Performance of groundcover on surface temperature reduction in the application of the extensive green roof

Malaysia’s climate is struggling with unusually hot and dry weather from February to May 2016. Temperatures soared to the limits of a new record. One of the solutions is by having green roof to reduce the heat transfer in urban microclimate and buildings. Thus, the evaluation of potential plants in this study is to understand their performance in surface temperature reduction. In this study, the field measurements was carried out with ten types of groundcover and one exposed soil and one selected concrete flooring on three clear days. The measurement is taken from 8 AM to 6 PM and recorded at one-hour interval using an infrared thermometer. This study was done to compare the surface temperature of green roof and exposed bare roof within the same outdoor ambient environment. The result from this study indicates that Eremochloa ophiuroides and Rhoeo spathacea are suitable for planting in extensive rooftop system. Eremochloa ophiuroides and Rhoeo spathacea significantly provide the value of the average percentage of surface temperature reduction which was 18.9% and 18.8% respectively. Thus, it is recommended that both species are suitable for extensive roof planting. This knowledge can be applied by professionals in landscape architecture, horticulture, urban planning and design to provide better rooftop planting material in tropical urban environments

The effect of different storage conditions and packaging materials on the viability of paddy seed variety TQR-8

This study was conducted at School of Sustainable Agriculture, Universiti Malaysia Sabah Sandakan from May 2012 to October 2012 to determine the effect of storage conditions and packaging materials on the viability of paddy seed variety TQR- 8. The paddy seeds were stored under three different conditions, ambient room condition (30-35 °C, RH 70-90%), split unit air-conditioned room (20-24 °C, RH 60-70%) and SSA laboratory cold room (5-10 °C, RH 50-60%) for seed storage. The paddy seeds were packed in five different packaging materials which were Polypropylene (Pl), Polyethylene (PE), Polypropylene lined with low density polyethylene (Pl- LOPE), Polypropylene lined with high density polyethylene (PL- HDPE) and Polypropylene lined with thin aluminum foil (PL-TAL). The experiment was designed in 3 x 5 Factorial in Complete Randomized Design (CRD) consisting of two factors: storage conditions and packaging materials. The germination test was carried out every two weeks interval for the period of five months. Parameters investigated in this study were moisture content (%), percentage of germination (%), number of seedlings with plumule, number of seedlings with radicle,number of seedlings with leaf, length of root (cm), height of seedlings (cm), number of normal seedlings , number of abnormal seedlings and number of dead seedlings. The result was analyzed using two ways ANOVA repeated measures. At the end of 20th weeks, cold room (65.27%) and split unit air-conditioned room (65%) maintain the higher germination percentage than ambient room (18.60%). Both storage conditions also has record the highest percentage seedlings with plumule, radicle, leaf, and normal seedlings. It produced the tallest seedlings and longest root It achieved low percentage of abnormal seedlings. On the other hand, the control used in this study was ambient room with PL The germination percentage of paddy seed which stored under this condition was 31.67%. Seeds packed in Pl (31.67%) and PE (29.67%), had statistically different compared to PL-LDPE (13%), PL- LDPE (10.33%) and PL- TAL (8.33%). In conclusion, paddy seed variety TQR- 8 can be stored safely under ambient condition for two months and should be packed with PE when storing in ambient condition. Besides, paddy seed should be stored at air-conditioned room and cold room when packed with PL- LDPE, PlL- HDPE and PL- TAF for more than three months period onwards. The viability of paddy seeds variety TQR-8 can be maintained. Storability can be extended by storing under air-conditioned and cold room with PL and PE for small and large scale farmers for more than five months onwards