Expanding Dengue Vectors Through the Border of Dhaka City: Vector Breeding Grounds in Gazipur City Corporation, Bangladesh

With global expansion of vector borne diseases, dengue has emerged as a big health crisis and social problem in recent years in Bangladesh. Despite its endemicity since 2000, very few studies were conducted outside of the Capital Dhaka city regarding vector breeding status. Within this dark situation, the year 2019 reported the ever highest number of dengue cases of 101,354. Of them about 50% were from out of Dhaka. To reduce this burden, keeping the vector population density under threshold level is must. In the present entomological study, 100 houses were checked randomly from five areas of Gazipur City Corporation (GCC) during the month of September in 2019. Both of the Aedes vectors were found in all areas, but Aedes aegypti population was dominant. Rooftop garden and under construction site were identified as the most important vector breeding sites. Highly urbanized area (SA2) produced the highest and suburban area (SA4) produced the lowest Breteau Index (BI) of 110 and 15 respectively. The overall House Index (HI) and Breteau Index (BI) of the study areas were 16 and 49 respectively. Four kinds of containers, namely; cemented tank, drum, big earthen pot (chari) and buckets contained about 80 percent of immature Aedes and identified as key container among the positive containers. The Said study has identified comparatively higher number of Ae. aegypti breeding, which is potential for triggering any major outbreak. Further, large-scale surveillance in all administrative wards with a larger sample may indicate the real picture of vector infestation situation throughout the municipality. Bangladesh J. Zool. 49(1): 69-82, 2021

How Healthy Are Horticultural Plants Grown in Polluted Cities? The Case of Mexico City

Soil to plant metal(loid) accumulation has been highly evaluated in recent years due to its significant impact on human health. This study reports the concentrations of 15 metal(loid)s in four vegetables (tomato, onion, chili, and lettuce) cultivated in one greenhouse, one top garden, and two roof gardens, rooftop urban gardens in four locations within the metropolitan area of Mexico City. In this experiment, the contribution of metals and metalloids due to atmospheric deposition and irrigation may be negligible. It is considered that the concentration of metals depends only on transfer from the soil. Soil analysis indicates that only vanadium in one location (a rooftop garden in V. Carranza) exceeds the permissible limits recommended by the Mexican government. For most metals, lettuce shows the highest concentrations and transfer factors compared to the other vegetables studied. The transfer factors were exceptionally high for Cd (lettuce) and Hg (tomato), presenting values above 1. The concentrations of As, Cd, Hg, and Pb were compared with permissible limit values recommended for vegetables by different international agencies. It was observed that, except for As, these values are exceeded in various vegetables harvested in this study. This information must be corroborated with more detailed studies evaluating the chemical species in which those metal(loid)s is present and identifying the physicochemical parameters of the soil that caused the enrichment of these metal(loid)s to exceed the permissible limit values.

Influence of Substrates and Hydrogels on Spearmint (Mentha spicata) Growth and Flowering in a Rooftop Garden

Agricultural hydrogels improve water retention in a variety of substrates. However, little is known about their impact on herb cultivation in rooftop farming. To identify the optimal substrate and hydrogel concentration for the growth and flowering of spearmint (Mentha spicata) in rooftop gardens, coir and perlite were mixed in three different ratios of 80% to 20% (v/v; referred to as C4P1), 50% to 50% (C1P1), or 20% to 80% (C1P4). Hydrogels were added into different substrates at different concentrations including 0 (control), 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, or 2.0 kg⋅m–3. Substrate composition significantly affected the growth (P < 0.001) and flowering (P < 0.05) properties of spearmint. The addition of hydrogels into substrates resulted in a significant (P < 0.05) increase in growth parameters for spearmint during the dry season. However, plants grown in C4P1, which has the highest ratio of coir, displayed inferior growth and flowering compared with those of the other two substrates during the rainy season. Therefore, a perlite-based substrate, such as C1P4 with added hydrogel, provides a suitable environment for the cultivation of spearmint in rooftop gardens regardless of seasonal rainfall patterns.

Effect of Plant growing Structures and Media on Yield of Tomato in the Rooftop Garden

This experiment was carried out at the rooftop garden of the Department of Agricultural Botany, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University (SAU), Dhaka-1207, Bangladesh from October 2017 to March 2018 to evaluate the response of tomato to different plant growing structures and composition of growing media in the rooftop garden. The experiment had two factors, factor A- two plant growing structures, viz., S1 = Plastic pot, S2 = Earthen pot and factor B - six different plant growing medium viz. M0 = Soil 100% (w/w) + inorganic fertilizer (IF)/(control), M1 = Soil 80% (w/w) + 20% cowdung (w/w) + IF, M2 = Soil 70% (w/w) + 30% cowdung (w/w) + IF, M3 = Soil 90% (w/w) + 10% vermicompost (w/w) + IF, M4 = Soil 80% (w/w) + 20% vermicompost (w/w) + IF, M5 = Soil 80% (w/w) + 10% cowdung (w/w) + 10% vermicompost (w/w) + IF. The factorial experiment was laid out in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with four replications. The experimental results yield contributing characters and yield of tomato significantly influenced by different plant growing structures and various composition of plant growing media and also their combination. Considering plant growing structures, the S1 gave the highest flower clusters per plant, flowers per plant, fruit length and fruit breadth. The maximum yield of fruits per plant (1.69 kg) was also obtained from plastic pot. The M5 had the highest flower clusters per plant, flowers per plant, fruit length and fruit diameter. The maximum yield of fruits per plant (2.17 kg) was recorded from the M5. The highest yield of fruits per plant (2.15 kg) was obtained from the treatment combination of S1M5. This experimental results suggest that S1M5 be able to increase the fruit yield of BARI tomato14 for rabi season in the rooftop garden.

Ecosystem Services of Urban Agriculture: Perceptions of Project Leaders, Stakeholders and the General Public

Within the scholarly debate, Urban Agriculture (UA) has been widely acknowledged to provide diverse environmental and socio-cultural ecosystem services (ESs) for cities. However, the question of whether these potential benefits are also recognized as such by the involved societal groups on the ground has not yet been investigated. This paper aims at (1) assessing the perceived ESs of UA, comparing the views of different societal groups in the city of Bologna, Italy (namely: UA project leaders, stakeholders and the general public) and (2) to identify differences in the evaluation of specific UA types (indoor farming, high-tech greenhouses, peri-urban farms, community-supported agriculture, community rooftop garden and urban co-op). In total, 406 individuals evaluated 25 ESs via a standardized Likert-scale survey. The study unveiled similarities and divergences of perceptions among the different societal groups. The statistical analysis indicated that the general public and UA stakeholders agree on the high relevance of socio-cultural ESs, while provisioning ESs was considered as less significant. UA types focusing on social innovation were expected to provide higher socio-cultural ESs whereas peri-urban activities were more closely linked to habitat ESs. We assume that involvement and knowledge of UA are determining factors for valuing the provision of ESs through UA, which needs to be considered for ES valuation, particularly in a policymaking context.

EKSPLORASI MIXED-PROGRAM (PASAR BUNGA, KULINER, DAN TAMAN KOTA) DALAM MERANCANG 3 FLORE KEBAYORAN LAMA, JAKARTA SELATAN

Third Place is an informal public place to socialize, example: Green Open Space which is a mandatory demand for an urban society. The largest green open space on DKI Jakarta located in the South Jakarta, sub-district of Kebayoran Lama, North Kebayoran Lama. However, after analyzing the largest percentage for cemeteries. So, the target to reach minimum green open space level for the city is still far away. There is a difference in contrast between upper intermediate district and lower intermediate district proves social standards were never been equal. Therefore the “Third Place” on Jalan Raya Kebayoran Lama leads “Urban Park” as the theme to ressurrect proper green space. This project want to exhibit the variety of social-class, solve the green open space issues, and make the diversity being accepted. This diversity being interpreted as a flowers bouquet, by pointing this project as a “Main Atrractor” which linked the Kebayoran Lama Station, upper intermediate district, Gandaria City, Tanah Kusir cemetery and the lower intermediate district that reflects North Kebayoran Lama. There are three main program as the vision to-offer which: flower market, culinary, and urban park with the rental land system every weekend with family or friends on the rooftop garden, as well as making a gardening event in accordance with the blooming flower season at a certain time. The intention of this project is to be public entertainment from the the city routines; along with an experience on urban park in the main of the city; including a convocation area and community. Keywords: culinary; flower; market; park; urbanAbstrakThird Place merupakan tempat publik yang informal untuk bersosialisasi. Salah satunya adalah Ruang Terbuka Hijau (RTH). RTH merupakan sebuah kebutuhan dasar yang dibutuhkan masyarakat perkotaan. RTH paling besar DKI Jakarta berada di kota Jakarta Selatan, kecamatan Kebayoran Lama, kelurahan Kebayoran Lama Utara. Tetapi, setelah dianalisa RTH paling besar persentasenya untuk pemakaman. Padahal, target untuk mencapai tingkat RTH minimal kota masih jauh. Selain itu, terjadi perbedaan kontras antara kawasan menengah ke atas dan menengah ke bawah sehingga terlihat tidak setara karena adanya standar sosial tertentu. Oleh karena itu, proyek Third Place yang berada di Jalan Raya Kebayoran Lama ini menggunakan tema “Urban Park” untuk menghidupkan kembali RTH. Proyek ini ingin menunjukkan dan menyatukan perbedaan sosial, serta permasalahan RTH dari isu yang dihadapi sehingga keberagaman tersebut dapat diterima dan diterapkan sehingga masyarakat lebih berekspresif. Perbedaan yang dihadapi ini dianalogikan seperti buket bunga, dengan menjadikan projek ini “Main Attractor”, menghubungkan stasiun Kebayoran Lama, kawasan menengah ke atas, Gandaria City, pemakaman Tanah Kusir, dan kawasan menengah ke bawah untuk mencerminkan kawasan Kebayoran Lama Utara dengan menghadirkan tiga program utama untuk mewujudkan visi, yaitu: pasar bunga, kuliner, dan taman yang menggunakan sistem lahan sewa setiap akhir pekan yang dapat dilakukan bersama keluarga ataupun teman di rooftop garden, serta membuat acara berkebun sesuai dengan musim bunga yang bermekaran pada waktu tertentu. Tujuan dari proyek ini agar sebagai sarana hiburan masyarakat dari rutinitas kota; merasakan pengalaman berada di taman di tengah kota; serta sebagai tempat pertemuan dan berkumpul masyarakat.