Assessment of postharvest soil fungal population with special reference to Trichoderma in eggplants

The research work was done to assess the postharvest soil fungal population and to find out the relation between population dynamics of Trichoderma and soil borne disease of 41 eggplant cultivars. Soil samples collected from IPM lab germplasm maintenance field at post-harvest stage were analyzed for microbes in dilution plate technique. Fungal colonies appeared in each plate were counted and made their average. Incidence and severity of Fusarium wilt and Sclerotium collar rot in the plot of 41 eggplant varieties were recorded at flowering-fruiting stage. The highest total soil fungal population was estimated from the plot soil of eggplant var. Singnath S (IPM- 42) that was 40.75×104. The var. Bijoy had the lowest fungal population that was 7.5×104. A comparison between Trichoderma population and other fungal population was made. Different eggplant cultivars had variation in the population of two important soil fungi- Trichoderma and Fusarium. The total populations of Trichoderma and Fusarium in the plot soil of 41 eggplant varieties were 129.75 and 348.75 × 104 per gram of soil, respectively. The average number of colonies of Trichoderma varied with the range (1-8.25) per plate. Fusarium varied with the range from (2-22.50). In 20 important eggplant varieties out of 41, both Fusarium wilt and Sclerotium collar rot incidence ranged between 0.00 to 40.00%. The variety Puta begun had the highest incidence of Fusarium wilt with the highest soil population of Fusarium oxysporum against the absence of Trichoderma harzianum. The disease incidence at flowering-fruiting stage was negatively correlated with the population of Trichoderma. Disease severity decreased with the increase in Trichoderma population. Increase of Trichoderma population, decreased the population of other fungi (Fusarium oxysporum and Sclerotium rolfsii). These results are clearly indicating that Trichoderma might have the antagonistic potential and might contribute to the reduction of incidence of soil-borne diseases. Progressive Agriculture 32 (1): 31-42, 2021

Properties of locally available river dredged soil stabilized with cement

In Bangladesh, the topsoil of agricultural land is being used to manufacture burnt clay bricks for a long time. This is one of the major reasons for reducing the cultivable land every year. But, we have a huge amount of River Dredged Soil (RDS) available that could be used for manufacturing building materials as an alternate to the conventional bricks. In this regard, the present study has been performed to investigate various properties of RDS from the Brahmaputra River and different mixes of RDS containing different percentages of cement content. The physical properties such as specific gravity, unit weight, mean diameter, maximum dry density and optimum moisture content of RDS were determined following standard procedures. Cylindrical specimens of RDS were prepared by mixing with different amounts of cement content. All the specimens were cured for 7, 14, and 28 days before testing. Water absorption of the RDS-cement specimens after 28 days was found between 14 to 18% which is in the range of first-class burnt clay brick. It was found that the water absorption decreases with the increase in the percentages of cement content. The unconfined compressive strength was observed to increase with the increment of cement content as well as curing age. The maximum unconfined strength was recorded for the specimens containing 14% cement and the rate of strength increment was about 45% in two weeks. It means the addition of cement with RDS will definitely increase the strength. But, the maximum use of cement must be decided based on the required strength and economic consideration. The deformation at failure was found decrease with the increase in cement content. This indicates that the stiffness of the stabilized RDS would increase upon the increment of cement content. Based on the above test results, it is concluded that the dredged soil from Brahmaputra River can be stabilized with cement for making compressed earth block which would be an alternative to the burnt clay brick that uses valued agricultural soil as raw material. Progressive Agriculture 32 (1): 71-77, 2021

Effects of organic fertilizer on growth and yield of tomato

The experiment was conducted during rabi season 2019-2020 at Agricultural Research Station, On Farm Research Division, Alamnagar, Rangpur to find out the useful effects of organic fertilizer on growth and yield of tomato. The experiment was arranged in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with five treatments in three (03) compacted replicate blocks. The treatments included T1: 100% Recommended Chemical Fertilizer (RCF), T2: 85% CF + 3 tha-1 organic Fertilizer (OF), T3: 85% CF + 1 tha-1 OF, T4: 70% CF + 3 tha-1 OF and T5: 70% CF + 1 tha-1 OF. The highest yield was observed in T2 (50.59 t ha-1) due to more number of fruit plant-1& weight of fruit plant-1 and the lowest was in T5 (35.32 t ha-1). These results may be due the parameters of growth components increased with increasing amount of organic and inorganic fertilizers applied. Combination of organic and inorganic fertilizer treated plots produced higher yield than plots without combination of organic and inorganic fertilizer. The highest gross return (BDT. 607080) was found in T2 treatment and the lowest gross return (BDT. 423840) was recorded from T5. The highest gross margin (BDT. 328520 ha-1) was obtained from T2. The lowest gross margin (Tk. 145280 ha-1) was obtained from T5. Integrated nutrient management (combination of organic and inorganic fertilizer) is the best option for higher tomato production in Bangladesh. Progressive Agriculture 32 (1): 10-16, 2021

Design and development of a manually operated oil palm crusher

Palm growers in Bangladesh are currently facing problems to extract crude palm oil from FFB. The traditional method of palm oil processing is time-consuming, laborious, hazardous, and inefficient resulting in the production of low-quality oil. Though mechanical processing is costly but produces good quality Crude Palm Oil (CPO) and the oil recovery rate is high. A low-cost mechanical (manually operated) oil palm crusher was designed and febricated in the workshop of the Department of Farm Power and Machinery, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh. The crusher was designed by using Auto-Cad software. It was fabricated according to design parameters. It is fabricated by stainless steel (SS) shaft, stainless steel cylinder, mild steel (MS) hopper, (MS) hollow bars, MS pressure case cap & Bearing. It requires a very small rotating force. The cost of the crusher is only BDT 12000, which is within the buying capacity of the farmers of Bangladesh. Crusher was mounted on the table or bench. At first 500 gm fresh palm fruits were taken for experimentation. About 300 gm mesocarp and 200 gm oil palm kernel (nuts) were found from 500 gm oil palm fruits. Heating 300 gm mesocarp about 15 minutes and was weighted 280 gm mesocarp due to moisture loss. About 62 gm crude palm oil, 124 gm oil cake, 88 gm skum were collected from 280 gm mesocarp. The average m.c (wb) of fresh palm fruit was found 20.73%. The crushing capacity of the mesocarp of the crusher was o.84 kg/hr. The rotating speed of the screw was 26 rpm. Crude oil percentage was found 22.14%. The total time to extract 62 gm crude palm oil from 500 gm of fresh fruit was 1hr and 15 minutes. The weight of the crusher is 11 kg which is easy to operate by one man. The overall performance of the crusher was found quite satisfactory and could be useful for smallholder palm growers in Bangladesh. Progressive Agriculture 32 (1): 60-70, 2021

Effects of maturity indices and modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) on shelf life and post-harvest quality of cherry tomato

The present experiment was carried out at the Laboratories of the Department of Horticulture and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh during the period from February to April 2019 to study the effect of maturity indices and modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) on the extension of shelf life and quality retention of cherry tomato. The two-factor experiment consisted of three maturity indices viz. (i) Maturity index 1 (M1: Mature green color), (ii) Maturity index 2 (M2: Yellow color), and (iii) Maturity index 3 (M3: Red color) and five postharvest treatments viz. (i) Control (T0), (ii) Low density perforated poly ethylene, LDPPE (T1), (iii) Low density poly ethylene, LDPE (T2), (iv) Low density perforated plastic box, LDPPB (T3), and (v) Low density plastic box, LDPB (T4). The experiment was conducted in completely randomized design with 3 replications. The maximum weight loss (7.77%) was recorded in mature green color fruits (M2) treated with control (T0), while the minimum (3.22) was found in yellow color fruits (M2) treated with LDPPB (T3). The maximum color change was observed from yellow color fruits (M2) with LDPPB (T3) and the minimum was observed from mature green color fruits (M1) treated with control (T0). The maximum TSS content (7.20%) was recorded from yellow color fruits (M2) treated with LDPB (T4), while the minimum (5.67%) was found in mature green color fruits (M1) treated with LDPPB (T3). The highest disease incidence and severity (16.67% and 21.67%, respectively) were recorded in red color fruits (M3) treated with control whereas the lowest disease incidence (1.67%) and severity (2.33%) were found in yellow color fruits (M2) treated with LDPPB. The longest shelf life (25.00 days) was obtained in yellow color fruits (M2) treated with LDPPB (T3) and the shortest shelf life (7.00 days) was observed in red color fruits (M3) treated with control (T0). Thus, yellow color fruits (M2) treated with LDPPB (T3) could be used for the extension of shelf life and quality retention of cherry tomato. Progressive Agriculture 32 (1): 43-59, 2021

Impact of sex ratio on the spawning success of zebrafish in the laboratory settings

Zebrafish, Danio rerio belonging to the family Cyprinidae is one of the most important native ornamental model species used in fisheries research globally. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of sex ratio on the spawning of zebrafish and to observe the ovarian maturity in the laboratory condition. This experiment was conducted for 12 weeks in the glass aquaria (25×16×26 cm3 in size) and the zebrafish were reared in five different sex ratio treatments like -T1 (1m:1f), T2 (1m:2f), T3 (1m:3f), T4 (2m:1f) and T5 (3m:1f) and the fertilized eggs were collected daily from the aquaria. The results showed that mean number of eggs was found to be highest at T3 (821±67.11) and the average egg lay day interval was 1.9 days which significantly (p<0.05) differ from other treatments. These research findings will provide a guideline to small scale fish farmers, entrepreneurs and hatchery owners to develop the spawning of zebrafish in the laboratory settings with a little investment. It will also provide opportunities to construct zebrafish hatchery and produce commercially zebrafish fry in a large extent. Progressive Agriculture 32 (1): 78-83, 2021

Dissemination of BARI released potato varieties in Rangpur region of Bangladesh

The experiment was conducted during rabi season 2019-2020 at Rangpur and Kurigram districts under Agricultural Research Station, On Farm Research Division, Alamnagar, Rangpur to promote and disseminate newly released potato variety, BARI Alu-35, BARI Alu-36, BARI Alu-37, BARI Alu-40 and BARI Alu-41among the potato growers of Rangpur sadar Upzilla in Rangpur and Chilmari Upazilla in Kurigram. The experiment was arranged in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four dispersed replications. The treatments included T1: BARI Alu-35, T2: BARI Alu-36, T3: BARI Alu-37, T4: BARI Alu-40 and T5: BARI Alu-41. BARI Alu-41 showed excellent performance and higher yield followed by BARI Alu-40 and BARI Alu-36. Farmers were happy to observe the performance of the varieties and demanded quality seed for next year cultivation. The highest common scab infection was observed in (BARI Alu-35) (1.62%) where the lowest in BARI Alu-41. Maximum virus infected was found in BARI Alu-40 (2.29%), where the lowest infection was observed in BARI Alu-41 (1.22%). Progressive Agriculture 32 (1): 17-21, 2021

Responses of barley genotypes for salt tolerance under in vitro culture condition

An experiment was undertaken at Agricultural Botany Laboratory, Patuakhali Science and Technology, to screen out salt tolerant barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) genotypes. The evaluation was done based on germination percentage, shoot length, root length and shoot: root ratio. Five barley genotypes including BARI barley 2, BARI barley 3, BARI barley 4, BARI barley 5 and BARI barley 7 were used in the screening program. The barley genotypes were grown in eight levels NaCl solution like 0(Control), 20, 40, 60, 80, 100 and 120 mM. The present study shows that salinity reduced germination percentage of barley and the extent of reduction increased with the increase in the concentration of salinity in the growth medium. Shoot dry weight (1.40 mg), root dry weight (0.21 mg), shoot moisture content (80.0%), root elongation rate (1.81), vigor index (21.30), speed of germination (7.91) and root length (21.67 cm) were obtained from the variety BARI barley 4 with 80 mMNaCL (V3T4). Based on the growth attributes the genotypes BARI barley 7 and BARI barley 4 were found tolerant to salt stress as they grown up to 60 mM and 80 mMNaCl solution respectively. The genotypes BARI barley 4 was therefore selected to be grown in south coastal saline soil of Bangladesh. Progressive Agriculture 32 (1): 1-9, 2021

Early sex determination of Turkey by observation of differences in body weight between male and female

The present study was conducted to determine the early sex in turkeys by observation of the differences in body weight between male and female birds. A total of 30-day old black color unsexed poults having almost similar body weight at hatching were considered for the experimentation and housed at the Poultry Farm of Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh-2202, Bangladesh. All birds were reared up to 12 weeks of age under intensive management with supplementation of commercial broiler starter and grower feeds. Birds were reared under similar management conditions. Significantly higher (p<0.01) body weight was attained in male poults (104g/bird) than the female (90g/bird) at the end of 1st week of age. Similarly, at the end of 2nd week of age higher (p<0.01) body weight attained by male poults (198.31g/bird) than the female (162.13g/bird). At the end of 3rd weeks of age male poults attained higher (p<0.01) body weight (307.23g/bird) than the female (251.33g/bird). After 4 weeks of rearing, male turkeys attained significantly higher (p<0.01) live body weight (424.46g/bird) than the female turkeys (347.87g/bird). The weekly average body weight gains of male and female birds were 94.18g/bird and 76.5g/bird, respectively. Thus, the male and female birds were successfully identified on the basis of differences in their body weight. Weekly feed intake for both the male and female birds was also increased with their age. Up to 4 weeks of age, both the male and female poults consumed same amount of feed (753.46g/bird). The FCR of male and female poults differed non-significantly in 1st, 3rd and 4th week. On the contrary, in 2nd week of age the FCR of male poults (1.60) was significantly lower (p<0.01) than female (2.11). Survivability was 100% up to 4th week of age irrespective of sex of the poults. The birds were reared up to 12 weeks of age until to confirm their sex by observation of the phenotypic appearance. Results of the phenotypic observation of male and female birds correspondence hundred percent accuracy with the results obtained in body weight based differences between male and female birds. It is therefore concluded that farmers can identify male or female poults as early as first week of age on the basis of body weight differences. Progressive Agriculture 31 (3): 218-226, 2020

Evaluation of existing poultry processing and marketing in the wet market of Gazipur city in Bangladesh

The poultry selling and processing practices followed in the poultry wet markets of Bangladesh are always being overlooked unknowingly. The research was conducted to observe the existing scenario of poultry selling and processing practices at the selected wet markets located in the Gazipur City Corporation of Bangladesh. A total of 43 poultry selling shops were randomly selected and interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. It was surprising to observe the absence of female personnel and involvement of few (6.9%) people over the age of 50 years in the wet markets. All the persons engaged in poultry selling and processing had no institutional training. The shops found to be abstained from following some important practices such as feed withdrawal period, isolation of diseased birds, ante and post mortem inspection. The proper bleeding time (1-2) min was recorded in 58.2% cases. The killing cone was recognized as the best device in terms bleeding time. The 72.1% of the outlets never cleaned the carcass prior to deliver the customers. The absence of ante- and post-mortem inspections may cause a great threat of disease outbreak. Taken together, the poultry selling and processing practices followed in the wet market needs to be assessed carefully to deliver safe and quality meat to the customers. In addition, organizing basic training on pre-slaughter management and processing for both seller and processor and also ensuring the regular ante- and post- mortem inspection could improve the present situation in order to produce quality poultry meat. Progressive Agriculture 31 (3): 205-217, 2020