Issue 1

Salt-tolerant Boro rice response under the interaction of variety and urea fertilizer was assessed in the southern coastal region of Bangladesh for developing coastal agriculture in Bangladesh. A field experiment was carried out at the research field of Agriculture department, Noakhali Science and Technology University (NSTU), Noakhali-3814 in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with two varieties viz. BINA dhan8, BRRI dhan-67 and three doses of urea viz. 250 kg/ ha., 150 kg/ ha. and 120 kg/ ha. were used as treatments where each treatment was replicated three times. Data were collected on plant height (cm), tiller/hill, grain/panicle, 1000 grain weight (g), grain yield (t/ha.), straw yield (t/ha.) and harvest index (%). All the parameters were influenced significantly by the interaction of variety and different doses of urea fertilizer and better performance was obtained from the variety BINA dhan-8 and the doses of 250 kg urea/ ha. Finally, the present study suggests that for obtaining higher yield salt-tolerant BINA dhan-8 variety may be cultivated with 250 kg urea/ ha. in the southern coastal region of Bangladesh.

The study was conducted to find out less hazardous, environmental friendly and locally available botanicals to control bean aphid. Seven plant extracts viz., neem leaves (Azadirachta indica), lemon outer shell (Citrus aurantifolia), wild sunflower (Helianthus petiolaris), water gourd (Lageneria siceraria), green mango (Mangifera indica), bitter gourd (Momordica charanter), fire tree (Delonix regia) and detergent (5 g trix/L) were prepared to control the aphid infestation in yard long bean (variety kagarnatki) in the field. About 100 g of fresh plant parts of each were boiled in one liter of water at 55⁰C for 5 minutes. Then rest the sample for one hour. The solutions were filtered and kept in clean glass bottles. The extract was kept in refrigerator at 4⁰C until use. Then the extracts were sprayed at an interval of 3 days in the experimental field of yard long bean. The damage potential of aphid was counted at every 3 days in a week. Results of this study showed that plant extracts were effective against aphid infestation in yard long bean. Similarly, yield results corresponded positively with the effectiveness of the treatments. In this study, fire tree &water gourd treatment showed 95-98% control of yard long bean aphid, whereas a high number of aphids were found in the bitter gourd treatment (21.27±5.985278). Fire tree and water gourd treatment kept about 21.27 times better performance than that of bitter gourd treatment. Water gourd and fire tree has antibacterial, antifungal, antimicrobial properties and toxic activity to control insect pests. So, the present finding suggests that the use of plant extracts of fire tree and water gourd treatment to be very effective botanicals to control aphids of yard long bean in Bangladesh.

Mycotoxins are agricultural contaminants of fungal origin occurring at all latitudes worldwide and being characterized by acute and chronic effects on human health and animal wellness, depending on the species sensitivity. Various types of crops like maize, wheat, soybeans etc are used as raw materials for preparing feed of fish and shrimp. They are particularly susceptible to infection by Aspergillus following prolonged exposure to a high humidity environment. For this reason, the fish and shrimp samples should be tested for identifying and quantifying mycotoxin. The major mycotoxins of food concern are aflatoxin (B₁, B₂, G₁, G₂) for its toxicity. This paper focus on the confirmation of aflatoxin in fish and shrimp by developing method and validated it by LC/MS-MS (ZEVO TQD) which is important for ensuring the safety of fishery product for human consumption. The monitored MRM transitions for B₁, B₂, G₁, G₂ were m/z 313®57 and m/z 313®71, m/z 318®88 and m/z 318®256, m/z 328.75®242.99 and m/z 328.75®199.9, m/z 330.34®88 and m/z 330.34®106 respectively. Limit of decision (CCα) for B₁, B₂, G₁, G₂ were 0.59 µg/kg, 0.70 µg/kg, 0.68 µg/kg, 0.83 µg/kg respectively and detection capability (CCβ) for B₁, B₂, G₁, G₂ were 1.01 µg/kg, 1.19 µg/kg, 1.15 µg/kg, 1.40 µg/kg respectively.

Investigation of Aeromonas hydrophila was conducted to assess the microbial quality of broiler chickens from July to November 2019. A total of 60 samples from 20 broiler chickens were collected from two different locations of Mymensingh Sadar: KR market, Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) and Shesh mor bazar (10 birds from each location). Samples included 20 skins, 20 legs and 20 breast samples from 20 broiler chickens. PCR was done for the specific detection of each isolate and finally antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed to check sensitivity pattern of each isolate. Alkaline peptone water was used for processing and enrichment of the samples followed by inoculation onto Aeromonas selective agar supplemented with ampicillin for the isolation and identification of A. hydrophila. Out of these 60 samples, 27 isolates were confirmed as A. hydrophila through biochemical tests and PCR where 55.56% isolates were recovered from Shesh mor market and other 44.4% isolates from KR market, BAU. Source-wise analysis revealed that maximum isolates of A. hydrophila were recovered from skin (59.26 %) followed by leg (22.22 %) and breast samples (18.52 %). PCR test revealed that all 27 isolates were found carrying lip gene which is specific for A. hydrophila. Isolates of A. hydrophila were found sensitive to ciprofloxacin (92%), gentamycin (66%) and chloramphenicol (50%); intermediate against erythromycin (50%), tetracycline (50%) and imipenem (50%); resistant against co-trimoxazole (84%) and ampicillin (100%). From the present study, it was found that samples were considerably contaminated with Aeromonas hydrophila causing risks for public health. Necessary control actions should be taken in every steps of production, processing and marketing for mitigation of this contamination.