Issue 2

Abstract not available

In Bangladesh, little is known about the role of climatic factors influencing spatio-temporal occurrence among different food grains of aflatoxins, which have been linked to liver cancer cases and other health hazards. In this study, 252 food grain samples of 10 types were collected from retail markets at 18 districts, pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon seasons during February-September, 2018. Occurrence and concentration of total aflatoxins in the samples were analysed by a direct competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and compared with climatic data (temperature, humidity, rainfall, and sunshine hours). Contamination of aflatoxins was found in approx. 38% (n=96) of the total samples, with highest occurrence in groundnuts (82%), followed by corn grains (70%), chick pea (54.5%), wheat grain (50%) and green gram (42.9%). Aflatoxins occurrence was moderate in split chick pea (30.8%), yellow pea (28.2%), black gram (27.8%), and lentils (27.6%), while the lowest in grass pea (17.6%). Aflatoxins concentration was found to exceed the European Union permissible limit (≤5 µg kg^-1) in 33 (13.1%) samples. Overall, approximately 5.6%, 7.5%, and 25.0% samples were contaminated with high (10-19 ppb), medium (5-9 ppb) and low (1-4 ppb) concentrations of aflatoxins, respectively. High level concentration of aflatoxins was more frequent in groundnut (36%) and wheat grain (20%), in comparison to other types. Occurrence of aflatoxins during pre-monsoon was detected among 21% (19/91) samples, which increased to ca. 30% (36/119) during monsoon, and 98% (41/42) during post-monsoon. However, aflatoxins mean concentration during post-monsoon was comparatively low than the other seasons. Variations in aflatoxins monthly prevalence correlated significantly with relative humidity (p ≤ 0.01) and rainfall (p≤ 0.05), when a 1-month time lag was considered. Therefore, predisposing climatic conditions, i.e., rainfall incidences and persistence of higher relative humidity in the previous month(s), have salient influence on aflatoxins occurrence, potentially impacting both pre-harvest and stored food grains. This study underscores the need of a more holistic monitoring of aflatoxins in agricultural products for a longer term, and adoption of proper intervention measures for food grains while being stored and before consumption.

Checking the fertility and hatchability of broiler grandparent lines is important for improving chicken production. The Cobb-500, Ross-308, and Indian River (IR) grandparent strains were studied to determine their initial egg weight, fertility, hatchability, embryonic mortality, hatching weight, and chick survival rates. We studied a total of 2700 eggs from three different age/treatment, each consisting of three replicates with 100 eggs for each of the three genotypes. Using an automated incubator, eggs were incubated. Cobb-500 had a significantly higher mean egg weight (67.52 g) at later stage of their age compared to Ross-308 (64.22 g) and IR (65.05 g). Study also found that a higher egg weight reflects a higher day-old chick weight. The fertility rates of the Ross-308, IR, and Cobb-500 genotypes were high at 35 weeks (96.00%, 87.00%, and 93.00%) but declined after 45 weeks (64.22%, 65.05%, and 67.52%), respectively. The hatchability of Ross-308, IR, and Cobb-500 eggs at 35 weeks was 85.00%, 75.00%, and 80.00%, respectively. By 45 weeks, all genotypes had higher hatchability, with Ross-308 having the highest at 89%. But at 55 weeks, all genotype showed lowest hatchability where IR was the lowest 67%. Statistically significant variations were observed across strains at later stage. As age increased, embryonic mortality and brood mortality were higher. Compared to the other two, Ross-308 showed the lowest mortality in both embryonic and brooding cases in all three stages of their age of life. However, the IR breed consistently displayed the highest mortality rate. Same pattern showed dead in shell and culling chick’s percentages. Strain-wise, the parameters differ from each other. However, regarding overall performance, the Ross-308 strain outperformed the other two strains.

The Haor region contributes approximately 20% of Bangladesh’s total rice production, and this study focused on the Binadhan-17 rice variety in three key Haor districts including, Sunamganj, Kishoreganj, and Netrokona. The research aimed to assess the costs, returns, and technical efficiency of Binadhan-17 cultivation, surveying 180 randomly selected farmers from the region. Using a stochastic frontier production function model and descriptive statistics, the study found that the average production cost per hectare was BDT 76,863, with fixed costs accounting for 35.90% and variable costs for 64.10%. The average net return per hectare was BDT 44,289, and the Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR) was 1.58, with Sunamganj having the highest BCR (1.62), followed by Kishoreganj (1.57) and Netrokona (1.54). Significant positive relationships were found between human labor, land preparation, and insecticide costs at the 1% level, while seed, urea, and organic manure costs were significant at the 10% level, and TSP was significant at the 5% level. Around 68.33% of farmers achieved outputs close to the maximum frontier level (91%–99%), with an average technical efficiency of 89.40%, indicating a 10.60% production loss due to inefficiency. The study also identified several challenges faced by farmers, including difficulties in obtaining timely seed and labor, limited knowledge of production technologies, high fertilizer prices, and lack of capital, offering insights for policymakers to enhance rice production in the short term.

Eggplant and hyacinth bean are essential vegetable crops due to their nutritional value but are highly susceptible to various insect pests. Farmers often apply pesticides indiscriminately, disregarding the recommended pre-harvest intervals. This practice raises concerns about potential pesticide residue contamination in vegetables. The present study aimed to assess pesticide residues in eggplant and hyacinth bean. Samples were collected from eight regions of Bangladesh. Pesticide residues in the samples were assessed through gas chromatography, utilizing both a flame thermionic detector (FTD) and an electron capture detector (ECD). Among the total analyzed samples, a significant portion was found to be contaminated, with residues of cypermethrin, diazinon, quinalphos, fenitrothion, and malathion detected in over half of the samples. Among these, 15 samples (30%) exceeded the maximum residue limit (MRL) set by FAO/WHO. From the 26 eggplant samples, 15 contained residues of cypermethrin, quinalphos, and diazinon, with 7 samples (26.92%) exceeding MRLs. Four samples had cypermethrin residues ranging from 0.532–0.623 mg/kg, and one sample contained 0.703 mg/kg diazinon, both above MRLs. Additionally, two samples from Bogura and Rangpur had multiple pesticide residues above MRL. Of the 24 hyacinth bean samples, 15 were contaminated with cypermethrin, diazinon, quinalphos, fenitrothion, and malathion. Among these, 8 samples (33.33%) exceeded MRLs with residues ranging from 0.533–0.561 mg/kg for cypermethrin, 0.543–0.610 mg/kg for diazinon, 0.120–0.240 mg/kg for fenitrothion, 0.414 mg/kg for quinalphos, and 0.529 mg/kg for malathion. Two hyacinth bean samples from Rangpur and Jashore contained multiple pesticide residues exceeding MRLs. The current status of pesticide residue contamination in these vegetables is highlighted by this analysis, which also emphasizes that residues over MRLs provide serious health concerns to humans and may result in a number of dangerous disorders.