Adjusting N, K, Mg and Cu Rates for Improvement of Fertilizer N Use Efficiency in Rice Production in Malaysia

The largest rice growing area of Malaysia is located in the Muda Irrigation Scheme. Recent investigations showed that N use efficiency by rice crop is very low in many locations of this Irrigation Scheme due to Cu and Mg deficiency. It is important to increase N use efficiency in rice culture in order to increase yield through better fertilizer management. Three laboratory, three greenhouse and one field experiments were carried out to determine the possible mechanisms for improvement of fertilizer N use efficiency in rice production. Potassium, Mg and Cu status of different rice soils were determined. Deficiencies of K, Mg and Cu were found in 5, 4 and 7 soils, respectively. Three laboratory experiments were carried out on adsorption of K, Mg and Cu in different rice soils. The data indicated that adsorption of K, Mg and Cu depends on soil pH. The first greenhouse experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of N and Cu fertilization on rice yield and fertilizer N use efficiency in rice culture. Nitrogen was applied as 1 5N labelled urea. Estimated grain yield response to added N was quadratic in nature. Copper effect was not significant on grain yield. Effects of N and Cu were not significant on recovery (%) of fertilizer N. The second greenhouse experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of N and Mg fertil ization on rice yield and fertilizer N use efficiency in rice culture. Nitrogen was applied as 1 5N labelled urea. Grain yield increased significantly due to N and Mg application. Fertilizer N uptake and recovery increased significantly with increasing Mg rates. These findings suggest that there is a prospect to increase grain yield and fertilizer N use efficiency by Mg application in Mg deficient soils. The third greenhouse experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of K and Mg fertilization on yield, and K and Mg uptake by rice. Grain yield, K and Mg uptake increased significantly due to Mg fertilization whereas the effect of K was not significant. The field experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects Cu and Mg application on grain yield and agronomic efficiency of added N. Grain yield and agronomic efficiency of added N increased significantly due to Cu or Mg application. These findings suggest that combined application of Cu and Mg both at 10 kg ha-1 along with 120 kg N ha-1 can increase grain yield of rice by 24% in soils deficient in both Cu and Mg

A 15N tracer study to evaluate the effects of nitrogen and copper fertilization on fertilizer nitrogen efficiency in rice production

In the study of the effects of nitrogen and copper fertilization on rice yield when four rates of N (0, 60, 120 and 180 kg N/ha) as 15N labelled urea and three rates of Cu (0, 5 and 10 kg Cu/ha) were applied, grain yield increased significantly with increasing N rates upto 120 kg N/ha. The recovery of fertilizer N was around 40% irrespective of N and Cu rates. Copper application at 10 kg/ha increased grain yield by 0.53 t/ha insignificantly. Cu content in the straw was below the critical deficiency level of 6 mg/kg. Thus higher rate of Cu fertilizer (above 10 kg/ha) in soil increase rice yield and fertilizer N efficiency if Cu is applied as basal. Alternately, Cu may be applied as foliar spray on standing crop to avoid Cu adsorption in the soil

An investigation of alternative approaches to contraceptive logistics management at the peripheral level

In Bangladesh, contraceptive commodities are received at the peripheral level (thana and below) from thana stores on a monthly basis by using the “pull” system. It is expected that at any point in time a worker or a center at the peripheral level will have a two-to-three-month stock of contraceptives. Many surveys/studies have indicated, however, that stockouts of contraceptives are quite frequent. To investigate an improved system of contraceptive distribution, a three-cell experimental study was undertaken. In the first two cells, contraceptives were delivered following two methods of the “push” system, while in the third cell contraceptives were distributed following the existing system “pull” system. The field experiment lasted for a period of six months. The results of the study are presented in this report

Involving private medical practitioners in family planning services in Bangladesh

The project Involving Private Medical Practitioners (PMPs) in Family Planning Services is an innovative initiative to involve PMPs in protecting the reproductive health (RH) of couples, attract private investment in the family planning (FP) sector, and eventually reduce the increasing financial pressure on the government. The project was implemented in two phases. In phase I, qualified PMPs from urban areas were given training on FP. In phase II, nonqualified PMPs were given training on FP. PIACT Bangladesh, a local NGO, conducted two pilot projects to involve the PMPs in FP. The first one was to involve qualified PMPs in urban areas (Dhaka) and the second one was to involve nonqualified PMPs in rural areas (Komalganj Thana of Moulvibazar District). Qualified PMPs are medical graduates and nonqualified PMPs are rural medical practitioners (RMPs) who are not medical graduates. The overall objective of the pilot projects was to explore the feasibility of involving PMPs and RMPs in providing selected FP services on a commercial basis with emphasis on counseling and side-effect management. The findings of both projects are presented in this report

Comparison of combined disc synergy test and double disc synergy test for phenotypic detection of metallo-ß-lactamase among the clinical isolates of gram-negative bacilli

Background: Metallo-β-lactamases (MBL) have a wide spectrum of activity and they confer a higher level of resistance to all β-lactams antibiotics including Carbapenem. The active site in MBLs contains either 1 or 2 Zn2+ ions for their catalytic mechanism. All MBLs share a common feature of being inhibited by EDTA. Metallo-β-lactamase-producing gram-negative bacteria are the most important nosocomial pathogens. The present study was conducted to detect Metallo-β-lactamase (MBL) production in gram-negative bacilli by Combined Disc Synergy Test (CDST) and Double Disc Synergy Test (DDST) with 0.1M EDTA as a chelator and to see their antibiotic susceptibility pattern of them.Methods: The cross-sectional observational study was carried out in the Department of Microbiology, Chittagong Medical College, during the period of July 2015 to June 2016. Samples were collected from patients admitted to CMCH. Standard Microbiological procedures and biochemical tests were carried out for the isolation and identification of MBL. SPSS software is used for data analysis.Results: When 66 screening positive MBL isolates were subjected to the phenotypic confirmatory test CDST detected 50 (25.4%) and DDST detected 48 (24.4%) as MBL producers. Among these isolates, we found Acinetobacter spp. 7 (100%), as the leading MBL producer followed by Pseudomonas spp. 16 (32.6%), E. coli 10 (20%) and Klebsiella spp. 15 (17.4%).Conclusions: In a laboratory where multiplex PCR molecular set-up is not available CDST and DDST are convenient phenotypic methods and can be implemented in routine microbiological laboratories as well as in primary health care setup for daily application to monitor the production of MBLs

Evaluation of two methods of nitrogen determination in rice plant

Grain and straw samples were collected from rice plants grown under 12 different fertilizer treatments in a greenhouse experiment conducted in two soils (Idris and Tebengau series). The samples were analyzed for total nitrogen (N) content using the both conventional and rapid methods. Nitrogen contents in both grain and straw were slightly higher with the rapid method compared to the conventional method. Estimated relationship between the methods was linear for both grain and straw N contents with highly significant R2 (coefficient of determination) values. The R2 values were 0.7363 and 0.8208 for grain and straw N contents, respectively. The advantages of the rapid method over the conventional method were: (i) less time was required for digestion, and (ii) distillation and titration steps were not required. In the conventional method, titrate was used for 15N analysis, while it could not be done in the rapid method. Based on this comparative study, it can be concluded that rapid method should be used instead of conventional method to save time if only total N is analyzed. But if total N along with 15N is analyzed, conventional method should be used

Financial development and economic growth in an oil-rich economy: The case of Saudi Arabia

© 2014 Elsevier B.V.We investigate the effect of financial development on economic growth in the context of Saudi Arabia, an oil-rich economy. In doing so, we distinguish between the effects of financial development on the oil and non-oil sectors of the economy. Using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) Bounds test technique, we find that financial development has a positive impact on the growth of the non-oil sector. In contrast, its impact on the oil-sector growth and total GDP growth is either negative or insignificant. This suggests that the relationship between financial development and growth may be fundamentally different in resource-dominated economies