121 research outputs found
Perpustakaan Tun Abdul Razak UCS (PTAR) / Amirul Asyraf Ali, PTAR, Hazri Shahrulizwan Hashim and Muhammad Zulkarnain Md Ariff.
No full textLibrary Tun Abdul Razak (PTAR) Puncak Alam Campus has started its services on 27 July 2009 at 5th Floor. Plaza Satellite Building B (PSB). Through Phase 2 development. Puncak Alam Campus Library has moved into new buildings and fully operation in May 2014. The new building has four floors that can accommodate 1300 seats at a time. The facilities and services provided is expected to meet the needs of teaching, learning, research and development of knowledge among
UiTM
High fertility regions in Bangladesh: A marriage cohort analysis
No full textBangladesh represents one of the few countries in south Asia where the pace of fertility decline has been unprecedented over the last three decades. Although there has been significant reduction in fertility levels at the national level, regional variations continue to persist, especially in Sylhet and Chittagong where the total fertility rates are well above the country average. Using data from three consecutive Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys (BDHSs) this paper assesses how fertility patterns in Sylhet and Chittagong differ from the rest of Bangladesh through a marriage cohort analysis of the parity progression ratios, and examines the factors determining the transition rates to higher parity in these two regions. Three cohorts of women are identified: those married during 1965–1974, 1975–84 and 1985–94. The results show that the probability that a woman from the recent cohort in Sylhet or Chittagong who had a third birth will have a fourth birth is nearly twice that of her counterpart in other regions. Social characteristics such as education, occupation, religion and residence have no effect on fertility in Sylhet and Chittagong. Additional period-specific analyses using the 2007 BDHS data show that women in Sylhet are considerably more likely to have a third or fourth birth sooner than those in other divisions, especially Khulna. The findings call for specific family planning policy interventions in Sylhet and Chittagong ensuring gender equity, promoting female education and delaying entry into marriage and childbearing
The role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in plant invasion trajectory
No full textBackground: Invasive plant species pose a global threat because they alter ecosystem functioning and biodiversity. The majority of plants form mutualistic mycorrhizal associations with mycorrhizal fungi, which contribute to the nutrient and water supply as well as diversity, competitive ability, and ecosystem productivity. In addition, the role of mycorrhizal interactions in plant invasiveness and the susceptibility or resistance of a habitat to invasion is increasingly recognized. However, the mechanisms by which mycorrhizae contribute to invasion remain unresolved. Scope: Here, we provide an overview of the empirical evidence and discuss the prospects for mycorrhizaemediated plant invasion. Overall, mycorrhizal fungi appear to have impacts on plant invasion that depend on the similarities between the mycorrhizal associations of the alien and native plants. We introduce plant mycorrhizal niche space (PMNS) as a plant’s ability to exploit and shape the mycorrhizal fungi pool of a habitat based on its dependency on mycorrhizal fungi, traits and priority effects. Conclusions: Collectively, the available evidence supports the idea that PMNS is independent of place of origin (invasive status). Understanding the drivers of the PMNS of both native and alien plant species may help to predict the potential invasiveness of plants and the invasibility of a habitat, to elucidate the role of the mycorrhizal fungal community in plant invasion and the impact of plant invasion on the structure of the mycorrhizal fungal community in new habitats (i.e., neighbour effect) and to improve restoration planning. In this regard, we highlight a number of knowledge gaps and discuss future research directions.</p
Genetic diversity and effect of salinity on Morpho-physiochemical properties of purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) germplasm collections
No full textGlobal warming is already having significant and costly effects on our climate, our
health, our environment and overall agricultural system. Global warming is also
accelerating the rate of sea level rise, increasing flooding risks to low-lying
communities, high-risk coastal properties, causing severe salinity and making
agricultural land unsuitable for crop production. Considering such situation
environmental friendly technologies with stress tolerant crop species is the only
solution for sustainable agricultural development. Purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) is
a pioneer vegetable crops having moderate to high salt tolerant capability containing
vitamins and minerals and rich in antioxidant properties than any other vegetable
crops ever reported. The present study was therefore designed to select high salt
tolerant purslane accessions and their morpho-physiological variation due to salinity
stress as well as impact on antioxidant properties. A survey was conducted to collect
available purslane accessions from seven states (Selangor, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan,
Kedah, Perak, Penang and Perlis) of Western Peninsular Malaysia. A total of 45
purslane samples were collected and divided into seven different groups based on
distinct morphological variation. Morpho-physiological and mineral variations were
also evaluated among collected purslane accessions. Highly significant variations
were observed among accessions as well as measured parameters. Variations were
also recorded among the same groups may be due to collection from different
location. Twenty eight ISSR and ten EST-SSR markers based genetic diversity
analysis was carried out among collected purslane germplasms. Analysis of molecular
variance (AMOVA) showed 89% and 71.87% variation within the populations while
variation among the populations accounted for 11% and 28.13% using ISSR and ESTSSR
markers respectively. A dendrogram was constructed by Unweighted Pair Group
Method with Arithmetic Average (UPGMA) based on Nei’s genetic distance grouped
the whole germplasms into 7 and 8 distinct clusters respectively from ISSR and ESTSSR
markers. Based on the information from this dendrogram, accessions that are far
from each other by virtue of genetic origin and diversity index are strongly
recommended to be used as parent for improved variety development. Another glass
house experiment was conducted with initially selected 25 purslane accessions and
subjected to five salinity (0.0, 10.0, 20.0, 30.0 and 40.0 dS m-1 NaCl) treatments to
screen out high salt tolerant purslane accessions. Overall salinity effect on morphology and reduction of dry matter content of two accessions were graded as
tolerant (Ac7 and Ac9), six accessions were moderately tolerant (Ac3, Ac5, Ac6,
Ac10, Ac11 and Ac12) and five accessions were moderately susceptible (Ac1, Ac2,
Ac4, Ac8 and Ac13) for biomass production and the rest 12 accessions were
susceptible to high salinity (30.0 and 40.0 dS m-1 NaCl) and discarded from the
further research program. The results also revealed that ornamental purslane were
more salt tolerant over common purslane. The selected 13 purslane accessions were
again subjected to five (0.0, 8.0, 16.0, 24.0 and 32.0 dS m-1 NaCl) salinity levels to
determine the effect of salinity on detailed morphological, physiological, minerals,
antioxidant properties and on stem-root histology of purslane. At the highest (30 dS
m-1) salinity significant reduction was observed for morphological traits but for
physiology, increase in chlorophyll content was seen in Ac2, Ac4, Ac6 and Ac8 at 16
dS m-1 salinity. Whereas, Ac4, Ac9 and Ac12 showed increased photosynthesis
activity at the same salinity levels compared to control. Anatomically, stem cortical
tissues of Ac5, Ac9 and Ac12 were unaffected at 8 dS m-1 salinity but root cortical
tissues did not show any significant damages except a very small enlargement in
Ac12 and Ac13. In general Ac9, an ornamental purslane was the best salt tolerant
accession, while Ac13 a common purslane was the most affected accession.
Regarding antioxidant properties on average over all accessions, different levels of
salinity treatment resulted in 8-35% increases in TPC; about 35% increase in TFC;
and 18-35% increases in FRAP activity. In contrast, at the lower salinity levels (8 and
16 dS m-1) all the measured minerals found to increase but observed to decrease later
with increasing of salinity, but performance of different accessions were different
depending on salinity levels. Salinity treatment experiments conducted in our study
followed by investigation of different morpho-physicochemical and antioxidant
attributes of purslane are valuable for the selection of best salt-tolerant accessions
with optimum yield and productivity and antioxidant nutrients. Based upon the data
generated such accessions can thus be recommended for cultivation in the saline areas
of Malaysia to benefitting health of consumers and as well as sustainable and
beneficial utilization of the lands
Screening of Low Bitterness Bitter Gourd (momordica charantia) Parental Lines based on Low Calcium Contents and Other Morpho-physio and Nutritional Attributes
No full textThe bitter taste of Momordica charantia due to its high level of calcium content limits people from consuming it, although it has enough various beneficial nutrients. Parental line evaluation is prerequisite for any desired improvement activities through breeding. In this regard M. charantia parental lines were evaluated based on bitterness (high Ca content) and morpho-nutritional attributes to augment additional value and opportunity to be commercialized. Field and laboratory experiments were carried out for three open-pollinated M. charantia varieties to screen low bitterness parental lines based on low calcium contents and other morpho-nutritional qualities, targeting to generalize this important vegetable crops for all types of consumers from child to older age. From the overall results of the study, Variety 2 showed better quality for numbers of fruits per plant, fruit weight (g), moisture content (%), chlorophyll content (mmol/m²), stomatal conductance (mmol/m²s) and nutrients content such as calcium (Ca), nitrogen (N), magnesium (Mg) and iron (Fe). Variety 3 had good quality for morphological parameters like plant height (cm), numbers of leaves per plant, leaf area (cm²), fruit length (cm), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), aluminium (Al) and copper (Cu). Variety 1 had the highest values only for number of branches per plant and amount of sodium (Na) content. After that, Variety 2 was identified for having lowest calcium (Ca) contents compared to the other two varieties. Thus, Variety 2 was selected as better parents to hold good promise for hybridization based breeding programs for varietal improvement in obtaining low bitterness bitter gourd but rich in other nutrient contents
Roles of Glycinebetaine on Antioxidants and Gene Function in Rice Plants Under Water Stress
No full textAntioxidants activities and gene expression in rice up-regulated during water stress condition. The activation of antioxidants (enzymatic and non-enzymatic) such as glutathione reductase (GR), monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDHAR) and dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) in plants is related to the Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) accumulation in plant under stress conditions. Glycine betaine, however, plays a pivotal role as an osmoprotectant in response to water stress. Exogenous application of glycine betaine improves the activities of antioxidants and expression of gene, which might lead to the improvement and sustainability of rice production during climate change conditions. Understanding the association of antioxidant enzyme activities and its expression in response to water stress is essential for further understanding the molecular mechanisms by which controlling antioxidant defense for drought tolerance. This also will be useful information on theory basis for drought resistance breeding and cultivation of rice as an effort to sustain rice production. In this review, literatures for the potential of glycinebetaine to improve antioxidants defense activity and gene expression during the water stress condition in related to sustainable rice production have been discussed
Effect of Time of Tiller Separation on Grain Growth and Seed Yield of Transplant Aman Rice
No full textAn experiment was carried out to study the effect of time of tiller separation on grain growth and yield of transplant aman rice. The experiment consisted of 3 times of tiller separation viz. tiller separation at 25 (T1), 35 (T2) and 45 (T3) days after transplanting (DAT); and 5 levels of number of tillers kept hill-1 viz. intact hills (K0), 1 tiller kept hill-1 (K1), 2 tillers kept hill-1 (K2), 3 tillers kept hill-1 (K3) and 4 tillers kept hill⁻¹ (K4). The experiment was conducted in randomized complete block design with three replications. The unit plot size was 4 m 2.5 m. With a few exceptions, the highest grain growth parameters like number of panicles hill⁻¹, dry weight panicle-⁻¹, number of grains panicle⁻¹, dry weight grain-1 and grain growth rate were observed when tillers were separated at 25 DAT but the lowest values were found at 45 DAT. The grain growth rate decreased with the advance of time. The highest grain yield (5.25 t ha⁻¹) was obtained from tillers separated at 25 days after transplanting (DAT) but the lowest values (4.13 t ha⁻¹) were recorded when tillers were separated at 45 DAT. The maximum grain yield (5.88 t ha⁻¹) was found in intact hills, while the lowest values (2.64 t ha⁻¹) were obtained when 1 tiller kept hill⁻¹
RealStrong Tricho Acti-Plus (Trichoderma koningii) for Enhanced Plant Growth and Yield of Chili
No full textTricho Acti-Plus (produced by Sabah Softwoods Hybrid Fertilizer Sdn. Bhd.) is a powder-based microbial inoculant containing the active ingredient of Trichoderma koningii, designed to control fungal diseases as a biocontrol agent in plants and indirectly support plant growth and yield. Chili producers are habituated to apply environmentally damaging chemical-based inorganic fertilizers for the better production and yield of chili. Which is one of the major causes of damaging soil productivity. Trichoderma koningii is mainly well-known to be used against fungal diseases of plants but its potential use for chili growth and yield is still unknown. With this purpose in mind in this experiment different concentrations of Tricho Acti-Plus solution were prepared as treatments; 0.0 ml (T1, control), 200 ml (T2), 400 ml (T3) and 600 ml (T4) and applied two (2) times to the chili plants as foliar spray; at the time of seedling transplanting till 35 days after transplanting, aiming to investigate Tricho Acti-Plus effectiveness on the growth and yield of local chili bara (Variety-1) and chili kulai 461 (Variety-2). From the findings it was observed that application of Tricho Acti-Plus significantly boosted up the vegetative growth and yield of both chili varieties, but rarely a positive effect was observed on yield parameters of Variety-1. Based on overall performance among 4 treatments T3 exhibited significantly (p≤0.05) the highest effectiveness for both vegetative growth and yield parameters; on plant height (55.64 cm), numbers of branches (61.2), numbers of leaves (341), numbers of fruits (125 at week 10; 77.2 at week 12), fruit length (4.3 cm at week 10; 4.08 cm at week 12), fruit weight (1.4 g) and total yield (0.11 kg at week 10; 0.068 kg at week 12). Meanwhile, the similar results were also achieved for Variety-2 under T3 for numbers of branches (51.8), numbers of leaves (213.6), fruit length (14.4 at week 10, 13.9 at week 12) and total yield (0.171 Kg at week 10). Only for few of the parameters T4 and T1 (control) also exhibited best performance. Therefore, based on the top performance T3 is recommended for the best vegetative growth and yield of both chili varieties. From the overall results of this experiment it can be decided that the RealStrong Tricho Acti-Plus is suitable to be used as a biofertilizer for the growth, yield and quality of chili besides the commonly known capability to prevent from fungal diseases
Status of persistent organic pesticide residues in water and food and their effects on environment and farmers: a comprehensive review in Nigeria
No full textPesticide helps to enhance agricultural production, however, it significantly affect both socio and environmental entities of a country. In Nigeria, pesticide is widely used, thus its traces have been detected in water, soil and air. Several studies have already indicated that most of the environmental ecology (air, water, and soil) in Nigeria has been contaminated by persistent organic pesticides like organochlorine and organophosphate. Other reasons of high pesticide residues present in Nigeria environment is due to inappropriate dosage applied of pesticides that leaves behind excess. However, its residues are found above safety levels in the air, water, and soil across the nation. Based on previous analysis, it is indicated that 125,000-130,000 metric ton pesticides are being applied annually in Nigeria. Despite banned of some pesticides such as dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane- and -Hexachlorocyclohexane, they are still being used by farmers in their agricultural production. Many of the Class 1 (high extremely toxic) pesticides are still being used in developing countries like Nigeria. Hence, there is need to sensitize and educate the general public especially the end-users (farmers) particularly on management practices of pesticides. Considering these entire hazardous situations, in this article the history of pesticide used in Nigeria has been reviewed in detail. The article also discussed the effects of pesticide use in Nigerian waters, soil and on crops. The risk of residual pesticide on agricultural workers, pesticide residue risk preventive measures by the Federal Government of Nigeria, banned and restricted pesticides in Nigeria, Nigerian Government and its efforts to eliminate persistent organic pesticides in use are also reviewed in details
Fruit Set Capabilities and Yield Variability among Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) Germplasm Collections
No full textIn cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) male and female flowers’ production rate is not the same in every variety, which is the main cause to create variation in fruit set. Though natural pollinators (honeybees and flies) are significant catalysts in fruit settings, but if genetically the female flower production rate is lower then we cannot expect more fruits from that plant. Knowing the female flower-bearing characteristics of selected cucumber plants is important otherwise cannot expect the desired yield from the plant. Considering the overall issues, a study was conducted for the evaluation of performance of five cucumber varieties namely, Timun Putih Besar (TPB), Timun Hijau Manis (THM), Timun Hijau Tanga (THT), Timun Susu Besar (TSB), and Timun Putih (TP). The study was carried out in Nethouse 7 at the Faculty of Sustainable Agriculture (FSA), Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), Sandakan. Data on plant height (cm), numbers of leaves, days to first male and female flowering, total numbers of male and female flowers, fruit length (cm), fruit diameter (cm), fruit weight (g), total numbers of fruits per plant, total yield (kg), and leaf chlorophyll content were collected and analysed. The result showed that there were significant differences (p<0.05) among the varieties for days to first male and female flowering, total numbers of female flowers, fruit length (cm), fruit diameter (cm), fruit weight (g), total number of fruits per plant, total yield (kg) and chlorophyll content, respectively. Overall, Timun Hijau Manis (THM) significantly (p<0.05) exhibited the best performance for days to first female flowering (25.50 days), total numbers of female flowers (21.50), total number of fruits per plant (5.75), and total yield (1.99 kg) compared to other 4 varieties. Therefore, THM variety is highly recommended to farmers for the overall performances and yield followed by TBP, THT, TSB and TP cucumber varieties, respectively
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