This study was conducted to evaluate the water quality parameters, total bacterial load, and proximate analysis of biofloc using different feeding levels in the biofloc rearing system of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). The experiment was set up fiberglass tank filled with 100 liters of fresh water in four treatments (T1, T2, T3, and T4) with two replications of each treatment. The tested treatments were namely T1 (control), T2 (normal dose of feed+floc), T3 (20%feed reduction+floc), and T4 (30% feed reduction+floc). The vital water quality parameters like temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, TDS, TSS, and alkalinity were monitored at 3-day intervals. The results for temperature and pH did not show any significant differences among all the treatments. The highest DO, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate were observed in the control treatment (7.36, 1.78, 0.13, and 11.0 mg/L, respectively). The results for nitrite and nitrate showed highly significant differences among all the treatments. The total bacterial load was estimated, and Bacillus spp was found in all biofloc treatments. Proximal analysis showed differences in crude protein, crude lipids, and ash content among all the treatments, where the highest protein percentage was 41.03%, and the highest crude lipid and ash values were 12.21% and 16%, respectively. The results indicate that Biofloc technology is a sustainable way of enhancing water quality in aquaculture through microbial biomass production, which results in higher production of tilapia.

Keywords: Water quality, Biofloc technology, Bacteriological analysis, Proximate composition

This research was carried out to evaluate existing agar wounding techniques and to identify viable wounding ways for farmers and other relevant stakeholders in agar plants in order to harvest the valuable end products of agarwood and agar oil, which are used as medicine and incense. The research was conducted in Barlekha Upazila, Moulvibazar district- from August 2017 to February 2018. To conduct the survey, a pre-designed, objective-oriented questionnaire was used, and information was collected from a total of 104 agar farmers, in Barlekha Upazilla, including agar processors, agar orchard owners, and agar tree chips and oil workers by questioning them personally. The study revealed that the respondents mostly utilized two types of wounding techniques; nailing and natural insect infestation. Between these two wounding procedures, the majority of the farmers (87%) practiced the nailing, while the remaining (13%) used to gather wood from natural insect infestation. About 83% of farmers thought that agarwood obtained from natural insect attacks was more profitable than artificial wounding through nailing. The majority of respondents nail the tree when they are 11 to 15 years old. About 86% of respondents in Barlekha Upazila chopped their trees within five years of nailing them. The majority (70%) of the farmers maintained a 2.1-3.0 inch distance for vertical nail pushing, while 64% of the farmers maintained a 1.0-1.5 inch distance for horizontal nail pushing. All the respondents of Barlekha Upazila used the distillation technique for collecting agar oil. Due to the fact that there were no modern techniques to collect agar oil from the wood and atar processing, they were fully dependent on sending the oil abroad for future processing purposes.

Keywords: Wounding techniques, Nailing, Agar oil, Barlekha

The experiments were conducted in haor area under the Sunamganj district during the period from November 2018 to March 2019 to observe the effect of planting dates on the yield of three winter vegetables. Experiment included three planting dates viz. 5 November (P1), 15 November (P2), and 25 November (P3), on three vegetables viz. Tomato, Turnip, and Squash were designed in RCBD with three replications. Yield and yield contributing data were recorded. Different planting dates had significant variations for all vegetables. The highest yield of tomato (86.42 t ha^-1) was recorded on 5 November planting, and the lowest was 44.03 t ha^-1 on 25 November planting. Gross return and net margin also secured the highest value in the first week of November with the highest BCR (5.38). In the case of turnip, similar trends were spotted. The highest gross yield was observed at 24.99 t ha^-1 on 5 November planting, with the highest BCR (4.16). The lowest gross yield (22.77 t ha^-1) was obtained on 25 November planting with decreasing BCR (3.79). Squash also gave better production on 5 November planting (61.1 t ha^-1) with the highest gross return and net margin over other dates. The results revealed that the first week of November found a better time for winter vegetables (Tomato, Turnip, and Squash) cultivation in haor area after the recession of floodwater.

Keywords: Planting date, Yield, Winter vegetables, Gross return, BCR

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of organic and inorganic fertilizers on the growth, yield, and yield components of blackgram in charland area of Chapainawabganj district. The experiment comprised of seven treatments viz. T₁: Control, T₂: 100% RFD (Recommended Fertilizer Dose), T₃: Cow dung (5 t/ha) + 100% RFD, T₄: Compost (3 t/ha) + 100% RFD, T₅: Vermicompost (3 t/ha) + 100% RFD, T₆: 1/3 Cow Dung + 1/3 Compost + 1/3 Vermicompost + 100% RFD, and T₇: Farmer’s practice. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Yield contributing characters of blackgram like number of clusters per plant, days to maturity, number of pods per plant, pod length, number of seeds per pod were significantly influenced by the different treatments.  Results indicated that most yield contributing characters had the maximum values in treatment T₆ (1/3 Cow Dung + 1/3 Compost + 1/3 Vermicompost + 100% RFD). The highest grain yield of 13.06 q ha^-1 was observed in treatment T_6, and the lowest grain yield of 9.56 q ha^-1 was in T₁ treatment. Application of cow dung, compost, vermicompost, and fertilizer at recommended dose had a significant and positive effect on the growth and yield of blackgram. Among the treatments, the application of cow dung, compost, vermicompost with chemical fertilizers was found to be the most effective practice for blackgram cultivation in charland area of Chapainawabganj district.

Keywords: Blackgram, Compost, Vermicompost, Inorganic fertilizer, Sustainable production.

The experiment was conducted to screen the suitable maize hybrids available in Bangladesh on the basis of their vegetative characteristics. The mean and range were calculated by using MSTATC software program. Highly significant variations among 50 maize genotypes understudied. The range of cob height was recorded from 53 to 90 cm with a mean value of 74.29 cm. The highest cob height (90 cm) was recorded in genotype BM-5, and the lowest cob height (53 cm) was observed in the genotype PAC-999. Plant height varied significantly in different maize genotypes. It ranged from 156.67 cm to 298.90 cm, with a mean value of 210.34 cm. The lowest (156.67 cm) plant height was recorded in genotype Badsha, and the highest (238.90 cm) plant height was observed in genotype NZ-510. The average number of leaves per plant was recorded at 12.82, and it ranged from 10.53 to 14.63. The maximum (14.63) number of leaves per plant was recorded in the genotype BHM-6, and the minimum (10.53) number of leaves per plant was observed in maize genotype PAC-999. The average leaf length was recorded at 87.04, and it ranged from 65.33 to 102.10. The longest (102.10) leaf length was found in genotype BM-5, and the shortest (65.33) leaf length was observed in genotype Badsha. The average leaf breadth was recorded at around 8.81, and it ranged from 5.80 cm to 10.37 cm. The broadest (10.37 cm) leaf was recorded in genotype NZ-003, and the narrowest (5.80 cm) leaf was observed in the genotype of Badsha, which was followed by Kbd-222 (7.56 cm). The lowest plant height (156.67 cm) was recorded in genotype Badsha, and the maximum number of the leaf (14.63) per plant was recorded in the genotype BHM-6; these two hybrids can be cultivated as a commercial variety.

Keywords: Maize, Genotype, Vegetative characteristics, Variation

Sunamganj is a prospective area for layer farming where many smallholders are involved in layer production. We hypothesized that these layer smallholders’ adoption levels of biosecurity varied significantly. Therefore, we designed a cross-sectional survey to know the adoption level of biosecurity practices by small-scale layer farmers in the Sunamganj district. We collected data through face-to-face interviews of randomly selected 45 layer farmers from the study area using a questionnaire containing 48 biosecurity-related questions. From the data, we calculated the biosecurity adoption index (AI), a simple scoring system to determine the adoption level of biosecurity by the smallholders. We categorized smallholders as low, partial, and high adopters based on the AI value. A two-sample t-test and one-way ANOVA measured variations in the mean AI value between levels of demographic factors to identify key predictors. The study revealed that only 17.78% (8/45) of the smallholders were high adopters, while 57.76% (26/45) were partial adopters, and the rest, 24.44% (11/45) were low adopters. The overall mean AI value was 58.75±21.26 in the survey. Farming experience, family members in the farming, presence of labour, income, and holding type were significant (p<0.05) key predictors that influenced the AI. This study underlines the scenario of adopting biosecurity practices and their plausible drivers. Results of the present study could assist respective authorities in taking evidence-based necessary steps to improve biosecurity practices in the future.

Keywords: Adoption of biosecurity measures, Layer smallholders, Sunamganj, Bangladesh