Indonesia-Madagascar partnership in agricultural linkages (impartial) aims for sustainability

Starting in 2011 Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) through the Program of Third Country Experts (TCE) invited Indonesian scientists to be involved in the development endeavors for African Countries, including Madagascar especially in attempt to increase productivity of rice as main staple food of Malagasy. Initiation of bilateral cooperation between Indonesia and Madagascar had been stimulated from JICA-TCE, furthermore for developing Indonesian soybean to Madagascar from 2013 to 2015. Madagascar and many African Countries are grouped into the countries requesting global aid for taming hunger as declared under Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) ended 2015 that continued into Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030. Fortunately, there is a similarity of languages in Indonesia and Madagascar East and West Africa as heritage from the ancient voyage before western occupation or even Before Christ (BC) era as reflected in the relief at wall of Borobudur a Buddhist temple in Magelang Central Java Indonesia. Based on historical background, there is an opportunity to propose Indonesia- Madagascar Partnership in Agricultural Linkages (IMPARTIAL) as a new alliance for attaining sustainable development in developing countries at the southern hemisphere. Implementing agricultural innovation to provide adequate food and renewable energy for daily modern livelihood is a key to attain sustainability.Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. & Tech. 7 (1): 21-31, June, 201

Centrality evolution of the charged-particle pseudorapidity density over a broad pseudorapidity range in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76TeV

Peer reviewe

INDONESIA-MADAGASCAR PARTNERSHIP IN AGRICULTURAL LINKAGES (IMPARTIAL) AIMS FOR SUSTAINABILITY

Starting in 2011 Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) through the Program of Third Country Experts (TCE) invited Indonesian scientists to be involved in the development endeavors for African Countries, including Madagascar especially in attempt to increase productivity of rice as main staple food of Malagasy. Initiation of bilateral cooperation between Indonesia and Madagascar had been stimulated from JICA-TCE, furthermore for developing Indonesian soybean to Madagascar from 2013 to 2015. Madagascar and many African Countries are grouped into the countries requesting global aid for taming hunger as declared under Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) ended 2015 that continued into Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030. Fortunately, there is a similarity of languages in Indonesia and Madagascar East and West Africa as heritage from the ancient voyage before western occupation or even Before Christ (BC) era as reflected in the relief at wall of Borobudur a Buddhist temple in Magelang Central Java Indonesia. Based on historical background, there is an opportunity to propose IndonesiaMadagascar Partnership in Agricultural Linkages (IMPARTIAL) as a new alliance for attaining sustainable development in developing countries at the southern hemisphere. Implementing agricultural innovation to provide adequate food and renewable energy for daily modern livelihood is a key to attain sustainability

EVALUATION OF EARLY CALVES\u2019 WEANING DIET AS MILK REPLACER FOR SMALLHOLDER DAIRY PRODUCTION SYSTEMS IN KENYA

Small-scale dairy farmers in Kenya are interested more in selling milk to earn income, especially during dry seasons when milk prices hike. This results in depressed calves\u2019 growth rates, high calf mortality rates, late maturity and general economic losses in the smallholder dairy production systems. Innovative development of early calves weaning formulae, as milk replacers, would offer a solution in the calves\u2019 nutrition and household income in the long run. A study was conducted to determine the effectiveness and economic returns to replacing milk with formulated early calf weaning diets (EWDs) on the survival and general performance of dairy calves in Kenya. Treatments included milk feeding up to 105 days (Control) and with milk (28 days) + EWD, fortified or not fortified with effective microorganisms (EM), diamond-V or Diatomite (DT), up to 105 days. There was no (P>0.05) differences in average daily weight gain of the calves as a result of the treatments. However, the EM-treatment had significantly (P<0.01) higher calve dry matter (DM) intake (g kg-1 day) than in the other treatment groups. Due to feeding with EWD, total milk saved for the farmer was 9 kg-1cow-1day-1; equal to 945 kg for the 105 period, valued at US$614. For the conventional milk feeding (control), total milk saved was 5 kg-1 cow-1 day-1; equal to 525 for the 105 period, valued at US$ 341. Significant incidences of diarrhea were observed in the control (milk) and the Diamond-V fortified treatments. Signs of hair loss and discolorations were observed in DT-fortified EWDs. EM- fortification reduced disease incidences, thus, EWD fortified with this microbial feed additive can be an effective milk- replacer in smallholder dairy production systems to wean dairy calves at 28-35 days with good economic and performance results.Les petits fermiers agricoles au Kenya s\u2019int\ue9ressent plus \ue0 la vente du lait pour g\ue9n\ue9rer des revenues, sp\ue9cialement durant les saisons s\ue8ches lorsque le prix du lait est \ue9lev\ue9. Ceci r\ue9sulte en une inhibition du taux de croissance des veaux, des taux de mortalit\ue9s \ue9lev\ue9s, retard de maturit\ue9 et pertes \ue9conomiques dans les syst\ue8mes de production laitier des petits fermiers agricoles. Le d\ue9veloppement des formules innov\ue9es de sevrage pr\ue9coce des veaux en remplacement au lait pourrait offrir une solution dans la nutrition des veaux et \ue0 la longue am\ue9liorer le revenu des m\ue9nages. Une \ue9tude \ue9tait faite pour d\ue9terminer l\u2019efficacit\ue9 et le b\ue9n\ue9fice du remplacement du lait par une alimentation formul\ue9e de sevrage pr\ue9coce des veaux (EWDs) pour la survie et la performance des veaux au Kenya. Les traitements comportaient l\u2019alimentation par le lait jusqu\u2019\ue0 105 jours (t\ue9moin) et le lait (28 jours) + EWD, fortifi\ue9 ou non par des microorganismes efficaces (EM) , le diamant-V ou le Diatomite (DT), jusqu\u2019 \ue0 105 jours. Il n\u2019y avait pas de diff\ue9rences significatives (P>0.05) des traitements sur la moyenne du gain quotidien de poids des veaux. Par ailleurs, le traitement de fortification avec EM avait significativement (P<0.01) induit une ingestion de la mati\ue8re s\ue8che la plus \ue9lev\ue9e (DM) (g kg-1 day) par rapport autres traitements. Par l\u2019alimentation \ue0 l\u2019EWD, les fermiers ont pu gagner 9 kg vache-1jour-1 \ue9quivalant \ue0 945 kg pour toute la p\ue9riode de 105 jours et \ue9valu\ue9s \ue0 US614. Pour l\u2019alimentation conventionnelle en lait (t\ue9moin), le total \ue9pargn\ue9 \ue9tait de 5 kg par vache jour-1 \ue9quivalent \ue0 525 kg d\u2019une valeur d\u2019US 341. Des incidences de diarrh\ue9e \ue9taient observ\ue9es dans le control (lait) et le traitement EWD fortifi\ue9 avec Diamond-V tandis que les signes de perte et d\ue9coloration des poils \ue9taient observ\ue9s dans l\u2019EWD fortifi\ue9 de DT. La fortification avec les microorganismes EM a r\ue9duit les incidences de maladies. D\ue8s lors EWD fortifi\ue9 avec les microorganismes EM peut constituer un remplacement efficace du lait dans les syst\ue8mes de production laiti\ue8res pour sevrer les veaux de 28-35 jours avec des r\ue9sultats \ue9conomiques et des performances satisfaisants

Discovery of frogs of the Stumpffia hara species group (Microhylidae, Cophylinae) on Montagne d’Ambre in northern Madagascar, with description of a new species

The stump-toed frogs of the Madagascar-endemic genus Stumpffia are mostly diminutive in size, but there is one group of comparatively large frogs within the genus, which we herein refer to as the Stumpffia hara species group. Each of the four known members of this species group is endemic to a single location of deciduous dry forest with exposed karstic limestone rock. Here, we report on the discovery of members of this species group on Montagne d’Ambre, a rainforest-covered extinct volcano in the North of Madagascar that has a rich Stumpffia fauna but has been thought to lack members of the S. hara species group until now. We found two members of the species group, one at the peak, and one in transitional and dry deciduous forest on the west and northern slopes of the mountain. The high-elevation species is new to science, and we here describe it as Stumpffia bishopi sp. nov. It occupies a highly distinct position in the phylogeny of these frogs, characterized by ≥ 9.8% uncorrected pairwise distance from all other nominal Stumpffia in a fragment of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene. It is also the smallest of the members of the S. hara species group. Our genetic results show that the low-elevation species is Stumpffia megsoni, constituting a range expansion of that species and considerably expanding our understanding of its morphology and ecology. We report its advertisement call for the first time. Our results highlight the importance of continued surveys of even well-sampled localities, with special attention on the high elevation sites of northern massifs and collection of voucher specimens, and how much there still remains to understand about even the largest of Madagascar’s small frogs

Pregnancy and childbirth in women aged 40 and over at befelatanana maternity, Madagascar

Objective: Pregnancy after age 40 remains a concern as it exposes to particular obstetrical complications. Our study aims to determine the risks of complications related to pregnancy and childbirth of women aged 40 and over. Study design: We carried out a cross-sectional analytical study of a historical cohort comparing the progress and the outcome of pregnancy in women 40 years of age and over to those aged 20 and 35 who gave birth at the University Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynecology in Befelatanana, from 1st January 2010 to 31 December 2013. Results: The prevalence of childbirth among 40 years old and over was 0.61%. They were multiparous and large multiparous in 88% of the cases. The analysis showed that parturients aged 40 years and older were at significant risk for caesarean section, with three times the risk of emergency caesarean section. The frequency of this emergency caesarean section increased with parity ((RR = 3.04 [2.15-4.30], p = 10-10). Among their neonates, 23.42% were hypotrophic, 22.86% premature, 12% asphyxiated at birth, 13.14% admitted to neonatal resuscitation and 5.71% died in utero, but without significant difference with the group unexposed. Perinatal death was 7.43% in women aged 40 and over vs. 4% in 20 to 35 year olds ((RR = 1.85 [0,89-3,86]; p 0.052). Conclusion: We found that pregnancies after 40 years were not exposed to pregnancy-related pathologies or specific fetal complications. The use of an emergency cesarean is, however, frequent