Marketing of small indigenous species of fish (SIS) in three selected fish markets of Mymensingh

A socio-economic survey was conducted round the year in three fish markets at Mymensingh, Bangladesh. The selected markets were categorized as rural market (Sutiakhali market), a peri-urban market (Kamal Ranjeet market, BAU) and an urban market (Notun Bazar market, Mymensingh town). It was learnt from the survey that the availability of Small Indigenous Fish Species (SIS) declined to a great extent over the last few years and at presently many of such fish species are either threatened or at the edge of extinction. The supply of SIS was highest in KR market (37% of total) and more or less similar in Notun Bazar and Sutiakhali fish market (25 and 27% respectively). The total supply of SIS fluctuated from 25% to 35% throughout the year in these markets. About 48 SIS were found in the sampled markets over the survey period. The highest number of species (45) was found in KR market followed by Notun Bazar (42) and Sutiakhali (37) fish markets. During the survey, three critically endangered species namely, schilbid catfish, garua catfish and rita were found in these markets. Beside these, other 11 and 10 species were listed to be endangered and vulnerable respectively. The biodiversity of 21 SIS found in three markets were no threat at all. Three species (guntea loach, Indian glass barb and flying barb) were 'data deficient' as reported by the IUCN Red Book (IUCN-Bangladesh 2000). From the supply point of view small prawn, spotted snakehead, stinging catfish, pool barb, striped dwarf catfish, Gangetic mystus, walking catfish and tank goby were the prominent fish. The least available species found in this survey were lesser spiny eel, barred spiny eel, Gangetic ailia, freshwater garfish, zig-zag eel, flying barb, Ganges river sprat, freshwater river shad and dwarf gourami. The weight of SIS available in Notun bazar was highest and nearly double than other two markets. There was no significant difference recorded in the supply of SIS in Sutiakhali and KR markets. The average monthly SIS supply was 185, 192 and 467 kg in KR, Sutiakhali and Notun Bazar, respectively; therefore, the cumulative average supply was 844 kg per month in three markets. The price of SIS ranged widely from taka 50-450/kg depending on species, location of market, time of purchase and the condition of fish. In general small prawn, ticto barb, dwarf gourami, Gangetic leaffish, and Annandale loach were sold at a lower price (ranged taka 50-100/kg) and these species could be considered at the bottom of the market-price list. Other SIS like walking catfish, climbing parch, butter catfish, cotio and schilbid catfish valued as highest price (ranged taka 150-450/kg). There was no specific marketing chain for SIS in Mymensingh region. The components of marketing channels and their expansion varied with seasons and locations. The general pattern, however, was as this - after buying fish from fish farmer/fishermen, middlemen (locally known as Foria) used to buy fish to wholesale market and sell to the wholesalers. The retailers used to buy fish from wholesaler through auction to the highest bidders. The retailers then send the fish to particular market where the fish reached the consumers. The livelihood strategy of SIS retailers in three fish markets showed that socio-economic constraints such as low income, poor educational background, low economic status and lack of capital are the main constrains [sic]. Most of the retailers proposed that government should control the fish price throughout the year, so that the producers can get reasonable and stable price. Construction of cold storage and preservation facilities at market sites, improvement of road and communication, improvement of physical market facilities and reduction of market chain is essential. Credit facilities, improvement of their standard of living, health and sanitary condition, housing condition, children education and access to drinking water facilities were identified as additional aspects to improve socio-economic condition of SIS retailers

Impact of row arrangements, age of tiller seedlings and number of tiller seedlings hill-1 on the growth performance of transplanted Aman rice (cv. BR23)

The experiment was carried out at the Agronomy Field Laboratory, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh to see the effect of row arrangements, age of tiller seedlings and number of tiller seedlings hill-1 on growth of transplant Aman rice (cv. BR23). The experiment comprised three row arrangements viz. single, double and triple row; two ages of tiller seedling viz. 25 and 35 days and three levels of number of tiller seedlings hill-1 viz., 2, 4 and 6 tiller seedlings hill-1. The effect of row arrangement, age of tiller seedlings and number of tiller seedlings hill-1 were significant on plant height, number of leaves hill-1, number of total tillers hill-1, leaf dry weight, stem dry weight and total dry weight. The tallest plants at 70 DAT, the highest number of leaves and leaf dry weight were found at 25, 40, 55 and 70 DAT in single row arrangement which was as good as double row arrangement while shorter plant and the lowest number of leaves hill-1 were found in triple row arrangement. The highest stem and total dry matter production hill-1 were recorded in triple row arrangement and the lowest were found in single row arrangement. Wider spacing significantly increased plant height, total tiller production hill-1, leaf production hill-1and leaf dry matter production while closer spacing of triple rows enhance stem and total dry matter production hill-1. Transplanted Aman rice (BR23) can be grown in single rows for the highest plant height, more tiller production, leaf production and leaf dry matter production hill-1. In case of total dry matter production cv. BR23 can be grown in triple rows by transplanting 35-day old seedlings with 6 tiller seedlings hill-1

Plant Growth and Tuber Yield of Several Exotic Potato Genotypes

Potato stolon and tuber number are the most important determinants of yield and these traits are associated with planting time and genotype. This study was conducted to evaluate plant growth, tuber yield contributing traits and tuber yield of potato genotypes in two planting dates. The experiment was done in randomized complete block design with three replications. Results showed that plant growth and traits that contribute to tuber yield of potato were significantly influenced by planting dates and genotypes. Stolon and tuber number as well as tuber weight were periodically investigated. It was observed that the performance of those traits were always higher in 23rd November planting. Different genotypes performed differently on all the studied parameters. Among the genotypes tested, G1 (AC 10069) produced the highest number of stolons, tubers, tuber weight, length and yield of tuber as compared to the check variety. It was observed that 23rd November planted G1 (AC 10069) gave the highest tuber yield (17.79 t.ha-1) which was statistically similar with G3 (AC 10110) (17.00 t.ha-1) when compared to the check variety. It can be concluded that planting time as well as genotype are the critical factors that determine potato yield

Milt quality determination of a critically endangered fish, olive barb (Puntius sarana, Ham.) in Bangladesh

The present study was aimed to evaluate the characteristics of the olive barb sperm. Milt was collected fortnightly from 49 male fish (mean weight 90.8 g and length 18.64 cm) from April to July in 2008. In the olive barb ejaculated milt, volume (µl/g), motility (%), duration of motility (s), concentration (x 10 super(10)/ml) and pH values were found to be 6.06±0.32, 88.27±0.71, 171.41±7.41, 5.16±0.05 and 7.75±0.04, respectively. Milt volume was significantly (P<0.05) correlated with sperm concentration. Milt volume, sperm concentration, motility and duration of motility significantly varied (P<0.05) during spawning season

Rice growth and yield characteristics under elevated carbon dioxide and nitrogen management

Received: July 16th, 2022 ; Accepted: September 8th, 2022 ; Published: September 12th, 2022 ; Correspondence: [email protected] atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration is increasing and the on crop production needs to be investigated. A pot experiment was conducted in open top chambers (OTC) to determine the response of rice to elevated CO2 (eCO2) under varying time of nitrogen (N) application. The results revealed that photosynthesis, root and shoot dry matter production, yield components and nutrient absorption were favored at eCO2 when N applied up to flowering stage (FT) of rice. However, the N application up to FT of rice also significantly improved percent filled grain, reduce spikelet sterility and rice yield increased by 18 to 20% under eCO2. Rice plant absorbed higher amount of Zn, Ca, Mg, and Fe at eCO2 when N was applied up to FT. Amylose was higher but protein percentage was lower at eCO2. These results indicate that to maximize rice yield under eCO2, it is important to supply N up to FT of rice in order to increase grain fertility and reduce spikelet sterility

Duration of low temperature changes physiological and biochemical attributes of rice seedling

Received: June 2nd, 2022 ; Accepted: August 4th, 2022 ; Published: August 18th, 2022 ; Correspondence: [email protected] low temperature (LT) is detrimental to growth of rice seedling during boro season in Bangladesh. An experiment was conducted in growth chamber during June to October, 2021 using BRRI dhan29 as planting material. The aim of this experiment was to determine the effect of variable duration of LT on growth, physiological and biochemical traits of rice seedling and to determine the age of seedling that can tolerate cold effect. In this experiment 5, 10, 15 and 20 days old seedling (DOS) were exposed to 6 °C for 1, 2, 3 and 4 days. Seedlings were also grown under room temperature (25 °C, RT) which consider as control treatment. Seedlings were grown in plastic trays filled with mixture of soil and cowdung. The experiment was conducted following completely randomized design with 3 replications. Data on shoot length and weight, root length and weight, chlorophyll (Chl), carotenoids, malondialdehyde (MDA) and proline contain were determined after 5 days of temperature sock. The results revealed that the LT was injurious to younger rice seedling when they were exposed to LT for 1 to 2 days. The shoot and root length as well as their dry weight were reduced under low temperature. Further, the Chl and carotenoid content of younger rice seedlings degraded within 2 days of LT exposure. On the contrary, the proline and MDA content of rice seedlings increased to reduce the harmful effect of under LT. It could be concluded that the rice seedlings could tolerate the detrimental effect of LT when they attain at least 15 days

Root growth of four transplant Aman rice varieties as influenced by NPKS fertilizer

An experiment was carried out at the Agronomy Field Laboratory, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, during July to December 2006 to study the root growth of four Transplant Aman rice varieties as influenced by NPKS fertilization. The experiment was laid out in a split-plot design with three replications. The experiment consisted of four varieties viz. BRRI dhan30, BRRI dhan31, BRRI dhan40 and BRRI dhan41; and four levels of fertilizers viz. 0, 50%, 100% and 150% of the recommended dose of NPKS. BRRI dhan41 had better performance in all root parameters. All root parameters except number of roots hill-1 performed better at high level of fertilizer. The interaction effect between variety and fertilizer level was significant in respect of number of roots hill-1, fresh weight of root (except at 30 days after transplanting (DAT) and 90 DAT), dry weight of root, fresh weight of above ground plant part (except at 30 DAT and 90 DAT) and dry weight of above ground plant part (except at 90 DAT)

Productivity, nutrient balance, and economics of monsoon rice under different nutrient management practices in two agro-ecological zones of Bangladesh

Inherently poor soil fertility and non-adoption of fertilizer recommendations based on soil test and yield targets by farmers limit the productivity and profitability from monsoon rice in Bangladesh and much of South Asia. In the Level Barind Tract (LBT; AEZ-25) and the High Ganges River Floodplain (HGR; AEZ-11) agro-ecological zones (AEZs) of Bangladesh, monsoon (aman/kharif) season transplanted rainfed rice (known as T. aman rice) is grown in large areas after maize, wheat and/or mungbeans, with residues of each crop removed from the field after grain harvest. This results in lower grain yield and lower profits in these AEZs as compared with other AEZs. Nutrient management, based on soil test, yield targets, or integrated use of inorganics and organics for each AEZ together with retention of crop residue, has the potential to increase rice yield, reduce production cost and increase income. With this hypothesis, this study was conducted to determine the optimum nutrient management practices for achieving higher yield, maintaining apparent soil nutrient balance, and obtaining high profits from monsoon rice. Twelve nutrient management options were evaluated, of which the first six were: (i) 80-16-44-12-2 kg ha-1 of N, P, K, S, Zn respectively for a high yield goal (T1; ‘HYG’); (ii) 56-12-32-8- 1.5 kg ha-1 respectively for a medium yield goal (T2; ‘MYG’); (iii) 65-13-32-9-2 kg ha-1 respectively plus 5 t ha-1 cowdung as integrated plant nutrient management system (T3, ‘IPNS’); (iv) 67-14-41-9-2 kg ha-1 respectively as a soil test-based fertilizer management strategy (T4; ‘STB’); (v) 40-9-11-0-0 kg ha-1 respectively as per farmers’ practice (T5; ‘FP’) and (vi) 0-0-0-0-0 kg ha-1 as a control (T6; ‘CON’). The remaining six treatments were the same as above but each also included the crop residue incorporation (CRI), i.e., (vii) T7, ‘HYG+CRI’; (viii) T8, ‘MYG+CRI’; (ix) T9, ‘IPNS+CRI’; (x) T10, ‘STB+CRI’; (xi) T11 ‘FP’+CRI’; and (xii) T12, ‘CON+CRI’. In both AEZs, STB plus CRI resulted in the highest rice yield (p≤0.05) followed by ‘STB’ and ‘IPNS+CRI’. In comparison with ‘FP’ and ‘CON’, each without CRI, balances were positive (p≤0.05) for P, S, Zn and B but were negative for N and K in ‘HYG’, ‘MYG’, ‘IPNS’ and ‘STB’ with or without CRI. In both AEZS, STB nutrient management had the highest (p≤0.05) net returns (526 & 487 US$ ha-1, respectively), highest benefit cost ratio (BCR; 3.54 & 3.36) and highest marginal benefit cost ratio (MBCR; 10.47 & 10.19). These were followed by STB+CRI’ and ‘IPNS’, while they were lowest (p≤0.05) for CON and FP. We recommend that nutrient application, based on soil test with incorporation of mungbean residue, followed by IPNS, could be the best strategies for achieving high yield, improving soil fertility and for fetching a higher profit from monsoon rice in Bangladesh and similar soils and growing environments of South Asia