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Effects of crude oil treatment on the morphology and performance of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes (Mart) Solms) in Niger-Delta region of Nigeria
Get PDFMany aquatic plants existing in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria are at the risk of extinction due to oil spill. The present study was aimed at investigating the effect of different concentrations of crude oil on the morphology and growth performance of the hydrophyte, Eichhornia crassipes present in coastal waters of Nigeria’s Niger Delta region, where crude oil exploitation as well as oil spill is high. The plant, E. crassipes was subjected to varying concentrations of crude oil treatments (1.25%, 2.5%, 5%, 7.5% and 10%). Each treatment was replicated three times. The performance was measured using various growth parameters which include height, number of leaves, leaf area, fresh weight and dry weight. The results showed that the control plant performed better than the treated plants with respect to all the morphological characters considered. The control plant of E. crassipes produced a height of 7.56±0.028 from an initial height of 6.02±0.028. Among the treated plants, 1.25% and 2.5% promoted height, leaf area, number of leaves, fresh and dry weight up to the 6th week of growth while 7.5% and 10% decreased plant height up to the 4th week. The E. crassipes treated with 7.5% and 10% crude oil concentrations died 6 weeks following the treatments. The ability of E. crassipes to tolerate the different levels of crude oil was authenticated in this study. However, the study showed that there is a limit of sustenance of petroleum hydrocarbons pollution for E. crassipes above which toxicity will apply
Role of credit in maize (Zea mays L.) production and assessment of food security in a selected area of Bangladesh
Get PDFCredit provides the means for many farmers to adjust their operations to keep up with the constant changes and, by doing so, to improve their operations. It also contributes to achieve food security of households. Tabular method is used to analyze credit profile, multiple regression analyses are used to determine the impact of credit on maize production and “Modified” OECD scale is used to measure calorie intake level of the 60 maize farming households who has got agricultural credit from Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank in Lalmonirhat district of Bangladesh. Data were collected through field survey by using pre-designed and pre-tested interview schedule. TK.10500, 26333.33, 92103.77 (US 59553.57) and at 9% interest it became TK. 54, 52,725 (US$ 64913.39). The repayment performance of the households was about 100%. It is also revealed from the study that credit had a positive impact on fertilizer demand and irrigation demand and overall a positive impact on maize production. The coefficient of maize production with respect to agricultural credit was 0.081. The elasticity of fertilizer and irrigation demand with respect to credit was 0.016 and 0.543 respectively. The calorie intake situation of the sample households depicts that about 6.67% of the respondents belonged to the ultra-poor whose per day calorie intake was 1481.991 k.cal. About 20% of respondents were hardcore poor whose per day calorie intake was 1722.133 k.cal. The persons belonged to the absolute poor about 21.67% and per capita calorie intake was 1934.605 k.cal. The rest 51.67% belonged to the non-poor group. Different financial institutions should disburse sufficient agricultural credit to fulfill the requirement of the farmers
Bacteriological assessment of some borehole water samples in Mile 50, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Nigeria
Get PDFWater as excellent natural resource is meant to be of high quality to reduce the outbreak of water-borne diseases. Bacteriological load of some borehole water samples in Mile 50 Abakaliki were carried out to determine their potability. Fifteen borehole water samples were sampled during rainy and dry season from June to July and November to December 2018 respectively. The total bacterial count was determined by tenfold serial dilution method using peptone water. Eight bacterial species namely Vibrio cholerae, Pseudomonas aeroginosa, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhi, Shigella flexineri, Proteus vulgaris and Klebsiella pneumoniaewere isolated using standard analytical procedures. The bacterium that had the highest frequency of occurrence during both rainy and dry season’s was K. pneumoniae with percentage frequency of 21.81% and 20.79% respectively, and P. vulgaris had the least value of 6.96% during rainy season. E. coli and S. aureus have the least value of 5.94% during dry season. Amoxicillin (30ug) was mostly resisted by the bacterial isolates why being was more susceptible to Ciprofloxacin (10ug) among the antibiotics used for susceptibility test. Two way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine the level of significance among the bacteriological analyses of both seasons. Therefore, there is need to create awareness about the present situation of the borehole waters and the necessity for further treatment of water by consumers, before it can be used for both drinking and domestic purposes to prevent disease outbreak in the area
Erratum: Life cycle and eco-friendly management of Chinese fruit fly (Bactrocera minax) in sweet orange (Citrus Sinensis Osbeck) in Nepal
Get PDFErratum (25 Sept. 2020): This paper is a review article. Original photographs were taken by Debraj Adhikari, Senior Agriculture Officer, MoALD, PMAMP, PIU, Sindhuli, Nepal. We apologies for the mistakes that occurred in the published article. Original article can be found at https://doi.org/10.26832/24566632.2020.0502013. Certain other corrections as suggested by the authors can be found in the updated version of this article on this page
Effects of micronutrients on bulb growth, yield and quality of local and high yielding onion (Allium cepa L.) cultivars in Bangladesh
Get PDFMicronutrients have important functions on onion production. An experiment was conducted at the Landscape section and Laboratory of the Department of Horticulture, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh during the period from October, 2017 to March, 2018 to investigate the effects of micronutrients on bulb growth, yield and quality of local and high yielding (HY) onion cultivars in Bangladesh. The experiment comprised three onion cultivars viz., Taherpuri (local), BARI Piaz 1 (HY) and BARI Piaz 4 (HY), and five micronutrients viz., Control (no micronutrient), Boron (B) @ 0.2 g/plot, Zinc (Zn) @ 0.5 g/plot, Copper (Cu) @ 0.2 g/plot and B+Zn+Cu @ (0.2+0.5+0.2 g/plot). The two-factor experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design with three replications. Results revealed that onion cultivars and micronutrients had significant influence on the parameters studied. BARI Piaz 4 along with the application of B+Zn+Cu @ 0.2+0.5+0.2 g/plot produced the highest bulb size, increased plant height, number of leaves, fresh weight of bulb, per cent dry matter content of bulbs and bulb yield compared to other onion cultivars and micronutrient treatments. The highest bulb yield (16.07 t/ha) was recorded in B+Zn+Cu, while the lowest bulb yield (8.92 t/ha) was found from control. Highest gross yield of onion (20.67 t/ha) was recorded from BARI Piaz 4 with B+Zn+Cu @ 0.2+0.5+0.2 g/plot. Therefore, it can be concluded that combined treatment of BARI Piaz 4 and B+Zn+Cu @ @ 0.2+0.5+0.2 g/plot was found to be better in respect of bulb growth and yield, and Taherpuri for quality of onion
Performance of tropical sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) as influenced by date of harvesting
Get PDFAn experiment was conducted at the Agronomy Field Laboratory, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh during November 2017 to April 2018 to study the effect of date of harvesting on the yield and quality of tropical sugar beet. The experiment comprised seven varieties viz. SV 889, SV 892, SV 893, SV 894, SZ 35, KWS Serenada and KWS Danicia and two dates of harvesting viz. 135 days after sowing (DAS) and 155 DAS. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Variety, date of harvesting and their interaction showed significant effect on crop characters, beet yield and juice quality of tropical sugar beet. The highest beet length (23.50 cm), individual beet weight (591.6 g) and beet yield (59.16 t ha-1) were recorded in SV 894 while the highest brix (15.42%) was observed in SV 893. The lowest beet yield (40.25 t ha-1) and brix (13.92%) were observed in KWS Danicia. In case of date of harvesting, the highest beet length (24.26 cm), beet girth (25.40 cm), individual beet weight (536.07 g) and beet yield (53.60 t ha-1) were observed at 155 DAS harvest while the highest brix (14.66%) was recorded at 135 DAS harvest. In interaction, the highest beet length (25.67 cm), individual beet weight (681.2 g) and beet yield (68.12 t ha-1) were recorded in SV 894 with 155 DAS harvest whereas the lowest beet yield (32.03 t ha-1) was recorded in the interaction in KWS Danicia with 135 DAS harvest. From this study, it may be concluded that SV 894 appears as the promising variety that can be harvested at 155 DAS
Impact of industrial wastewater disposal on surface water bodies in Kalingarayan canal, Erode district, Tamil Nadu, India
Get PDFThe Kalingarayan canal is crossing the major textile town Erode which is abundantly occupied by textile units. Major streams carrying the untreated / semi treated industrial effluents are mixed into the canal. However, the gradual introduction of a large number of new chemical compounds and the technologies has resulted in a much higher number of contaminants today. The original situation, which local intense pollution from a limited number of well-defined sources has been transferred into a situation with widespread contamination by a large variety of compounds from a multitude of sources. Continuous disposal of industrial effluents on the canal, limited assimilate capacity of the canal and also leads to groundwater pollution. Kalingarayan canal has helped to cultivate more than 6000 hectares. For the past few years, Kalingarayan farmers and cattle are experiencing various problems. The area of cultivation is reduced to 3000 hectares because of the contamination in the canal by the different polluting industries like tanneries, textiles and dyeing units located in Erode and Tirupur areas. Hence yield on their lands has decreased to a certain extent. Thus, this study gives a clear picture of pollution sources, types of effluents added in the canal. The scope of the present study is to assess the impact on the surface water of the Kalingarayan canal, a comprehensive experimental study to identify the pollutant levels in the surface water of the Kalingarayan canal and to suggest a suitable remedial measure to handle this problem
Production economics of Ginger (Zingiber officinale Rose.) in Salyan district of Nepal
Get PDFThis study investigates the economics of ginger (Zingiber officinale Rose.) production in the Salyan district of Nepal. The production economics was assessed by the household survey in purposively selected Sharada municipality and Siddhakumakh Rural Municipalities. The semi-structured interview schedule was administered to interview randomly selected forty-three producers from Sharada Municipality and thirty-one producers from Siddhakumakh Rural Municipality. The results indicated that the ginger production was found to be a profitable enterprise in the study area with an average B:C ratio of 1.55. The overall productivity of ginger in the study area was found to be 16.28 MT/ha. The Cobb-Douglas production function indicates that ginger production exhibited increasing returns to scale at a decreasing rate. The regression function of 0.784 implies that if all the inputs specified in the production function are increased by 100%, the gross return will increase by about 78.4%
Response of maize (Zea mays L.) hybrids to different levels of nitrogen
Get PDFNitrogen is one of the key factors for higher grain production of hybrid maize (Zea mays L.). The use of improved varieties and optimal use of nitrogen (N) fertilizer is important for exploiting yield potential of maize. This work was carried out to evaluate the effects of N rates on grain yield and yield attributing traits of hybrid maize. Two hybrids (RML-86/RML-96 and RML-95/RML-96) and five levels of nitrogen (120, 150, 180, 210 and 240 kg N/ha) were evaluated at research field of National Maize Research Program (NMRP), Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal in spring season of 2017 and 2018. The experiments were conducted in two factorial randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications under rainfed condition. The pooled analysis (2017 and 2018) showed that the highest grain yield 10.5 and 10.5 t/ha were given by hybrids RML86/RML96 and RML95/RML96, respectively with the use of 150 kg N/ha in 2017. The hybrids RML-86/RML-96 and RML-95/RML-96 produced the highest grain yield 7.49 and 7.68 t/ha, respectively with the use of 150 kg N/ha in 2018. The mean grain yield (2017 and 2018) showed that both maize hybrids produced the highest grain yield 10.5 t/ha in 2017 and 7.58 t/ha year in 2018 with the application of 150 kg N/ha. The application of nitrogen fertilizer on grain yield was found significant (P<0.05) in both years. Therefore, the application of 150 kg N/ha has significantly increased grain yield of maize, Therefore, this dose of nitrogen can be recommended for higher maize production in Chitwan, Nepal in spring season under rainfed condition
Assessment of soil and water quality as affected by herbicide application in the rice field of Bangladesh
Get PDFWeed is a vital constraint for crop especially rice cultivation. Among several techniques herbicidal weed control is thought to be efficient and cost effective method. But herbicide may change soil or water quality in rice field. Taking this into consideration a study was conducted to assess soil and water quality in herbicide applied rice field. The study was conducted in two phases. In first phase a list of herbicide was made according to the uses by the local farmers of Mymensingh district. It was found that among the herbicides wide used two herbicides were i. Laser (Pyrazosulphuron ethyl-10 WP) and ii. Changer (Acetachlor-14% + Bensulfuron methyl-4%). In the second phase, an experiment was conducted at Agronomy Field Laboratory, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh considering these two herbicides. It was found that the application of herbicide in the rice field did not change the nutrient content in the soil or water of rice field. But herbicide significantly reduced the microbial activity and increased the chlorine content (In case of herbicide 2 i.e. Acetachlor-14% + Bensulfuron methyl-4%) in both soil and water of rice field. Therefore, it can be concluded that though the nutrient content of the soil of rice field is not significantly affected by herbicide application but the presence of high amount of Cl content in the rice field may cause burning injury of rice leaf at the early stages of its growth which could affect the yield of rice