppm increases the femaleness, inhibits apical growth at 50-100 ppm, and increases fruit size at 200 ppm. Therefore, various auxin [indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), NAA], auxin transport inhibitor (TIBA), cytokinins (KIN), gibberellin [gibberellic acid (GA3)], ABA, ethylene [(2-chloroethylphosphonic acid (ethrel; ethephon; CEPA)] and growth retardant (MH) have been applied to control the vegetative growth and to maximize yield of cucumber. Numerous obstacles have hindered the quality cucumber production in Nepal; like environmental stresses, biotic and abiotic constraints, pest and disease outbreaks, and many others. The use of exogenous plant growth regulators has been crucial to Nepali cucumber producers as plant growth regulators has hasty effect on vegetative as well as the quality yield of plants. This study aims to reveal the suitable concentrations for the applications of growth regulators so that the use of such regulators is environmentally and toxicologically safe for both plants and the consumers
Measuring students’ preferences for urban furniture vandalism in Selçuk University Campus in Turkey: A case study
Get PDFVandalism is a phenomenon that we can encounter in any circumstances to public or private property. The vandalistic behaviors depend on the individuals’ perception and public tolerance; also, the human intolerance and their behavior are the factors which might influence the vandalistic acts. To understand the individuals’ perception of the vandalism issue, it is necessary to get the correct information, reason, and dimension of the act. The purpose of this research is to identify and understand the perception, thoughts, and attitudes of the students from Selçuk University toward the concept of vandalism. According to the questionnaire conducted for this purpose, 82.3% of the participants were reported to have aggressive behaviors against urban elements, and the damage to urban furniture was mostly done by writing (66.2%). The survey-research revealed that gender, which mostly involved in vandalism are males. Also, the timing of vandalism is observed at 21:00 (49%). The rate of those participants who said that they harmed the urban furniture is 15.6%, consciously stated that they had damaged the picnic table (55.1%) by writing or drawing (40%), and they had done it because the urban furniture was already vandalized (44.6%). This study will provide guidance on solutions by finding the causes and types of vandalism acts on urban furniture, which is a serious but not undetected problem in university campuses. The research indicated that people perceived vandalism as a lack of consciousness, sanction, and quality of the material and affects the quality of life. While, if enough people are aware of the problem, then the incident rate will decline, simultaneously
Integrated pest management of fall armyworm infestations in maize fields in Nepal: A review
Get PDFSpodoptera frugiperda, commonly known as Fall Armyworm (FAW), is amongst the most terrifying pests of maize in Latin America, which unexpectedly appeared in Nepal in 2019 and spread expeditiously. Estimates of maize crop losses due to this pest are vital in order to compare the effect of these losses with the convenient of controlling FAW and suggest pertinent controlling technology and methods. Nepal is predominantly an agrarian nation thus, maize is grown substantially. However, climatic conditions of Nepal favor the outbreaks of pests such as FAW in many maize grown areas. On the grounds that most of the people of hill and mountainous regions depend on maize for their staple food, pests have appeared to be a great threat to cereal production. It causes considerable injuries to maize by feeding on leaf whorls, ears and tassel which often leads to total yield loss. Yet, agriculture is an economic activity, even among subsistence farmers in Nepal. Seeing high potential losses caused by FAW, different control methods have been proposed. This pest demands meticulous and stepwise plan for its management. This review emphasized on adoption of IPM methods of pests’ control, which is the integration of biological, cultural, physical, chemical, and technological approaches. Meanwhile, early warning systems, though poorly developed in Nepal, can be highlighted for further studies and for further research work
Boron in crop production from soil to plant system: A review
Get PDFThe deficiency of boron is spreading rapidly in Indian soils. Boron deficiency in crops is more widespread than deficiency of any other essential micronutrient. However, imbalanced or excess use of boron fertilizers found to impose negative impact on crops due to very narrow range of boron deficiency and toxicity in soil and plants which increases production cost also. Therefore, optimized boron fertilizer supply in boron deficient soils is important in order to attain normal crop growth, yield and high-quality produce. It this review the role of boron in crop production, its deficiency in crop plants has been discussed
Organic farming in Nepal: A viable option for food security and agricultural sustainability
Get PDFIncreasing use of agrochemicals, higher production cost and deterioration of ecosystem health have advocated the need to change the traditional and external input using agriculture towards safe and sustainable organic production. The article reviewed on general overview of organic agriculture in Nepal. The article aims to put light on the current scenario of the dawdling-paced organic agriculture and the options to revive the pesticide dominated conventional agriculture. Promotion of organic agriculture was first appeared as a priority in the10th Five Year Plan of the Government of Nepal. Now it has been embedded in the national agricultural policy. Organic agriculture provides benefits in terms of environmental protection, conservation of nonrenewable resources, improved food quality, improve health status and the reorientation of agriculture towards areas of market demand. Various institutions, individuals and farmers are engaging in organic farming. Nepal is exporting organic products to international markets. The adoption of organic agriculture increases agricultural production and improves soil health and consumer health and seems a better option in countries like ours where fortunately integrated crop-livestock system is still prevalent. It is found to be viable option for better livelihood in the context of Nepal. Because the haphazard pesticide use has marred the conventional agriculture, all these contexts gesture this system to be scrutinize thoroughly and supplanted by organic farming system as a viable option towards food security and agricultural sustainability
Effect of soil mulching on growth, productivity, and water use efficiency of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) under deficit irrigation
Get PDFTwo field studies were conducted consecutively in the summer season of 2015 and 2016 to investigate the effect of different soil mulching materials (bare soil: BS as a control, white plastic: WP, black plastic: BP and rice straw: RS) on growth, productivity, and water-use efficiency (WUE) of potato under three levels of irrigation (I100=100%, I80=80%, and I60=70% of crop evapotranspiration). Growth characteristics, yield and its components, and WUE were significantly (P ≤ 0.05) affected by both irrigation level and mulching materials. All mulching materials effectively enhanced growth and productivity when compared to bare soil. Potato plants grown under BP and WP as well as RS showed higher mean values of large size (> 60 mm) tubers and WUE compared to non-mulched treatment (BS) in both seasons. Mulching treatments noticeably increased tuber yield in the order of BP > RS > WP. Results displayed that, under different soil mulching materials, the I80 strategy studied here could be successfully applied during summer season in commercial potato production allowing water savings of 20% without any detrimental effect on plant growth or productivity
Biological control of eucalyptus Gall wasp, Leptocybe invasa Fisher & La Salle (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) in Punjab, India
Get PDFIn this investigation, biological control of eucalyptus Gall wasp, Leptocybe invasa Fisher & La Salle (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) in Punjab, India was investigated. The genus Leptocybe Fisher & La Salle (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) was founded with its type species, L. invasa from Israel in 2004. Adult wasps of L. invasa induce galls on the shoots and midribs of leaves of Eucalyptus sp. and also damage nursery seedlings and young plantations. In the present study, survey was carried out from the year 2012 to 2014, on gall wasp infestation in different eucalyptus growing areas of Punjab. Observations revealed that eucalyptus growing areas in Punjab were under the threat of attack by gall wasp, L. invasa. During the present study, biological control agents Megastimus viggianii and Quadrastichus mendeli have been successfully applied in the gall infested areas of Punjab, from 2012 to 2017, where infestation of gall wasp was regularly decreased and came below 10 % by July, 2017. Consequently, Eucalyptus gall forming insect L. invasa has been controlled successfully by applying the biological control through releasing the parasitoids (Megastimus viggianii and Quadrastichus mendeli), in Punjab, India
A review on persisting threats to snail’s diversity and its conservation approaches
Get PDFSnails are important part of our terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems. They are molluscian members having their effective role in biomonitoring, nutrient cycling and medicinal development. They are integral part of food chain system and have direct or indirect impact in maintaining ecological functioning. Besides their importance, they are documented with largest extinction rate as compared to other existed taxa. This is due to the fact that, unexploration and poor attention has been given in the research and development by the scientific world. Till now, a little information is available related to systematics, life history, population biology, threats and conservation status of these slimy organisms. This paper briefly reviews the diversity of terrestrial, freshwater and marine snails with the existed threats with their conservation approaches which may proved to be fruitful in developing awareness related to the snails in the society