Issue 02

Growth, yield and quality of banana (musa sapientum l) influenced by different banana varities/lines and planting time

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Growth, yield and quality of banana (musa sapientum l) influenced by different banana varities/lines and planting time Ara, N.; Basher, M.K.; Hossain, M.F. A study was carried out to find the optimum planting time and suitable variety on quantity and quality of fruit of banana at the Regional Agricultural Research, Station, Ishurdi, Pabna, Bangladesh during 2009-2010. Six planting time viz, 15th September, 15th October, 15th November, 15th February, 15th March and 15th April and three varieties cv. sabri, ITC-1441 and BARI-kala-1 were used. The plant of 1 November planting were shorter in height (250cm) minimum crop duration was recorded in February planting (328.7 days) while it was maximum in September planting (454.2days). Among planting time, October planting time had higher bunch weight (19.5kg). Significantly higher bunch weight (15.3kg) was obtained from BARI-kala-1. In case of planting time and variety interaction October planting and BARI-kala-1 produced higher bunch weight (23.6kg) and number of finger per bunch (200). It was concluded that October planting and BARI-kala-1 combination is the best in Ishurdi region of Bangladesh

Performance, behaviour and welfare aspects of broilers as affected by different colours of artificial light

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Performance, behaviour and welfare aspects of broilers as affected by different colours of artificial light Senaratna, D.; Samarakone, T.S.; Madusanka, A.A.P.; Gunawardane, W.W.D.A. This experiment examined the effect of four colours of artificial light (ALC) on performance, behaviour, water/feed intake (WFI) and welfare of broilers. Day old broiler chicks (Cobb) were assigned into six brooders for either red (RD:650-750nm), white (WT:325-750nm), green (GR:530- 545nm) or blue (BL:450-470nm) ALCs from 1- 35d (20lux,9hrs/day at growing stage). Complete Randomize Design was adopted with 6 replicates. Water and Feed provided ad libitum. Daily WFI; weekly weight gain (WG) and behaviour recorded. Common behaviours (21) were evaluated by scan sampling method. Welfare indicators; foot pad dermatitis, breast blisters and hock burning damage scores were determined. Lameness was assessed by gait score and latency to lie (LTL) tests. Six birds/ treatment were evaluated for carcass parameters. Significantly (p<0.05) highest WG (365.33±12.07g/bd/ week) was recorded in RD compared to other treatments at 21d. Also Significantly highest WI (102.07±49.01 g/bd/day) at 21d and FI(226.48±27.47) at 28d were recorded by RD treated birds. ALC had no effect on final body weight (BW), feed conversion ratio (FCR), water feed ratio (W:F ratio), welfare indices, mortality rate, carcass parameters, gait score and LTL. Overall, the dominant behaviour was lying that showed 64.15% of the total time budget. Wing flapping (26%) and eating (6.98%) received 2nd,3rd places, respectively. ALC significantly (p<0.05) affected sleeping behaviour (SL) where RD treated birds performed the highest (0.53%±0.29) and GR treated birds showed lowest (0.31%±0.19) SL. Birds were more active under RD, WT and GR compared with BL in the night as lowest eating and walking performed by BL treated birds. Highest dust bathing shown by the birds under GR during morning at the 4th week (0.02%±0.02).Though ALC had no effect on eating, ALC*night time interaction demonstrated increased (p<0.05) eating in RD and WT at night. These data indicate that rearing ALC affected bird behaviour than growth. Providing RD colour light up to 21d had beneficial effects on weight gain.

Gender representation in agricultural extension workforce and its implications for agricultural advisory services

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Gender representation in agricultural extension workforce and its implications for agricultural advisory services Ofuoku, A. U. The purpose of this study was to assess the gender representation in agricultural extension workforce in Delta State, Nigeria and consider its implication for agricultural advisory service. The employment status of Village Extension Agents(VEAs) on gender basis was sourced from the Delta State Agricultural Development Programme (DTADP) office. A sample population (n = 285) of female farmers was selected randomly from the three agricultural zones of the state. Data were collected using structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. The study revealed that the male VEAs’ contact with female farmers was inadequate; the spouses of the women farmers had negative disposition to their contact with male VEAs. Male VEAs out-numbered the female VEAs. The implication is that the situation created a dearth of information for the women farmers and therefore a hindrance to increased productivity on the part of the women. It was recommended that more female VEAs should be employed; female VEAs to accompany male VEAs on home and farm visits and scholarship be granted to girls to study extension education in order to encourage girls to take up career in agricultural extension delivery service.

Cold tolerance of an inbred line population of rice (oryza sativa l) at different growth stages

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Cold tolerance of an inbred line population of rice (oryza sativa l) at different growth stages Ranawake, A.L.; Nakamura, C. Indica rice cultivar Hokuriku142, japonica rice cultivar Hyogokithanishiki and a recombinant inbred line population involving these cultivars were evaluated for cold tolerance at germination, postgermination and seedling stages. For each experiment 10 replicates were arranged with 20-40 seeds per replicate. At germination stage, cold stress was applied at 20oC and 15oC and the number of germinated seeds was counted. Post-germination stage cold tolerance was evaluated on 4-day germinated seeds byholding them at 4oC for 1-12 days and gained hypocotyl length was measured after a 4-day recovery period at normal growth conditions. To assess the seedling stage cold tolerance 1-week-old seedlings were maintained at 4oC for 1-7 days and green plant height was measured after a 5-day recovery period. In all growth stages Hyogokithanishiki showed higher degree of cold tolerance than Hokuriku. Recombinant inbred line population showed normal distribution curves for germination and postgermination stage cold tolearance with transgressive segregants for both higher and lower levels than the parents. At the seedling stage, the inbred populations showed a skew towards the susceptible cultivar but there were two transgressive segregants for greater cold tolerance than Hyogokithanishiki. Identification of such significant differences in the two parental rice cultivars and distribution of the character across the range of different tolerance levels with transgressive segregation indicates that this population is useful for the development of cold tolerant rice cultivars and to understand the basis of the cold regulation of rice using molecular tools.