Archives of Agriculture and Environmental Science
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Effects of aflatoxin contaminated feed on the fingerlings of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus Linnaeus, 1758)
Get PDFAflatoxin contamination, particularly common in cultured fishes in Asian countries, are considered unsafe both for fish and human health. However, the presence of aflatoxin in cultured fish feed and their effect are still under estimated in Bangladesh. The present study aimed to assess the effects of aflatoxin on growth performance and residues in tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fingerlings. Fish feed were treated with several concentration of aflatoxin as 0 ppb (T0, control), 25 ppb (T1), 50 ppb (T2) and 100 ppb (T3) and fed the tilapia fingerlings (n=10) in individual glass aquaria (24×12×12 inch, 105-litre capacity) conditions for 12 weeks. Comparatively higher body length (cm) and weight gain (g) were observed in treatment T0 (1.68 and 4.98) and T1 (1.60 and 5.48) than those of treatment T2 (1.31 and 4.06) and T3 (1.20 and 3.10), respectively. The specific growth rate (SGR) were almost similar in treatment T0 (52%), T1 (51%) and T2 (52%) whereas declined significantly (p<0.05) in T3 (39%). Higher survival rate was also demonstrated in treatment T0 (90%) and T1 (90%) whereas significantly decreased in treatment T2 (60%) and T3 (40%). The residue of aflatoxin was not detected in T0 and T1. On the contrary, the residual effect in tilapia fingerling was evident in T2 and T3 treatment. The findings of the present study revealed that aflatoxin contaminated feed is harmful for the growth performance and survival of O. niloticus fingerlings. Further study is necessary to safeguard the aquaculture production as well as to produce healthy food for human consumption
An outlook on metabolic pathway engineering in crop plants
Get PDFTo produce the essential secondary metabolites, plants are the major and important target source materials for conducting the high-profile metabolic engineering studies. Metabolic pathway engineering of both microorganism targets and plants target contribute towards important drug discovery. In order to efficiently work out in advanced plant metabolic pathway engineering techniques, a detailed knowledge and expertise is essentially needed regarding the plant cell physiology and the mechanics of plant metabolism. Mathematical and statistical models to scale and map the genome for integrative metabolic pathway activity, signal transduction mechanism in the genome, gene regulation and the networks of protein-protein interaction can provide the in-depth knowledge to work efficiently on plant metabolic pathway engineering studies. Incorporation of omics data into these statistical and mathematical models is crucial in the case of drug discovery using the plant system. Recently, artificial intelligence concept and approaches are experimentally applied for efficient and accurate metabolic engineering in plants
A study on consumer preferences towards duck meat in Mymensingh city of Bangladesh
Get PDFThis paper examined the consumer preferences of duck meat in Mymensingh city of Bangladesh. The aim of the study was to find out how much people like or dislike to consume duck meat and what amount do they consume. Purposive sampling technique was carried out among 80 consumers of duck meat. A five-point Likert scale was used to measure consumers attitudes towards duck meat and Discriminative Power (DP) value was computed to find out the lowest and the highest variability of responses. Nearly no study related to the preferences of duck meat consumption was conducted before in the selected study area. The findings of this study revealed that 63.75% consumers disfavored duck meat and 30% consumers favored it. Results indicated that the majority of the consumers strongly agreed that dressing slaughtered duck is complex and duck meat is nutritious and delicious. The highest variability in consumers responses was to statement, “duck meat can be used in any occasion. And the lowest variability of responses was to the statement that, “duck meat is very fatty” as almost all the respondents agreed. Therefore, it can be concluded that consumers showed unfavorable attitudes towards duck meat consumption. The reason behind this disfavoring attitude were allergy, asthma and seasonal pattern of duck meat consumption. This means that the respondents showed differentiated response, when they were responding on the statement that duck meat can be used in any occasion while the respondents were somewhat in differentiated while they were responding that the duck meat is very fatty. Traditionally duck is consumed in winter season in Bangladesh. That’s why, the year-round consumer preferences including warmer seasons resulted in lower total year-round preferences
Fish sanctuary as a sustainable management tool for recovering fish biodiversity, production and livelihood: A case study on Halti Beel tank sanctuary, Bangladesh
Get PDFFish sanctuary is a common tool for retrieving fisheries diversity in a threatened aquatic ecosystem. The present study highlighted a case study on sustainable management of Halti Beel tank sanctuary, Bangladesh (a part of Chalan Beel) established for the betterment of fisheries and fishermen community. The study was conducted for a period of 6 months from July to December 2017. Both primary and secondary data was used for a comparison before and after effects of Halti Beel tank sanctuary considering three parameters viz., fisheries diversity, production trends and socio-economic condition of fishermen community. During the study period, diversity in both native and exotic fish species (71) were increased where 62 species were native and 9 were exotic under 26 families of 11 orders. This number (71) was observed 97.22% higher than the number of species before declaring Halti Beel tank as fish sanctuary. Recovery rate was observed highest for the order Siluriformes (11) and the lowest for Channiformes (1). Cypriniformes was the most diversified order with 24 species (18 native and 6 exotic species). The observed data showed a dramatic increase in fish production from 8.77 to 37.50 metric ton within four fiscal years whereas the gradual production trend was recorded 10.12, 29.47, 35.10 and 37.50 metric ton, respectively in the year 2013-2014, 2014-2015, 2014-2015 and 2016-2017. The study was also showed a satisfactory improvement in financial and housing assets as socio-economic status of fishermen community involved in the management of Halti Beel tank sanctuary
Determination of suitable species combination for good aquaculture practice based carp fattening in ponds under drought prone barind area of Bangladesh
Get PDFIncreased temperature, decreased water level and reduced culture period of the ponds with lack of guidelines in selecting appropriate stocking size, density and combination of species are major constraints for safe production of fattening based carps in drought prone barind area of Bangladesh. In order to address these problems, an experiment was conducted during July-December, 2018 to determine the suitable species combination for fattening ponds of overwintered carps in Tanore upazila (sub district) of Rajshahi district, Bangladesh. Three different combinations of surface (G. catla and H. molitrix), column (L. rohita) and bottom (C. cirrhosus and C. carpio var. specularis) feeding carp species were tested under 3 treatments (T1, T2 and T3), each with 3 replications: T1 (Surface-30%, column-40%, and bottom-30%), T2 (Surface-40%, column-30%, and bottom-30%) and T3 (Surface-35%, column-35%, and bottom-30%). Application of good aquaculture practices in the studied ponds was found to improve the environmental conditions of pond. Significantly (P< 0.05) highest fish yield was obtained from treatment T2 which was 21.47% and 11.89% higher than T1 and T3, respectively. Significantly (P<0.05) highest cost benefit ratio was recorded with treatment T2 (0.42±0.02) followed by T3 (0.31±0.01) and T1 (0.21±0.01), respectively. Inclusion of appropriate number of fishes at different water layers of pond favoured the yield and economics of carp fattening. The study also suggests focusing on optimal stocking density together with the formulation of low cost feed for carp fattening in ponds under barind area of Bangladesh
Survey on gender role in rice production by farmers of Nuwakot district, Nepal
Get PDFGender plays an important role in agriculture from managing work at the farm field to communicate with buyers. There is a significant division of labor among rice farmers in Nepal; thus, the study was conducted to identify the role of males and females in a farm field and also in decision making and other relevant activities. A random sampling survey was conducted where the respondents aged between 35-55 were highest and 85% of the respondents were males. The area was found to be dominated by the Brahmins. Female workers were found to be involved in highly unskilled work like transplanting, uprooting, weeding, and male workers were found to be involved in decision making, marketing, land preparation, pesticide application. Harvesting was done by females and then threshing by males. Equal involvement of males and females laborers was observed in the irrigation of rice crops. Women's less access to decision making was found to be due to lack of land ownership and lower level of education than those of males. Thus, the need for women empowerment is necessary for the area and also exposure of female labors to different skill-oriented training should be encouraged. The focus of NGOs/ INGOs should be headed to uplift the women's role in farming in Nepal
Effects of transplanting time on the yield and quality of onion (Allium cepa L.)
Get PDFA field experiment was conducted at Spices Research Sub-Centre (SRSC), Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Faridpur, Bangladesh during the winter season of 2018-2019 to investigate the influences of transplanting times of seedlings and the varieties on the yield and quality of onion bulbs. There were six levels of transplanting time such as T1: November 15, T2: November 30, T3: December 15, T4: December 30, T5: January 14 and T6: January 29 under the trial. The varieties used in the study were: BARI Onion-1 and BARI Onion-4. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) of factorial concept with three replications. The results revealed that dates of transplanting, varieties and their combined effects had significant effect on the parameters studied with minor exception. The plant height, number of leaves/plant and incidence of bolting were decreased with the passage of transplanting time. The maximum values (54.51 cm, 8.53 and 71.28%) of the aforementioned traits were recorded at early transplanting on November 15, respectively. The reduced percent of bolting (2.22%) was observed at December 30. While no incidence of bolting was found under transplanting on 14-29 January. Bulb diameter, individual bulb weight, yield, total soluble solid content and dry matter content of bulb were increased up to transplanting on December 15. Afterwards the values of aforesaid parameters were gradually decreased. The highest yield (17.65 t/ha), total soluble solid content (17.02 0brix) and dry matter content of bulb (15.95%) were obtained from December 15 insignificantly followed by December 30 (16.30 t/ha). The delayed transplanting on 29 January markedly reduced the yield (6.72 t/ha), total soluble solid content (12.58 0brix) and dry matter content of bulb (11.61%) as well. The variety BARI Onion-4 performed better in respect of yield and yield attributes but it showed inferior quality. The combined effect of December 15 x BARI Onion-4 gave the highest yield attributes and yield of onion followed by the combination of November 30 x BARI Onion-4 and December 30 x BARI Onion-4 while the values among the three treatments were statistically similar
Effect of source of irrigation water on yield performance of Boro rice
Get PDFIndustrial wastewater is a major problem in Gazipur, Bangladesh which is very cheaply available in the surrounding area for crop production. An experiment was conducted at Farmer’s Field of Gazipur district to study the effect of irrigation water quality on yield of boro rice. The study comprised three varieties viz., BR14, BRRI dhan28 and BRRI dhan29 and three sources of irrigation water viz. fresh water irrigation, mixed water (fresh + industrial wastewater) irrigation, industrial wastewater irrigation. The experiment was laid out in a split-plot design with three replications where irrigation water was assigned in the main plot and rice varieties in the subplot. BRRI dhan29 produced the tallest plant (85.25 cm), the highest number of total tillers hill-1 (19.77), effective tillers hill-1 (17.64), grains panicle-1 (111.0), sterile spikelets panicle-1 (44.29), 1000-grain weight (22.43 g), grain yield (4.56 t ha-1) and straw yield (7.99 t ha-1). On the other hand, plant height (74.50 cm), total tillers hill-1 (19.82), effective tillers hill-1 (17.53), grains panicle-1 (131.7), sterile spikelets panicle-1 (35.50), 1000-grain weight (25.83 g), grain yield (5.05 t ha-1) were found highest when applied fresh water irrigation. The highest numbers of grains panicle-1 (119.14), 1000-grain weight (25.10 g), grain (5.54 t ha-1) and straw (7.93 t ha-1) yield were obtained in BRRI dhan29 with fresh water irrigation. Therefore, BRRI dhan29 with fresh water irrigation would be safe to use. However, if fresh water irrigation is not possible, conjunctive use of fresh and wastewater can be used as irrigation for BRRI dhan29
Evaluation of crop arrangement and phosphorus rate on performance of maize-common bean intercropping in western Kenya
Get PDFThe effect of phosphorus (P) rate and crop arrangement on the performance of component crops in maize-bean intercropping systems was investigated at two sites; Malanga and Bugeng’i in western Kenya. A split plot design with five crop arrangements in the main plots i.e., one row of maize alternating with one row of beans (conventional), maize and beans planted in the same hole, two rows of maize alternating with two of beans (Mbili), sole maize and sole beans, in a factorial combination with three P rates; 0, 30, and 60 kg ha-1 in the subplots, was used. Bean yields were low (< 1 t ha-1) but they increased with increasing P rate at both sites. Response of maize to P fertilizer was however poor at Malanga mainly due to Striga weed infestation. Yields of beans did not significantly differ among crop arrangements at both sites. At Bungeng’i, there was a significant interaction between P rate and crop arrangement. At this site, the maize yield in the conventional arrangement increased with increasing P rate but for the Mbili arrangement, the grain yield from application of 30 kg P ha-1 was significantly higher than that at 0 kg P ha-1 and similar to that 60 kg P ha-1. Therefore, it is not beneficial to fertilize beyond 30 kg P ha-1 at this site with the Mbili arrangement. Intercropping was beneficial in all crop arrangements (Land equivalent ratio >1) and can therefore be practiced, except for maize and beans planted in the same hole with no P application at Bugeng’i
Future prospects of precision agriculture in Nepal
Get PDFPrecision agriculture is a management system based on information and technology which analyses the spatial and temporal variability within the field and addresses them systematically for optimizing productivity, profitability, and environmental sustainability. It is an emerging concept of agriculture that implies a precise application of inputs at the right place, at the right time, and in the right amount to minimize the production cost, to boost profitability and reduce risks. The three main elements of precision agriculture are data and information, technology, and decision support systems. This system of management is known as ‘Site-specific management’ which makes use of technologies like global positioning system, global information system, remote sensors, yield monitors, guidance technology, variable-rate technology, hardware, and software. Agriculture is the mainstay of Nepal but still is not proficient enough to appease the daily consumption needs. The ongoing system of farming practices in Nepal is deemed insufficient to explore the available resources in its optimum potential. Many cultivable lands in the country are still a virgin, and many indigenous crop varieties have remained unexplored in their wilderness that is rich in biodiversity. These possibilities embark great room for increasing agricultural productivity through the precision farming system if adopted the technology on a large scale within the country. The national economy can be flustered and the environment can also be conserved using precision agriculture. It can address all agricultural and environmental issues. It is a technically sophisticated system and requires great technical knowledge for successful adoption and implementation. This study examines the history, global scenario, scope of precision agriculture, and its importance, opportunities, threats, and challenges in Nepal