Evaluation of Tropical Herbaceous Legumes for Drought Resistance in Myanmar

Animal nutrition systems in the tropical and subtropical countries utilize a wide range of feedstuffs, mainly the crops and agricultural by-products, grasses, legumes, trees and shrubs. During the dry season, the crude protein concentration in the native grasses can drop below 3% crude protein (Atta-Krah and Reynolds, 1989). Fodder tree is not sufficient and is of low quality in Myanmar (Myo and Aye, 2007). Shrubs represent an enormous potential source of protein for ruminants in the tropics (Devendra, 1992). Browses are rich in nitrogen and minerals which are low in other conventional feeds of tropical regions. Herbaceous legume species play an important role in feeding ruminants worldwide. Herbaceous forage legume have been identified as potential protein supplements for ruminants since they contain high crude protein, minerals and vitamins needed for the growth of ruminal microbes (Norton and Poppi,1995). Herbaceous legumes can be grown as a relay within cereal crops or as a rotation with cereals. Herbaceous legumes can access ‎atmospheric ‎N‎ (‘fixation’)‎ through‎ bacterial‎ activity‎ in‎ root ‎nodules.‎ The‎ ‘fixed’ ‎N‎ becomes‎ available ‎to‎ the‎ legume and subsequent cereal crops. Herbaceous legumes are best planted from seed (Nulik et al., 2013). The aim of using herbaceous legumes in cropping systems is to increase animal productivity, particularly live weight gain in animals being prepared for market. Herbaceous legumes may be fed directly to animals as fresh material in the late wet and early dry seasons, with browse or tree legumes retained for later dry season feeding, or stored as hay and fed in the late dry or early wet seasons when the availability and quality of local feed is lower (Nulik et al., 2013). Legume based pastures give high individual animal performance for growth, fattening, reproduction and wool growth. Cattle live weight gain has been related positively to the proportion of legume in the sward (Mureithi et al., 1995). As pastures become mature, they are characterized by high content of fibre with a higher grade of lignifications and low protein content (Enoh et al., 2005). In Myanmar there is only 0.35% cultivated pasture area to that of cultivated acreages. The improvement and development of pasture is a necessity for Myanmar (Myo and Aye, 2007). For that reason it is needed to evaluate the yield herbaceous legumes for the potential use for ruminants in Myanmar

Selection of Suitable Varieties of Grasses for Myanmar

The basal feed resources for ruminants available in most developing countries in the tropics are crop residues, pasture from infertile land, for example communal land, or agro-industrial by-products. These are low in protein and of low digestibility. A major problem facing livestock producers in tropical areas is proper nutrition for their animals during the dry season when pastures, cereal residues and maize stover are limiting in nutritional quality. The researchers in Myanmar have tried to improve the nutritive value of fibrous agricultural residues. Aung Aung et al. (2006) supplemented the sesame and chickpea husk to bulls fed on urea-treated rice straw. One way of improving the utilisation of such crop residues is by proper supplementation with leguminous forages (Poppi and McLennan 1995). In most regions of Myanmar, the green forage is available during the rainfall and become shortage during dry season. Therefore, feedstuff for ruminant animals mainly has to depend upon the availability of agricultural by-products. Almost more than half of the livestock population of Myanmar is inhabited in dry zone and thus, to overcome the scarcity of the feedstuff during summer, the irrigation system was introduced in these areas for the development of agriculture. A simple and effective way to increase livestock production is to grow improved pastures. Throughout Myanmar, extensive areas of idle land could grow excellent pasture. At present, most of the “pastures” consist of low rank, poor quality grasses and a limited range of edible shrubs. During prolonged dry periods, grazing animals subsist on dry mature roughage of poor quality (Myo Kywe and Tin Mg Aye, 2007). Grass species, which can rapidly grow after the rain also having drought tolerance, would be very useful in the production system. There is still little information on the use of forage in Myanmar. It is needed to select the grass species which have drought resistance in Myanmar and thus this experiment was conducted to evaluate a range of introduced tropical grasses in the central dry zone of Myanmar

Comparisons on the nutritive values of local and introduced forages and feed mixture for ruminant feed in central dry zone of Myanmar

This study aimed to compare nutritive values of local (Sorghum) and introduced (Mombasa) forages and their feed mixtures for ruminant feed in central dry zone of Myanmar. Sorghum based feed mixtures (FeedMix-1, 2 and 3) were the commonly used feed mixtures for cattle in dry zone of Myanmar and other feed mixtures (FeedMix-4, 5 and 6) were based on Mombasa. The lower CP and higher fibre contents (P<0.05) were observed in sorghum and its feed mixtures. The highest gas volumes (P<0.05) were observed in the FeedMix-4 and 6, and then the lowest gas volume (P<0.05) was observed in FeedMix-3. The gas production from quickly soluble fraction (a) of sorghum was significantly higher (P<0.05) than that of Mombasa, inversely the gas production from insoluble fraction (b) of sorghum was significantly lower (P<0.05) than that of Mombasa. Moreover, potential gas production (a+b), ME, OMD and SCFA of sorghum were also significantly lower (P<0.05) than those of Mombasa. The value of “a” was lowest (P<0.05) in FeedMix-1, whereas the highest value was found in FeedMix-6. The lowest values (P<0.05) of “b”, “a+b”, ME, OMD and SCFA were observed in FeedMix-3 and the highest values (P<0.05) of those parameters were found in FeedMix-4. Thus, the higher nutritive values observed in the introduced forage, Mombasa and its feed mixtures were indicating that Mombasa should be used instead of sorghum for the feed of cattle in dry zone of Myanmar.&nbsp

Evaluation on dry forage yields and nutritional characteristics of introduced herbaceous legumes in Myanmar

The study was carried out to evaluate the forage yields, nutritive values and in vitro fermentation parameters of herbaceous legumes. Five varieties of introduced herbaceous legumes; Stylosanthes guianensis cv. Ubon stylo, Macrotyloma axillare cv. Archer, Centrosema brasilianum cv. Ooloo, Stylosanthes guianensis cv. Stylo 184 and Macroptilum bracteatum cv. Cadarga were evaluated at the research farm, University of Veterinary Science, Yezin, Myanmar. No fertilizer and no irrigation were applied for cultivation to test drought resistance. Dry forage yield, nutritive values and gas production at four harvesting times were measured with 4×5 factorial arrangement (5 legumes and 4 harvesting time) in randomized complete block design. There was no interaction between legumes and harvesting time on forage yield, nutritive values and fermentation parameters but they were affected by the main effects of legume types and harvesting time. Among the legume forages, the highest dry forage yields were found in Ooloo, Ubon stylo, and Stylo 184, and followed by the DM yield of Archer and Cadarga. The DM yield of the second harvest was significantly higher (p<0.05) than those of the first, third and fourth harvest which were not significantly different from each other. As a chemical composition, the DM content of Archer was lower (p<0.05) than those of other varieties. Among the legumes forages, the lower CP content was found in Cadarga. The higher NDF was observed in Ooloo. Ooloo, Ubon stylo and Cadarga showed higher ADF in comparison with the other two varieties. Among the harvesting time, the lowest DM content was found at the first harvest. The highest CP content was found at third harvest. The NDF content was not significantly different. The lowest ADF content was found in fourth harvest. According to the dry forage yield, Ubon stylo and Ooloo had the highest dry forage yield and in term of nutritive values, Stylo 184 and Archer had higher nutritive values. As the main effect of forages, Stylo 184 and Archer had higher gas production in comparison with the other varieties. As the main effect of harvesting time, the fourth harvest had the highest gas production in comparison with other harvesting time. It could be better for cultivation by application of fertilizer and irrigation to get more forage yield and quality. &nbsp

Isotopic niche modelling of the Pondaung mammal fauna (middle Eocene, Myanmar) shows microhabitat differences. Insights into paleoecology and early anthropoid primate habitats

The late Middle Eocene Pondaung Fm. is a window to understand the environment and ecosystem dynamics of a past greenhouse world and the paleoenvironments where modern mammal clades such as anthropoid primates originated. Previous studies focused on the overall climate and vegetation of this Eocene habitat and provided first evidence for an early monsoon onset before the orogenesis of the Himalayan-Tibetan range. Here, we wanted to investigate how the mammal fauna used this habitat and which different ecological niches and microhabitats they occupied. We analyzed the carbonate fraction of dental enamel of a fossil mammal assemblage from various localities of the Pondaung Fm. in Myanmar. Bayesian niche modelling of the δ13C and δ18O values allowed us to quantify aspects of the ecological core niches occupied by these taxa, to calculate niche overlap and to use these data to infer directional competition potential in this mammal assemblage. Furthermore, comparison of different areas of the Pondaung Fm. revealed two different microhabitats whose distribution is consistent with existing vegetation models. Most primate taxa were found in both described environments, which gives a first indication about their ecological flexibility

Observational study of adult respiratory infections in primary care clinics in Myanmar: understanding the burden of melioidosis, tuberculosis and other infections not covered by empirical treatment regimes.

BACKGROUND: Lower respiratory infections constitute a major disease burden worldwide. Treatment is usually empiric and targeted towards typical bacterial pathogens. Understanding the prevalence of pathogens not covered by empirical treatment is important to improve diagnostic and treatment algorithms. METHODS: A prospective observational study in peri-urban communities of Yangon, Myanmar was conducted between July 2018 and April 2019. Sputum specimens of 299 adults presenting with fever and productive cough were tested for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (microscopy and GeneXpert MTB/RIF [Mycobacterium tuberculosis/resistance to rifampicin]) and Burkholderia pseudomallei (Active Melioidosis Detect Lateral Flow Assay and culture). Nasopharyngeal swabs underwent respiratory virus (influenza A, B, respiratory syncytial virus) polymerase chain reaction testing. RESULTS: Among 299 patients, 32% (95% confidence interval [CI] 26 to 37) were diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB), including 9 rifampicin-resistant cases. TB patients presented with a longer duration of fever (median 14 d) and productive cough (median 30 d) than non-TB patients (median fever duration 6 d, cough 7 d). One case of melioidosis pneumonia was detected by rapid test and confirmed by culture. Respiratory viruses were detected in 16% (95% CI 12 to 21) of patients. CONCLUSIONS: TB was very common in this population, suggesting that microscopy and GeneXpert MTB/RIF on all sputum samples should be routinely included in diagnostic algorithms for fever and cough. Melioidosis was uncommon in this population

Geographical distribution of Burkholderia pseudomallei in soil in Myanmar.

BACKGROUND: Burkholderia pseudomallei is a Gram-negative bacterium found in soil and water in many tropical countries. It causes melioidosis, a potentially fatal infection first described in 1911 in Myanmar. Melioidosis is a common cause of sepsis and death in South and South-east Asia, but it is rarely diagnosed in Myanmar. We conducted a nationwide soil study to identify areas where B. pseudomallei is present. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We collected soil samples from 387 locations in all 15 states and regions of Myanmar between September 2017 and June 2019. At each site, three samples were taken at each of three different depths (30, 60 and 90 cm) and were cultured for B. pseudomallei separately, along with a pooled sample from each site (i.e. 10 cultures per site). We used a negative binomial regression model to assess associations between isolation of B. pseudomallei and environmental factors (season, soil depth, soil type, land use and climate zones). B. pseudomallei was isolated in 7 of 15 states and regions. Of the 387 sites, 31 (8%) had one or more positive samples and of the 3,870 samples cultured, 103 (2.7%) tested positive for B. pseudomallei. B. pseudomallei was isolated more frequently during the monsoon season [RR-2.28 (95% CI: 0.70-7.38)] and less in the hot dry season [RR-0.70 (95% CI: 0.19-2.56)] compared to the cool dry season, and in the tropical monsoon climate zone [RR-2.26; 95% CI (0.21-6.21)] compared to the tropical dry winter climate zone. However, these associations were not statistically significant. B. pseudomallei was detected at all three depths and from various soil types (clay, silt and sand). Isolation was higher in agricultural land (2.2%), pasture land (8.5%) and disused land (5.8%) than in residential land (0.4%), but these differences were also not significant. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: This study confirms a widespread distribution of B. pseudomallei in Myanmar. Clinical studies should follow to obtain a better picture of the burden of melioidosis in Myanmar

Confirmation of Skywalker Hoolock Gibbon (Hoolock tianxing) in Myanmar extends known geographic range of an endangered primate

Characterizing genetically distinct populations of primates is important for protecting biodiversity and effectively allocating conservation resources. Skywalker gibbons (Hoolock tianxing) were first described in 2017, with the only confirmed population consisting of 150 individuals in Mt. Gaoligong, Yunnan Province, China. Based on river geography, the distribution of the skywalker gibbon has been hypothesized to extend into Myanmar between the N’Mai Kha and Ayeyarwaddy Rivers to the west, and the Salween River (named the Thanlwin River in Myanmar and Nujiang River in China) to the east. We conducted acoustic point-count sampling surveys, collected noninvasive samples for molecular mitochondrial cytochrome b gene identification, and took photographs for morphological identification at six sites in Kachin State and three sites in Shan State to determine the presence of skywalker gibbons in predicted suitable forest areas in Myanmar. We also conducted 50 semistructured interviews with members of communities surrounding gibbon range forests to understand potential threats. In Kachin State, we audio-recorded 23 gibbon groups with group densities ranging between 0.57 and 3.6 group/km2. In Shan State, we audio-recorded 21 gibbon groups with group densities ranging between 0.134 and 1.0 group/km2. Based on genetic data obtained from skin and saliva samples, the gibbons were identified as skywalker gibbons (99.54–100% identity). Although these findings increase the species’ known population size and confirmed distribution, skywalker gibbons in Myanmar are threatened by local habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation. Most of the skywalker gibbon population in Myanmar exists outside protected areas. Therefore, the IUCN Red List status of the skywalker gibbon should remain as Endangered