Modeling of Potato Shelf Life on Evaporative Cooling Storage

A model of evaporative cooling storage system was designed to increase potato shelf life for improving potato storage system. Two cultivars of potato ‘Diamant’ (100 gm and 51 gm per tuber) and ‘LalPakri (23 gm and 11 gm per tuber) were placed on four shelves of the bin. Each shelf holds 240 kg of potato from 23 march 2013 to December 2013. Potato spoilage, sprouting, shrinkage, moisture content, vitamin C and total sugar content of potato were measured. Experimental results revealed that potato spoilage progressively increased from April to November and sprouting of potato gradually increased from June to October, but stopped in November. The cumulative spoilage and sprouting were much lower in the improved bin compared to traditional farmer’s practices. Shrinkage of potato was found higher in farmer’s practice than that of storage bin from October to November. Moisture content of potato was higher during May and reduced gradually to the lowest value during November in both of practices. No significant difference was found in two practices on vitamin-C content. Sugar content of ‘Diamant; potato was lower in the storage bin during November. According to data analysis and regression curve storage bin model was more appropriate for both cultivars than farmer practice and significantly more appropriate for ‘LalPakri’ potato

Design and development of maize peeler for farmers in Bangladesh

Hand peeling of maize is common practice before shelling in Bangladesh. The main problems of hand peeling are that these require more time and increase labour cost. A maize peeling machine has been designed and fabricated in Farm Machinery and Postharvest Process Engineering Divisional workshop, BARI, Gazipur during 2016-2017 which reduce the human power in peeling operation of maize. This maize peeler can be very helpful for medium and small scale farmer. Two rubber and two spiral rollers were used for peeling of cobs. The functional parts of the machine are hopper, spiral roller and rubber roller. For the peeling operation moisture content of maize cobs were taken 20%- 24% (w b). The peeling capacities of the manual and power peelings were 87 kg/h and 1008 kg/h respectively when moisture content of maize cobs was 22% (wb). The highest peeling capacity was 1107 kg/h when the moisture content of the maize cob was 20 % (wb). The average machine speeds were found to be 1.41m/s. During peeling operation, it was observed that 1% of grains were injured and 3.2 % of maize cobs were found to be unhusked which is very negligible. The efficiency of the machine was found to be 96 %.

Conservation tillage (CT) for climate-smart sustainable intensification : Assessing the impact of CT on soil organic carbon accumulation, greenhouse gas emission and water footprint of wheat cultivation in Bangladesh

Soil organic carbon (SOC), greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and water footprint (WF) are the key indicators of environmental sustainability in agricultural systems. Increasing SOC while reducing GHG emissions and WF are effective measures to achieve high crop productivity with minimum environmental impact (i.e. a multi-pronged approach of sustainable intensification (SI) and climate-smart agriculture (CSA) to achieve food security). In conventional agricultural systems, intensive soil tillage and removal of crop residues can lead to increase negative environmental impact due to reduce SOC, GHG emission and high water consumption. Conservation agriculture (CA) based conservation tillage systems (CTS) with crop residue retention is often suggested as a resource conserving alternative to increase crop productivity without compromising soil health and environmental sustainability of cereal cropping systems. The environmental impact of CTS in terms of SOC, WF and GHG emissions nonetheless remains understudied in Bangladesh. A two-year field experiment was carried out to evaluate the impacts of CTS with retention of crop residue on SOC accumulation, GHG emission and WF in wheat cultivation of Bangladesh. In the experiment, CTS such as zero tillage (ZT) and minimum tillage (MT) were compared with the conventional tillage (CT) practice. Result observed that the SOC accumulation in the soil was 0.11 t ha−1, 0.97 t ha−1, and 1.3 t ha−1 for CT, MT and ZT practices, respectively. A life cycle GHG emission estimation by farm efficiency analysis tool (FEAT) calculated 1987, 1992 and 2028 kg CO2eq ha−1 for ZT, MT and CT practices, respectively. Among the studied tillage options, lowest WF was achieved by MT (570.05 m3 t−1) followed by ZT (578.56 m3 t−1) and CT (608.85 m3 t−1). Since the results are in favor of CTS, this study recommends MT and ZT practice to reduce negative environmental externalities in wheat cultivation in Bangladesh. In comparison between the methods, the MT, which retains crop residue (20 cm), and involves principles of CA, is suitable for both CSA and SI of wheat cultivation in Bangladesh due to its ability to increase SOC accumulation, prevent both water loss, and GHG emission without compromising yield.</p

Exploring the Production of Secondary Metabolites from a Halophyte <i>Tetragonia tetragonoides</i> through Callus Culture

Considering Korea’s gradual shift toward an aging society, consumer interest in compounds with physiological benefits, including antioxidant and anticancer effects, has surged. This study explored the potential of Tetragonia tetragonoides (Pall.) Kunze, commonly known as New Zealand Spinach (NZS), a halophyte with reported health benefits, including efficacy in treating gastrointestinal diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity. This study also introduced a novel callus culture system for NZS, allowing for the rapid in vitro production of secondary metabolites. Optimal callus induction (100%) and biomass production (0.416 g) were achieved by adding 2.0 mg·L−1 6-BA (6-Benzylaminopurine) and 0.5 mg·L−1 2,4-D (2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid) among five auxin and cytokinin combinations. Two distinct callus types, TGC [TDZ (Thidiazuron)-supplemented Green Callus] and TNYC [TDZ + NAA (Naphthalene acetic acid)-supplemented Yellow Callus], were identified, each with unique characteristics. The calli showed total phenolic and flavonoid contents comparable to those of NZS leaves grown in the greenhouse. An expression analysis of six genes (CHS, CHI, F3H, F3′H, FLS, and DFR) involved in the kaempferol biosynthesis revealed an enhanced flavonoid biosynthesis-related gene expression in TGC, emphasizing its potential for compound production. GC-MS analysis identified distinct compound profiles in TGC and TNYC, with 2,3-butanediol and succinic acid being the predominant compounds among the nine and forty-four components, respectively. These calli offer a stable supply of functional compounds and present an environmentally sustainable solution. The derived callus culture system is anticipated to contribute to the development of healthy functional foods or pharmaceuticals from halophyte NZS