Rumen parameters (pH, NH3 -N, and VFA) are immensely important in ruminants. This study examined the effect of feeding supplemental concentrate and soybean oil at different intensities on rumen parameters in growing cattle. Speculative diets consisted of different combinations of concentrate and soybean oils, which are 15% & 3%, 15% & 6%, 30% & 3%, and 30% & 6%, respectively. Better rumen parameters were observed with 30% concentrates than feeding 15% concentrate. A high level of soybean oil (6%) had no considerable effect on rumen parameters. Rumen parameters (NH3 -N and volatile fatty acid) considerably increased with the combination of high and low fat (30% concentrate and 3% soybean oil). When formulating feed for growing cattle, it might be advisable to incorporate a concentrate diet at a level higher than that of a maintenance diet, while also considering lower fat content. Additional research could be undertaken to uncover various formulation recommendations.

Keywords: Rumen parameters, growing cattle, concentrate diet level, soybean oil level.

The study was conducted to get information regarding morphometric characteristics, productive and reproductive performance of Frizzle feathered chickens in an intensive management system. A total of 38 chickens were included in the study. The single comb and ear lobe of the Frizzle feathered chickens were predominantly red. In terms of comb types, 55% had a rose comb, 35% had a pea comb, and 10% had a single comb. The plumage, shank, skin, and eggshell colors were mostly black and white (45%), black (40%), multiple (3%), and brown and black (10%), respectively. The average body weight of day-old chicks was found to be 30.25±1.05 g, while the average egg weight, egg length, and egg width were 38.91±1.18 g, 4.85±0.01 cm and 3.82±0.05 cm, respectively. The fertility percentage was 80%, with a hatchability rate of 70% and an average incubation period of 21 days. When the chickens reached maturity, the average body weight was measured at 884.17±75.58 g. At 20 weeks of age, the mean body weight for male and female was 895.20±114.39 g and 876.29±108.16 g, respectively. Various morphometric traits were also examined, including beak length, chest girth, keel length, wing length, wing span, body length, shank length, and thigh length. The mean measurements for these traits were 3.47±0.12 cm, 27.91±1.22 cm, 8.62±0.28 cm, 22.33±0.81 cm, 61.83±2.19 cm, 45.16±1.10 cm, 6.50±0.19 cm and 11.04±0.34cm, respectively. T here was a negative correlation (-0.588) between the age at first laying and the weight of day-old chicks (p<0.05). The understanding of this morphological variation could be helpful to farmers, researchers, and breeders of poultry as a selection criterion, establishing a foundation for genetic engineering and improving the genetic resources of Frizzle feathered chicken in Bangladesh.

Keywords: Frizzle feathered chicken, Morphometric, Production, Reproduction, Intensive management.

In many nations around the world, including Bangladesh, agroforestry has long been a crucial component of rural subsistence. It is a sustainable land-use practice that can simultaneously promote the achievement of at least 9 out of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG 1 (poverty reduction), SDG 2 (zero hunger), SDG 13 (climate action) and SDG 15 (sustainable life on land). The present study was designed to document the present status of agroforestry practices and its role in improving the livelihoods of farmers in Golapganj of Sylhet in Bangladesh. Data were collected through personal interview from 60 randomly selected respondents from the village Gondamara and Turupbag of Bagha union of Golapganj upazila in Sylhet during January to July 2018. Focus Group Discussion (FGD) was conducted to validate the information and collected data were analyzed using SPSS statistical software. A total of 86 plant species have been found, in which 34 are fruit species, 4 are woods, 29 are vegetables, 12 are herbal, and 7 are spices. Of them, Kanthal (Artocarpus heterophyllus) was the most dominant (85%) species. There were 32 recorded production activities, with Oryza sativa, Psidium guajava, vegetables, and Areca catechu being the major ones (>70%) and Piper betle, Garcinia pedunculata, Moringa oleifera, Piper nigrum, and Apis mellifera being the minor ones (14%). In addition, 21 agroforestry systems were documented (Agrosilviculture, silvoagriculture, silvoagripasture, apiculture with trees, silvopasture, and aquasilvoculture etc.). Homestead agroforestry was the mostly practiced agroforestry practice in the study site. According to respondents’ perception near about 29 plants species increased in Golapgonj in which Acacia, Psidium guajava, Areca catechu and Solanum lycopersicum are the most. The highest Shannon-Weaver Diversity Index (H‛) was 0.94 in vegetable species while highest relative abundance was 44% in fruit and timber species. In the study region, various aspects of livelihood improvement were seen. 97% of them who responded firmly agreed that agroforestry techniques enhanced their health, nutrition, and lifestyle. So, there are huge scopes for transforming traditional agroforestry such as (Homestead agroforestry, pineapple based agroforestry) systems to modern agroforestry systems for improving farmer’s livelihoods through higher production, income and environmental services which would eventually be facilitated to achieve SDGs.

Keywords: Agroforestry, Homestead, Livelihood, Golapganj, Sylhet

Rice is one of the most crucial staple foods that feed a significant portion of the global population and has an impact on the well-being and economies of billions of people in the world. The experiment was conducted in pot culture during the aman season of 2022 in the Agronomy research field of Sylhet Agricultural University, Bangladesh to observe the agromorphological traits, growth, and yield performance of 18 local rice cultivars. The cultivars included Binni, Naizershail (Brahmonbaria), Biruy, Begunbichi, Modonga, Meghraj, Biruin, Dumai, Kalojira, Maloti, Moinasail, Naizershail (Sylhet), Madhumadab, Tulsimala, Gandi, Nagrasail, Bontosh, and Chinigura. Each pot contained three hills, and the pots were replicated four times using a completely randomized design (CRD).  Dumai required a period of 78 days to reach maturity. In turn, Nagrasail and Bontosh took a long time of 158 days to reach their full maturity. Kalojira, Moinasail, and Chinigura exhibited lodging resistance. The experiment revealed a positive correlation between grain yield and factors contributing to yield, including the number of effective tillers, length of panicles, number of grains panicle^-1, and weight of 1000 grains. Conversely, there was a negative relationship between grain yield and plant height and the presence of unfilled grains panicle^-1. Binni exhibited the highest grain yield (107.70 g pot^-1). The findings of Dumai, Kalojira, Moinasail, Chinigura, and Binni showed a number of desirable characteristics which are very useful for future breeding purposes. Preserving not only the mentioned cultivars but also all other cultivars studied is of utmost importance for future breeding needs.

Keywords: Agromorphological traits; Lodging resistance; Growth characters; Effective tillers; Grain yields

The study examined Sylhet city slum dwellers’ education, housing, occupation, sanitation, health services, diseases, lack of fundamental knowledge and training, and other issues to determine their livelihood situation. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews with 138 randomly selected respondents from nine wards (No. 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 19, 23, and 26) of Sylhet City from September’2018 to March’2019. Focus group discussion (FGD) was done to validate the information. Collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequency counts, percentages, means, standard deviation, and ranks in SPSS. The majority of the slum residents (43.5%) came from the Sunamganj district in the research area. An estimated 53.62% of them were illiterate. According to the findings of this study, every family lives in a slum in a deplorable environment without sanitation. The slum dwellers work as day laborers (31.88%), rickshaw pullers (18.84%), masons (14.49%), home servants and drivers (8.70%), service holders and shopkeepers (4.35%), hawkers (2.90%), etc. Monthly slum income ranged from Tk. 7,500 to 14,950. About 59.42% of slum people depended on pharmacy/quack for their treatment. It was also observed that most of the slum dwellers were affected by various kinds of seasonal and waterborne diseases like fever (85.51%), cough (50.72), diarrhea (43.48%), skin diseases (29.71%), headache (20.29%), jaundice (14.49%), dental problem (13.04%), asthma and back pain (10.14%), diabetic (7.25%) etc. Possible reasons for diseases were reported as the damp environment (46.38%), lack of balanced nutrition (43.48%), water pollution (30.43%), adulterated food (26.09%), etc. They require different need-based training and support for their livelihood improvement. It was supposed that slum people lacked basic requirements, the bottleneck of a sustainable city. Thus, the findings recommend a holistic approach to address multidimensional sustainability challenges that influence slum residents’ lives within the country’s purpose-driven development policy for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Keywords: Urban slum, Lifestyle, SDG, Sylhet, Bangladesh

Soil pH is regarded as a key variable in soils as it has an impact on a variety of soil properties and processes. An experiment was conducted at Soil Science Lab., Sylhet Agricultural University, Sylhet during November, 2020 to February, 2021 to observe the effects of different matrix, their mixing ratios and time lapse of reading on pH of surface and sub-surface sodic soils and to observe the relationship of different soil properties with pH. The study was conducted using factorial CRD with six replications. The experiment comprises with two factors, Factor A: mixing ratios of soil and matrix i.e. 1:1.0, 1:2.5 and 1:5.0 and Factor B: time of reading after mixing/stirring of soil and matrix i.e. reading after 30, 90 and 150 minutes. Six soil samples from six different locations have acted as six replications. A total of 12 soil samples (6 surface and 6 sub-surface soils) were analyzed for pH by using three matrixes (distilled water, CaCl₂ and KCl). The mean pH values of saline soils measured in distilled water, CaCl₂ and KCl, respectively, showed a distinct declining trend from high to low (pHH₂O>pHCaCl₂>pHKCl). The increase in dilution of the soil and matrix ratio showed a tendency to increase the soil pH value which can be expressed as pH1:1.0<pH1:2.5<pH1:5.0. Time after mixing/stirring of the soil and matrix affected pH values of the surface soil using distilled water. In most cases, increased pH values were found for RA150MM compared to RA30MM and RA90MM. Variations in relationship of soil pH and other soil parameters were so strong in saline soils.

Keywords: Soil pH, sodic soil, mixing ratios, matrix, determination techniques

A field experiment was conducted at Gabua, Noakhali to select a suitable fertilizer management practice for soybean cultivation, and a better land use system in the saline belts of Bangladesh from December 2019 to April 2020. Two soybean varieties (Shohag (PB-1), BARI Soybean-5), and three fertilizer doses were applied as treatments. Fertilizer treatments were F1 (100% of the recommended rates of chemical fertilizers, CF); F2 (Integrated nutrient management system, IPNS- 75% of the recommended rates of chemical fertilizers + 25% cowdung); and F3 (No fertilizer). The experiment was laid in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Results reveal that IPNS had a significant effect on the plant height (37.95cm), branch number/plant (4.17), the effective number of plants/plot (161.7), number of filled pods/plant (69.1), number of unfilled pods/plant (3.70), number of seeds/pod (1.98), seed weight (20.64g/plant), seed-husk ratio (2.61) and seed yield (1.83t/ha), where as there were no significant effects on pod length (3.32cm) and thousand seed weight (141.9g). Leaf number, leaf dry weight, leaf area, and leaf area index were increased slowly upto 75 DAS, rapidly upto 95 DAS and then declined sharply. Total dry matter increased gradually upto 95 DAS and rapidly upto 135 DAS. The crop growth rate was increased gradually upto 75-95 DAS, rapidly upto 95-115 DAS, and thereafter declined. Relative growth rate and net assimilation rate increased gradually upto 75-95 DAS, rapidly upto 95-115 DAS, and rapidly upto 115-135 except control treatment. The highest amount of chlorophyll-a (15.02 µg/g), chlorophyll-b (4.38 µg/g), and their ratio (9.08) were observed in IPNS at 110 DAS. Chemical fertilizer increased the nodule number and dry weight compared with other treatments upto 75 DAS. Fertilizer management practice and variety had no significant effect on the oil content and pod initiation in soybean, where as pod initiation started after 83 to 84 days of sowing, and oil content ranged from 19.15-19.63%. It is concluded that the integrated use of cowdung and chemical fertilizer (IPNS) showed the maximum growth and yield in soybean and reduced 25% use of the recommended rates of chemical fertilizers.

Keywords: Integrated plant nutrient system, balance fertilizer recommendation, total dry matter, morphophysiology, biological nitrogen fixation

Bangladesh comprises of 30 AEZs (Agro Ecological Zones) where mineralogical composition is an important controlling factor of soil fertility. However, such mineralogical information of soils of Bangladesh is very much insufficient and sparse. To address the situation, an initiative was taken to reveal the mineral content of important soils of different AEZs of the country. A part of such initiative, the mineralogy of five soil series from AEZ 22 (Northern and Eastern Piedmont Plains) and twelve soil series from AEZ 23 (Chittagong Coastal Plains) has been included in this manuscript. In AEZ 22, the average content of <2 μm sized clay fraction in soil was 20.4 while the 2-20 μm and 20-53
μm fractions was 32.3 and 34.6%, respectively. On the other hand, in AEZ 23, the average content of those clay fractions in soil was 32.5, 47.8 and 9.3%, respectively. Mica was found as the most prevalent among the minerals identified and it varied as 21-45 and 46-66% in AEZs 22 and 23, respectively. Next to mica, kaolinite, chlorite and quartz were present in considerable amount in both the AEZs. Intergraded vermiculite-chlorite minerals were found in some soils of AEZ 22 (Eastern part) while evidence of degradation of chlorite component was observed in AEZ 23. Such mineralogical observation of these AEZs is more or less conforming to the proposed mica-kaolinite-vermiculite* suite.

Keywords: Clay Mineralogy, Agroecological Regions, Northern and Eastern Piedmont Plains, Chittagong Coastal Plains.

Freshwater snakehead, a commonly available fish species of Bangladesh, popularly known as Taki (Channa punctatus) is generally consumed as fresh or after being frozen and dried. In the current investigation, the bacteriological quality of dried, frozen, and fresh Taki was compared. Raw Taki were collected on monthly basis from December to May from local fish markets of Sylhet Sadar and Total Viable Count (TVC), Total Coliform Count (TCC), pathogenic bacteriological status were assessed either for raw (n=18) sample or after subjected to freezing (n=18)  and drying (n=18) application. It was found that raw Taki had noticeably greater TVC and TCC than dried and frozen samples. The pathogenic bacteria explicitly, Salmonella spp., Vibrio spp. and E. coli were found abundantly in fresh conditions. On the contrary, E. coli was detected in the few samples of frozen and dried Taki. In comparison, dried fish comprised lower bacterial load, TCC and pathogenic bacteria than those of frozen samples but both the samples contained significantly lower values compared to raw fish and complied with ICMSF standard. Based on the findings of the present study, it can be concluded that higher bacterial load of raw sample can be reduced by applying freezing and drying techniques under proper hygiene and sanitary conditions and fish can be stored safe for longer period.

Keywords: Snakehead fish, Frozen and Dried fish, TVC, TCC, Slamonella

Fish species identification is of paramount importance in biological research, serving as a fundamental component for understanding species biology. In our study, we collected a total of 34 specimens, glassy perchlet fish (Parambassis lala) from the Surma River, Singari beel and Ratargul swamp forest. Those total length (TL) were ranging from 2.1 to 3.9 cm. The collected specimens showed morphological variation in meristic features and coloration, which can be resolved through molecular study. For molecular identification, we meticulously selected three individual fish samples, conducted DNA extraction, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and subsequent sequencing. These efforts resulted in sequences of 638 base pairs each for the Cytochrome C Oxidase subunit I (COI) gene. In our genetic analysis, three specimens—demonstrated a high degree of sequence similarity, ranging from 97.76% to 98.56%, when compared to the reference sequence OL638214.1. This outcome confirms their classification as Parambassis lala, despite morphological differences.

Keywords: Highfin glass fish, Parambassis lala, Variation, Cytochrome Oxidase I (COI) gene

Keywords: Governance, Literacy, Education, Fund, Accountability