Author Archives: aajbb

The consumers are very much concerned about food safety. To ensure safe food for the consumers, it is essential to follow the pre harvest interval (PHI) of pesticides. Therefore, in order to ascertain the pre-harvest interval of fenitrothion and diazinon in hyacinth bean in the environmental conditions of Bangladesh, this study was started. The chosen organophosphorus insecticides (fenitrothion and diazinon) were sprayed with the recommended dose (1.5 ml/L of water) in a field trial at the Entomology Division of BARI, Gazipur. At 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 12 days after spray (DAS), samples were taken. The Gas chromatography (GC) with a Flame Thermionic Detector (FTD) was used to quantify the residues after the samples were prepared using a modified Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged and Safe (QuEChERS) extraction method. Fenitrothion residue was found up to 8 DAS, and at 7 DAS (0.018 mg/Kg), the level of residue was above the MRL. At 8 DAS, the fenitrothion residue was 0.007 mg/kg, which was below MRL. Pre-harvest interval (PHI) for fenitrothion was determined at 8 DAS, and no residue was found after 9 DAS. Diazinon residue was found up to 9 DAS, with the level of residue above the MRL at 8 DAS (0.016 mg/Kg). At 9 DAS, the diazinon residue was 0.007 mg/kg, which was below MRL. Pre-harvest interval (PHI) was determined for diazinon at 9 DAS, and as of 10 DAS, no residue was found.

Fungal endophyte is a fungal that lives in plant organism as mutualism association. The role of fungal endophyte is a growth promoter or/and microbial pathogen inhibitor. This study investigated antifungal activity of Colletotrichum truncatum E10, an endophytic fungus derived from Musa acuminata (AAA group), against 7 isolates of Aspergillus obtained from lower respiratory samples of COVID-19 patients. In addition, IAA production of this strain was also observed. All isolates of Aspergillus were identified using MALDI-TOF MS. The fungal endophyte, C. truncatum E10, was screened for IAA induction with and without 0.1, 2 and 8 mg/mL of L-tryptophan based on colorimetric method using Salkowski reagent which produced pinkish to reddish solution indicating the presence of IAA. Antagonist activity was based on dual culture assay measured in colony growth inhibition (CGI). C. truncatum E10 produced the highest IAA concentration of 112.81±0.12 µg/mL when 8 mg/mL of L-tryptophan added.  The strong antagonist activities were shown by C. truncatum E10 against 5 Aspergillus isolates including 2 A. fumigatus: sp442/6 (CGI=57.83±5.11%) and sp269/11 (CGI=53.01±8.52%), 1 A. niger sp26/7 (CGI=57.83±15.33%) and 2 A. flavus: sp26/7 (CGI=56.63±13.63%) and sp36/7 (CGI=57.23±0.85%), whereas the colony growth inhibition (CGI) of other 2 isolates including A. fumigatus sp567/6 and A. flavus sp269/11 were less than 50%. In this study, C. truncatum E10 produced substances that inhibited human fungal pathogen including A. fumigatus, A. flavus and A. niger. Moreover, it can produce IAA activity. Further investigations are being conducted to expand the plant growth promotion effects and determine IAA biosynthesis pathway. For antifungal activity, the bioactive metabolites produced by this endophytic fungal isolate should be characterized to specify the effective compounds.

An experiment was carried out with 80 straight run broiler chicks (cobb-500) reared on rice husk and sawdust to know the production efficiency at 5 weeks during summer.  A total 80 straight run broiler chicks (cobb-500) were divided into 4 groups and were assigned to 2 treatments i.e. T1 and T2 in which T1 was used rice husk and T2 was used sawdust. Number of birds per replication were 10. Live weight of birds reared on rice husk and sawdust differed significantly at 5th weeks of age (P<0.05). Feed consumption of broiler was significantly higher on sawdust litter than rice husk. Feed conversion ratio and survivability percentages of broiler were statistically non-significant (P>0.05) between the sawdust and rice husk. The cost of litter per bird and cost of litter per kg live weight gain were 14.07% and 20.10% higher in rice husk than sawdust respectively. It is evident from the study that sawdust was more economic than rice husk. Considering all the facts and findings of the study, it can be conducted that live weight and feed consumption of broiler was better in sawdust litter materials than rice husk. Sawdust was also cheaper than rice husk. Therefore, using sawdust as a litter material can lead to better production efficiency and cost savings for broiler farmers during summer.

Buffalo semen collected from Murrah bull were cryopreserved and evaluated for different motility parameter, kinematics and plasma membrane integrity. Buffalo bulls were maintained uniform standard management and nutritional practices. Semen was collected regularly twice a week semen collection schedule from four (04) Murrah bull. Collected semen was immediately transported to laboratory and evaluated for different macroscopic parameter (color, volume and thickness). Fresh semen was then diluted with saline solution and evaluated for sperm concentration, motility, sperm kinematics and morphology. Semen samples that fill all the standard were selected for freezing and diluted with Tris-egg yolk citrate diluter. Diluted semen was equilibrated, cryopreserved and finally evaluated for post thaw sperm quality. Different motility parameter (total, progressive, static and slow motility) varied significantly (p<0.01) irrespective of different freezing stages. Significantly higher progressive sperm motility and viability of buffalo spermatozoa were observed at fresh semen whereas lower progressive sperm motility and viability was found at post thaw stage. Total and progressive motility reduced by 2.5 and 2.12% following equilibration, whereas following cryopreservation, total and progressive motility reduced by 35.7 and 28.51% and static motility increases accordingly (35.4%). Significantly higher plasma membrane integrity of sperm was observed at fresh semen followed by pre freeze and post thaw semen. Following freezing, integrity of plasma membrane reduces at the rate of 10.81% and 26.7% at pre freezing and post thaw stages. Significantly higher average path velocity (VAP), straight line velocity (VSL), curvilinear velocity (VCL), straightness (STR), amplitude of lateral head displacement (ALH) and beat cross frequency (BCF) were found for fresh semen followed by pre-freeze and post-thaw semen. Frozen buffalo semen with higher progressive motility and motion characteristics may be produced if motility losses can be reduced during freezing stage as this stage results higher motility losses.

In response to unwise and inappropriate antimicrobial drug (AMD) use, antimicrobial drug resistance (AMDR) is rising globally. The present research was performed to find out and evaluate the perceptions, practices, and knowledge (PPK) of the farmers regarding AMD use and AMDR propagation in rural households. The study was conducted using a pre-tested questionnaire upon 200 respondents with a duration of 5 months in selected areas of Cumilla district, Bangladesh. The correlation analysis showed a significant (p<.01) relationship between farmers’ knowledge and practicing proper administration of drugs in the animal. The sex of the respondents was also found to be correlated with the understanding of Antibiotic Resistance (AR) (p<.01), AR transmission (p<.05), and propagation from livestock to humans (p<.01). Additionally, through the qualitative analysis, we found the powerful impacts of media availability and accessibility, participation in the training program, and good quality education on the improvement of farmers' PPK. Therefore, the government must need to emphasize this topic and educate the farmers about AR to control the spread of AR in order to secure both animal and public health.

The study was conducted to examine the gastro-intestinal parasite infestation of animal at Gopalganj district in Bangladesh during July 2020 to June 2021. Total collected sample were 151, among them 32 cattle and goat 119. Parasites were collected directly from viscera then preserve for further analysis. Age, sex and species of the examined animals were recorded as far as practicable. Overall prevalence of nematodes, cestodes and trematodes were 62.25%, 9.27% and 50.33% respectively. The prevalence of parasites was variable with Paramphistomum spp. (58.29%), Fasciola spp 62.91%, Moniezia spp. (5.3%), Haemonchus spp. (41.06%), Trichuris spp. (3.31%), Oesophagostomum spp. (10.59%), Strongyloides spp. (2.64%), Trichostrongylus spp. (5.29%), Bunostomum spp. (5.96%), Toxocara spp. (25.17%). Parasitic in male and female exhibited no significant variations (p>0.05) between them. The infection was significantly higher in young than in adult. No significant (p>0.05) variation was observed in infection rates between cattle and goats.

Necrotic enteritis (NE) is one of the important enteric diseases in poultry caused by Clostridium perfringens which leads to considerable economic losses for poultry raisers. The present research was carried out to estimate prevalence, risk factors and to confirm molecular pattern, antimicrobial susceptibility status of Clostridium perfringens in layer flocks in Mymensingh and Gazipur districts of Bangladesh, where a total of 287 samples were collected that comprised of water (30), workers’ hand washing (30), and feed (30) as environmental pooled samples; cloacal swab (150) and post mortem sample (intestine) (47) as individual samples, and evaluated by basic (culture, biochemical test), and finally toxinotyping multiplex PCR assays. The flock-level data on potential risk factors were collected through semi-structured interviews with the farm owners and evaluated via univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses where a p-value of <0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Overall flock-level prevalence of Clostridium perfringens was confirmed to be 6.3% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.8-9.7%). The occurrence of C. perfringens was found to be higher in the intestine samples (12.8%, 95% CI: 4.8- 25.7%) followed by feed (6.7%, 95% CI: 0.8-22.1%), cloacal swabs (6.0%, 95% CI: 2.8-11.1%) and workers’ hand washing (3.3%, 95% CI: 0.1- 12.2%). History of immune-suppressive disease (like New castle disease/egg drop syndrome/infectious bursal disease) [Odds Ratio (OR) = 22.16, 95% CI: 1.40-349.36, P = 0.027] and flock size more than 3000 birds (OR = 11.16, 95% CI: 1.26-98.25, P = 0.029) were found to be associated with C. perfringens infection status in the layer flocks. In this study, C. perfringens toxinotype A is circulating in layer flocks with 72.2% of isolates were established as multidrug-resistant as they demonstrated resistance between 3 to 6 antimicrobial agents. Evidence-based control measures  to be taken namely use of probiotics, prebiotic, organic acids, and plant extracts as natural alternatives including control of immune-suppressive diseases are needed to minimize the NE infection and antimicrobial resistance in low biosecurity layer flocks.

A broad variety of aquaculture-related medications, drugs, and chemicals (AMDC) are extensively used in the aquaculture industry in South-Eastern Bangladesh. Fish farmers are worried about the quality of their final product, and disease outbreaks must be stopped at all costs. Farmers are sometimes one ahead of the curve when it comes to producing healthy final products by including probiotics, vitamins, and minerals into their aquaculture setups to promote early and disease-free output. However, the current study was carried out in south eastern Bangladesh, specifically in the highly dense aquaculture regions of Chandpur, Cumilla, and Feni district (17 upazilas), from November 2016 to January 2018.   Questions were asked through interviews and a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) was held to gather primary data. The major target groups were aquaculture farmers, AMDC shops, pharmaceutical company employees, and hatchery owners. In this three-county area, according to the findings from the thorough research, there are a total of 33 companies that advertise 330 generics brand products via their own distributional channels. Among the available AMDC products in the study area, growth promoters were mostly abundant products among all categories while other products such as predator removal products, insecticides and ectoparasiticides, water quality and pond management, plankton producer, plankton bloom cleaner, disinfectant and disease treatment, toxic gas reducer, pH controller, oxygen supply, stress reducer, growth promoter, probiotics and antibiotics were most selling products to the farmers. The present study revealed 19 generic of antibiotics were available and prescribed by the AMDC vendors or aquaculture disease consultants (ADC) around the regions. Additionally, the research also included the dosages of AMDC and the method of administration in the aquaculture pond, which will assist both the farmers and the ADC in selecting and suggesting the appropriate medications or treatments that may be beneficial to the farmers in the long run.

Growth and production of near threatened Ompok pabda (Hamilton) were examined at different feeding frequencies in the present study. The experiment was conducted for four months in three earthen ponds from 1^st April to 31^st July 2018 at Tanore Upazila in Rajshahi district, Bangladesh. The experiment was performed using pabda, (Ompok pabda) fingerling (average) to study the effect of feeding frequency on growth performance. The study carried out considering three treatments, namely T₁, T_2, and T₃; while the feeding frequency was two times per day in treatment T₁, three times per day in treatment T_2, and four times per day in treatment T₃. Fish were fed considering three-stage of life span; these were fingerling stage, early growing stage, and growing stage. In the fry stage, the fishes were fed 20% feed, in the fingerlings stage the fish were fed 10% feed and in the growing stage, the fish were fed 8% feed of the body weight. The mean water temperature ranged between 27.13±2.10 and 27.29±2.16 °C among treatments, while water transparency ranged between 31.91±1.58 and 29.96±1.84 cm. pH ranged between 7.62±0.14 and 7.70±0.19; while the mean dissolved oxygen was ranged between 5.35±0.11 and 5.56±0.14 among treatments. The final weight gain was found to be highest (56.36±0.01) in the treatment T₂ and lowest (38.23±0.01) in the treatment T₃. The SGR value was higher (3.94±0.01) in the treatments T₂ followed by treatments T₁ and T₃. Net weight gain was significantly (p<0.05) higher in feeding frequency three (56.36±0.1), followed by feeding frequency four (38.23±0.1) and feeding frequency two (40.67±0.73). The FCR value ranged between 1.90 and 2.87 among treatments. The growth performance and specific growth rate were significantly (p<0.05) higher in feeding frequency three. The highest (4049.1±0.1 kg/ha/120 days) production was observed in T₂. Best cost benefit ratio was gained in treatment T₂.

The present study illustrates species diversity, landing quality and catch composition of fish in 10 fish landing centers of 5 haor upazilas of Kishoreganj haor for 12 months from January 2018 to December 2018. A total of 15 different types of fishing gears were detected to harvest fish in different stations throughout a year. Most of the fishing (46.88%) was conducted by small groups of 2 – 5 fishers, while 24.87% of the fishing was conducted by 6 – 10 fishers. The average depth of water in haor associated rivers and inundated lands during monsoon period varied from 4.87±0.99 to 15.2±6.71 and 2.6±0.55 to 6.2±2.68 feet respectively. Fifty different types of fish species were landed in the selected 10 landing centers, where both cultured fish and captured fish were present. Fishes under the Cyprinidae family included 9 species, viz. Labeo rohita. Gebelion catla, Cirrhinus cirrhosus, Labeo calbasu, Hypophthalmichthys nobilis, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix, Cyprinus carpio, Ctenopharyngodon idella, Labeo gonius covered a maximum of 12450.61±468.32 MT. The second largest landed fish under the family Schilbeidae included 4 species Silonia silondia, Mystus armatus, Mystus cavasius Pseudeutropius atherinoides. Other fish species landed were identified as: 4 species under the family Mastacembelidae, 2 species under Siluridae, 3 species under Clupidae, 1 species under Ambassidae, 2 species under Palaemonidae, 3 species under Channidae, 1 species under Gobidae, 2 species under Bagridae and 1 species from each of the family Heteropneustidae, Pangasiidae, Clariidae, Ailiidae, Botiidae, Nandidae, Cichlidae, Anabantidae, Osphronemidae, Ambassidae, Notopteridae, Notopteridae,Belonidae and Gobiidae. Highest number 14 species landed were under catfish category, followed by 9 species of major carp. The captured total fish landed in 10 landing centers in 12 month period accounted 12,574±1029.64  MT, but the cumulative total landed fish, including pond fish, was 15,795±1666061.93 MT, as calculated by 45 Aratdars of 10 landing centers. About 88.35% fishermen sold the captured fish at local arat, but the rest (11.65%) were sold to large traders (paiker), retailers and consumers. A 56.6% of the fishermen cleaned the captured fish by river water, while 43.4% fishermen did not use water for washing fish before selling. After harvest, 45.62% fishers used clean utensils for carrying fish to arat and 54.38% used uncleaned utensils. Average harvest per fishermen per day was  23.9 kg, of which  22.26 kg was sold in the market and 1.64 kg was used for own family consumption.   Out of total fish landed, a 45.2% was transported by fish hold of the country boat, 21.9% by bamboo basket and 14.8% by plastic crate. Relatively small quantity of fish was transported by insulated ice box (4.7%), aluminum container (2.7%) and gunny bag (3.2%). A 32.6% fisherman used ice and 67.4 % fishermen did not use ice after harvesting of fish. During fishing season, fish and ice ratio used by the transporters was 2.62:1. The highest number of auctioneers were found in Chamra Ghat of Karimganj, while lowest were in Nikli, with an area of 55±1.44 and 25±8.42 decimal area per auctioneers being used for fish business.

Organic production of Green Cabbage may ensure the nutritional status and food safety for the consumers, but maintaining the productivity and economic viability of inorganic production is almost impossible for farmers of Bangladesh. At this context, a study was carried out at the Horticulture farm of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka, Bangladesh during the period from October 2017 to March 2018 to evaluate the efficacy of vermicompost and biochar on agronomic properties and economic of cabbage. Four biochar treatments, (  B₀: 0 t ha^-1 biochar, B₁ :2 t ha^-1 , B₂ :6 t ha^-1  and B₃ :10 t ha^-1) and three vermicompost treatments (Vc₀ : 0 t ha^-1, Vc₁ :4 t ha^-1 and Vc₂ :8 t ha^-1 ) were selected. B₀Vc₀ was considered as control. The results revealed that maximum highest plant height, number of leaves plant^-1, leaf length, leaf breadth and plant spread were obtained when the B₃ was mixed withVc₂. But the thickness of head (10.29 cm), diameter of head (16.66 cm), % dry matter of cabbage (14.93%), weight of cabbage head plant^-1 (1370 g) and yield of cabbage (52.75 t ha^-1) were obtained from the treatment combination of B₂Vc₂. In terms of economic sustainability, the net return (Tk 523598) with highest BCR (3.70) was obtained from the treatment combination of B₁Vc₁.These results provide prove the effectiveness of biochar and vermicompost in sustainable Cabbage production. It also provides baseline guidelines for further investigation of choosing the appropriate combination of organic amendments based on crop requirement to maximize economic value.

A study was carried out to detect and estimate the residue of cypermethrin and chlorpyrifos in brinjal, tomato and cauliflower using Gas Chromatography (GC) coupled with Electron Capture Detector (ECD) and Flame Thermionic Detector (FTD). Three supervised field trials were conducted and sprayed with the recommended dose of cypermethrin (1 ml/L of water) and chlorpyrifos (3 ml/L of water) in three vegetables by knapsack sprayer. Samples were collected at 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 days after spray (DAS). The quantity of cypermethrin residue was above EU-MRLs (Maximum Residue Limit set by European Union) up to 4 DAS with 0.538 mg/kg in cauliflower; 3 DAS with 0.508 mg/kg in brinjal and 0.695 mg/kg in tomato. The quantity decreased down 0.328-0.019 mg/kg in cauliflower (4-9 DAS); 0.098-0.012 mg/kg (4-7 DAS) in brinjal and 0.458-0.022 mg/kg (4-7 DAS) in tomato which were below EU-MRLs (0.5 mg/kg).  The quantity of chlorpyrifos residue was above EU-MRLs up to 9 DAS with 0.012 mg/kg in cauliflower but in brinjal and tomato, the detected quantities were above EU-MRLs up to 7 DAS with 0.029 mg/kg and 0.017 mg/kg residue. No residue was detected from brinjal and tomato samples collected at 8 DAS. But in cauliflower, no residue was detected at 10 days after spray. So, brinjal, tomato and cauliflower can be harvested safely at 4 DAS and 5 DAS for cypermethrin and in case of chlorpyrifos it was 8 DAS in brinjal and tomato and 10 DAS in cauliflower.

The unique biodiversity in Malaysia makes this country a global hotspot for different aspects of research. Many European and non-native research activities are conducting by different research groups, whereas local institutions also collaborate with them to explore the pristine nature of west (peninsular Malaysia) and East Malaysia (Sarawak and Sabah province). East Malaysia is located in Borneo Island, and the biodiversity of this area are huge. The current review work scrutinized the information about the research activities on aquatic bivalve species and their different aspects of the investigation. This investigation revealed, to date 28 research publications were published on aquatic bivalves from eastern Malaysia, where biodiversity, conservation and ecology was the major aspect of research. The other aspects were aquaculture, natural history and taxonomy, nutritional study, reproduction of bivalve, morphology, and pollution can be mentionable. The major portion of this eastern Malaysia are not investigated and it is assumed that many species are still not reported.  Further studies demand to explore the vast bivalve biodiversity of this part of Malaysia.