Assessing the determinants of rice farmers' adaptation strategies to climate change in Bangladesh

Purpose - This paper examines rice farmers' selection of adaptation strategies to cope with and offset the effects of climate change and the determinants of those selections in Rajshahi, a severely drought-prone district of Bangladesh. Design/methodology/approach - Farm level micro-data was obtained from 550 rice growers in the 2010-2011 farming season. A multinomial logit (MNL) model was utilised to assess the determinants of adaptation strategies practised by farmers in response to climate change. Findings - Results from the MNL model indicate that gender, age, education of household heads, household assets, annual farm income, farm size, tenure status, farmer-to-farmer extension, access to credit, access to subsidy, and access to electricity, all affect farmers' selection of adaptation strategies for climate change. Originality/value - This is the first study of its kind to analyse the determinants of adaptation strategies for climate change by farmers in drought-prone areas of Bangladesh. This study provides direction for policy makers in order to strengthen the adaptation strategies of farmers and guide policies accordingly. These strategies have the potential to minimise the adverse effects of climate change

Small-Scale Turkey Farming in Bangladesh: Farming Practices, Profitability and Supply Chain Mapping

The study was conducted to know the existing turkey production system, supply chain mapping, and identifying the prospects and problems of turkey rearing in some selected areas of Bangladesh during October 2019 to December 2019. A total of 100 turkey raisers were surveyed following convenience method of sampling technique. The primary data were collected, analyzed accordingly and tabular presentation method was applied with the help of simple descriptive statistical measures e.g. frequency distributions, percentage, sum and means to illustrating the results. Profitability analysis was done on the basis of variable cost, fixed cost, return by using arithmetic means and percentages. The study revealed that 87 male and 13 female respondents were surveyed, of them cent percent found educated. About 56% turkey keeper’s main occupation was business, 27% service and 12% in farming while 88.57% involved with farming as secondary sources of income. Average landholding for homestead, cultivable and non-cultivable was 24.40, 129.71 and 29.47 decimal, respectively. About 59% farms started for commercial purpose, 32% for non-commercial purpose and 9% for both. About 60% respondents kept less than 50 turkeys and only 2% kept 501-1000 turkeys. Among the surveyed farms55% stopped their operation and 45% farms found running their business. Among the running farms cent percent were small-scale group. The average feed intake was 192.13 grams per day per bird at 20 weeks of age. Turkey laid on an average 139 eggs a year irrespective of variety and for hatching poults, the fertility and hatchability rate found between 65 to 100% and 50 to 90%, respectively. About 28% farmers experienced the deaths of turkey because of Cold, Pox, Ranikhet, Bird flu and unknown cases and 69.47% farmers took veterinary advice from Upazila Livestock Hospital and rest from other sources. Farmers to consumers were the most common and widely used marketing channel for egg, chick and adult turkey. The market intermediaries of turkey farm carried out different marketing functions e.g. buying and selling, pricing, transportation, sorting, distribution and market information. The average net return and benefit-cost ratio was BDT 127838.04 and 1.38, respectively for 50 turkeys per year. In the study, turkey rearing found some comparative benefit over chicken and ducks e.g. higher weight gain, forage eater, lower diseases rate and suitability for the country. The main problem of turkey rearing identified as market instability, lack of quality turkey feed, higher feed price, lack of proper marketing facility and training on turkey farming. In conclusion, the small-scale turkey farming could be a viable source of income for the rural people of Bangladesh after taking some remedial steps by the Government of Bangladesh for the aforesaid hindrances faced by the turkey farmers

Evaluation of performances and selection response of three indigenous chicken genotypes at seventh-generation

The present study was conducted to assessed the performances of three native chicken genotypes under intensive management. A total of 1042 day-old chicks comprising of 3 types of chicken, namely Naked Neck (NN-381), Hilly (HI-313), and Non-descript Deshi (ND-348), were Hatched for this study. The seventh generation, selection was practiced at 40 weeks of age according to 40-week body weight (BW), egg production (EP) up to 40-week, egg weight (EW) at 40 weeks, and age at maturity (ASM). The data were analyzed in a CRD. Day-old chick weight was significantly (P < 0.001) highest in HI (32.52 ± 0.32 g). Significant (P < 0.001) body weight differences among the genotypes were observed at the 12th week of age. Genotype had a significant effect on chick mortality. The average age at the first egg of ND 145.54days was 8.81 days earlier than that of HI 154.35days. Hatchability on fertile eggs differed significantly (P < 0.05) among the genotypes. The percentage of dead germ was affected (P < 0.001) by genotype. Feed consumption from 9 to 16 weeks showed a significant (P < 0.001) variation in feed intake among the native chicken genotypes. EP of ND, HI, and NN birds were expected to increase by 0.875, 1.585, and 0.255 %, respectively. The EW of ND, HI, and NN birds were expected to increase by 0.205, 0.250, and 0.015g, respectively. Responses to selection for EP and EW for three genotypes (ND, HI, and NN) were expected to be positive (increase). It is concluded that the Hilly genotype may be chosen for meat production and the Non-descript Deshi genotype for egg production

Effect of Mahkota Dewa fruit extract on kidney functions in mice

Mahkota dewa fruit is known for its antidiabetic effect and is commonly used in Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippine, Thailand and Oceania. However, there is still insufficient information available to validate the safe dose of the fruit extract for human use. Hence, the aim of this research was to determine the safe dose for renal function in mice. Materials and Methods: [MM2] The subcritical liquid carbon dioxide extract of Mahkota dewa fruit was prepared and administered via oral gavage to two groups (normal and 3000 mg/kg bw based on up and down procedure) for acute toxicity according to the OECD-425, 2008 and five groups viz. normal control, 250, 500, 1000 and 2000 mg/kg bw for sub-acute toxicity according to the OECD-407, 2008. The renal function parameters such as urea, creatinine and morphological observation of kidney tissue were analysed. Results: [MM3] The extract exhibited no mortality, morbidity, and no change in general behaviour up to a dosage of 3000 mg/kg body weight (LD 50 >3000 mg/kg). [MM4] The result of urea markedly rose to 76.71 mg/dL and 87.38 mg/dL compared to the control group (48.46 mg/dL) at doses of 1000 and 2000 mg/kg bw respectively. Similarly, creatinine value was also increased 0.87 mg/dL and 0.94 mg/dL compared to the control group (0.61 mg/dL) at doses of 1000 and 2000 mg/kg bw respectively. Moreover, the abnormal morphological finding was also found such as dilated tubules, focal degeneration, apoptosis, renal lesions/tissue haemorrhages of kidney tissue in the same doses (1000 and 2000 mg/kg bw. On the other hand, normal biochemical and histological findings were found at doses of 250 and 500 mg/kg bw in comparison to the normal control group. Conclusion: The findings revealed that Mahkota dewa fruit extract up to 500 mg/kg bw is a safe dose that would offer a greater therapeutic benefit without causing any nephrotoxicity effects. However, further clinical trials are still warranted to determine a safe dose before its commercialization

In vitro α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of Mahkota Dewa fruit flesh using different extraction methods

Purpose: Before using any plant for medicinal purposes, the proper extraction method must be considered for the bioactive compounds, which can be either polar or non-polar or both, and its advantages and disadvantages, depending on the selection process. The aim of this research was to compare the α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of Mahkota dewa fruit flesh using conventional and non-conventional extraction techniques. Method: The extraction was performed by heat reflex (HR), supercritical fluid extraction (SFE), and subcritical carbon dioxide (Sub-CO2) extraction using different temperatures, pressure, solvent ratio, flow rate. The optimized extracts were analyzed for a-glucosidase inhibitory activity with Saccharomyces cerevisiae enzyme. Result: The yields and α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of the Mahkota dewa extracts were analyzed. The yield was obtained in the order of HR>SubCO2>SFE on the other hand the IC50 value of α- glucosidase inhibitory activity was estimated in the order of SubCO2> HR >SFE due to its mild operating temperature and relatively low-pressure condition. Because carbon dioxide is a non- polar solvent that prefers mostly non-polar compounds, adding a co- solvent increases its polarity and improves the ability to extract more polar compounds. Furthermore, after depressurization, carbon dioxide can be easily separated from the end product. As a result, SubCO2 is the most practical extraction method for achieving higher quality of extract. Conclusion: The composition and bioactivities of extracts of natural products were typically influenced by the extracting method, solvent, and temperature

Assessment of liver acute toxicity in mice of the God’s crown extract

God’s crown (GC) is a traditional herbal plant that grows all year long. It is widely available throughout the Southeast Asian region, with the highest concentrations in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Oceania. In traditional and complementary medicine various parts of GC have been used effectively in preventing and controlling symptoms of different diseases such as kidney, diabetes, stroke, haemorrhoids, cancer, migraine, impotence, allergies, heart disease, acne, and other skin problems. The use of herbal products in a safe manner is extremely important for human beings. But there are still insufficient data on GC acute toxicity and safety. As a result, toxicological testing of GC extracts in experimental animals is a requirement for clinical trials and future therapeutic applications. The aim of this research was to analyze the acute toxicity in the mice model of GC extract. The subcritical extract of GC was designed and administrated in mice for the evaluation of acute toxicity and hepatoprotective activity according to the OECD guidelines 425. The liver function parameters such as alkaline phosphatase (ALP), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total protein (TP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and morphological observation of liver tissue were analyzed consequently. The subcritical extract did not show any mortality and no changes in general behavior up to a dose of 3000 mg/kg body weight (3000mg/kg>LD 50 ). The histopathological profile of the extract-treated liver tissue demonstrated similar morphology as that of normal controls at doses 500 mg/kg body weight. On the other hand, acute toxicity is reflected by the various investigated parameters apart from mild liver histopathological inflammatory changes which reflect mild liver injury induced by the 1000mg/kg body weight. As a result, when developing GC-based phytomedicine, it is important to consider the selection of an appropriate dose that will provide better activity while minimizing adverse side effects

Acute and subacute toxicity assessment of liquid CO2 extract of Phaleria macrocarpa fruits flesh in mice model

Objectives Phaleria macrocarpa (Scheff.) Boerl., an evergreen tree is found in Indonesia, Malaysia and Oceania, explicitly Northern Territory of Australia and Papua New Guinea. The fruits are traditionally used to treat various ailments including diabetes, psoriasis, looseness of the bowels, skin inflammation, malignancy, kidney, liver and heart sicknesses. However, to date, no comprehensive study investigating its toxicity profile utilizing liquid CO2 extract (LCE) has been reported in ICR mice. Hence, this research was performed to investigate the both acute and sub-acute toxicities of the liquid carbon dioxide extract from ripe fruit flesh of the P. macrocarpa in mice. Methods Acute toxicity was assessed at a single dose of 3000 mg/kg bw for 2 weeks according to the up and down method of OECD 425 guideline, while the sub-acute test was assessed by liquid carbon dioxide extract at doses of 250, 500, 1000, and 2000 mg/kg bw for 28 days. The animals’ general behaviour, food intake, body weight, organ coefficients, biochemical and histological morphology were observed and analysed. Results After acute exposure to LCE, there was no evidence of any severe or fatal effects in the mice. An acute toxicity result exhibited that LD50 of LCE was > 3000 mg/kg bw. The findings of subacute toxicity evaluation revealed that LCE at doses of 250 and 500 mg/kg bw had no significant detrimental impact. Moreover, LCE at 1000 and 2000 mg/kg bw demonstrated toxicity to the heart, liver, kidney and lung in mice identified by histological and biochemical investigation. Conclusions The results confirmed that the LCE dosage at 500 mg/kg bw is considered a safe dose that can provide a better therapeutic effect without eliciting any adverse side effects

Anti-obesity and antihyperlipidemic effects of Phaleria macrocarpa fruit liquid CO2 extract: In vitro, in silico and in vivo approaches

Objective: Phaleria macrocarpa fruit has been reported to be effectively used in Malaysia and neighboring countries to prevent obesity. Despite its anti-obesity potential, no research has ever predicted the compound-lipase, compound-HMG-CoA reductase interactions and in vivo investigations to further confirm its anti-obesity properties. Thus, the purpose of this study was to assess the anti-obesity and antihyperlipidemic effects of P. macrocarpa by in vitro, computational (in silico), and in vivo assays. Method: Initially, fruit was extracted through liquid CO2 and heating under reflux extraction methods to obtain liquid CO2 extracts (LCE-1 and LCE-2) and heating under reflux extract (HRE), respectively. Subsequently,allthreeextractswereassessedforantioxidantpotentialsthroughinvitrobioassaysand FTIRanalysistoidentifydifferenttypesoffunctionalgroupspresentintheexistingbioactivecompounds. Successively,themostactivefraction(LCE-2)wassubjectedtoGCMSanalysisfortheidentificationof lipidloweringandlipaseinhibitorsthroughmoleculardockingapproach.Finally,anti-obesityandlipid loweringeffectswerefurtherconfirmedthroughaninvivoassayusingmice. Result:LCE-2exhibitedhigherDPPH(IC50=0.172mg/mL)andFRAP(78.98AAEmg/g)antioxidantactivitiesandshowedmorepotentpeaksinFTIRchromatogramsthanLCE-1andHRE.Amongtheidentified tentativebioactivecompoundsviz.methylpalmitate,palmiticacid,ethylpalmitate,methyloleate,oleic acid,cis-vaccenicacid,3-deoxyestradiolandphenol,2,20-methylenebis[6-(1,1-dimethylethyl)-4-methylwerefoundasananti-obesityandlipidloweringcompoundswhoseprotein–ligandinteractionwasconfirmedbybindingaffinity,aminoacidresiduesandbondinginteractions.Similarly,anti-obesityandlipid loweringfindingswerealsofoundinamicemodelafter6weekstreatmentatadoseof250mg/kgb.w. Conclusion:Basedontheaforementionedinvitro,insilicoandinvivofindings,itisconcludedthatthe LCE-2possesseslipaseandHMG-CoAreductaseinhibitorsthatcanassisttodevelopthisplant’sextract asanalternativesafelipidloweringherbalmedicineinfuture

Mapping local patterns of childhood overweight and wasting in low- and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2017

A double burden of malnutrition occurs when individuals, household members or communities experience both undernutrition and overweight. Here, we show geospatial estimates of overweight and wasting prevalence among children under 5 years of age in 105 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) from 2000 to 2017 and aggregate these to policy-relevant administrative units. Wasting decreased overall across LMICs between 2000 and 2017, from 8.4% (62.3 (55.1–70.8) million) to 6.4% (58.3 (47.6–70.7) million), but is predicted to remain above the World Health Organization’s Global Nutrition Target of <5% in over half of LMICs by 2025. Prevalence of overweight increased from 5.2% (30 (22.8–38.5) million) in 2000 to 6.0% (55.5 (44.8–67.9) million) children aged under 5 years in 2017. Areas most affected by double burden of malnutrition were located in Indonesia, Thailand, southeastern China, Botswana, Cameroon and central Nigeria. Our estimates provide a new perspective to researchers, policy makers and public health agencies in their efforts to address this global childhood syndemic

Impacts of climate change on rice production and farmers’ adaptation in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is frequently cited as one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, despite the country’s insignificant contribution to climate change. Crop production, especially rice, the main food staple, is the most susceptible to climate change and variability. Any changes in climate will, thus, increase uncertainty regarding rice production as climate is major cause of year-to-year variability in rice productivity. This thesis is motivated partly by the susceptibility of rice farming to climate change and partly by the limited studies of Bangladesh on this topic. The overall aim of this thesis is, thus, to analyse the impact of climate change on rice production at three levels (aggregate-national, disaggregated-climate zone and micro-farm level), and to evaluate the adaptation strategies practised by farmers in a severely drought-prone area. At the aggregate level, this thesis first investigated national data from secondary sources to examine changes in maximum temperature, minimum temperature and rainfall over the past 60 years. Results from a linear trend model reveal that the time trend is statistically significant for all three major climate variables. This implies climate has changed over the whole period. However, the findings from quantile regression indicate that the explanatory power of the time trend is higher in the higher quantiles than the lower quantiles for all three climate variables. This latter method thus offers a more complete picture of the changing climate at different points of time. Given these changes in climate and using production function theory, an evaluation of the impacts of changing climate on the yields for three rice crops in Bangladesh: Aus, Aman and Boro, was made. The findings confirm that the changes to both maximum and minimum temperatures are statistically significant for Aus and Boro rice. However, changes to the average minimum temperature are found to affect Aus rice production adversely and the average maximum temperature is also negatively related to Boro rice yield. On the contrary, the impacts of maximum temperature and rainfall are more pronounced for Aman rice compared to minimum temperature whose effects are adverse. Given these adverse effects of temperature on rice crops, policy makers should design strategies for the development and use of temperature tolerant rice varieties. However, this analysis of national level data is unable to reveal regional level differences in climate and their differential impacts on rice yield which warrants disaggregated level analysis. Under the theoretical framework of Just-Pope stochastic production function, the objective of the disaggregated level analysis was to assess the effects of climate change on the yield and variability of Aus, Aman and Boro rice using cross-sectional time series (panel) data. The results reveal that maximum temperature is risk increasing for Aus and Aman rice while it is risk decreasing for Boro rice yield. Minimum temperature is risk increasing for Boro rice and risk decreasing for the Aus and Aman varieties. Finally, rainfall is risk increasing for Aman rice whilst risk decreasing for Aus and Boro rice. Moreover, future climate change is expected to increase the variability of rice yield for all three rice crops. Disaggregated level analysis, thus, provided more information than aggregate level analysis. However, the disaggregated level data is unable to show how individual farmers are affected by climate change which necessities a farm level analysis of impact and adaptation. The farm level analyses employed data from a survey of 550 farm households in a severely drought-prone area of Bangladesh. Descriptive statistics reveal that net revenue and production loss from Aman rice vary between different subsamples of farmers. For example, mean profit was significantly higher for large and medium farmers compared to small and landless farmers while the latter group of farmers faced higher mean production losses. Integrated farms have higher net revenue compared to rice only farms. Moreover, production losses for highly irrigated farms are lower than for less irrigated farms. Further, results from both mean and median regression on the determinants of profit and production loss indicate significant variables that can be targeted to increase profit or decrease production loss. These include age, years of schooling of household head, household yearly total income, household assets, land tenure, access to agricultural extension services, weather information, electricity and subsidy, percentage of land under irrigation, crop selling at local market, and distance to local or nearby urban market. Government policy initiatives should include support for integrated farming, increasing the provision of education, providing regular weather forecasts, giving subsidies to verysmall and landless farmers, distributing government owned fallow lands to small farmers, and adopting water saving irrigation technologies. Farmers have taken some adaptation strategies to reduce these adverse effects on rice production. The major adaptation strategies include higher levels of irrigation, cultivation of short-duration rice varieties, changing planting dates, agro forestry, use of different crop varieties and cultivation of non rice crops. Estimates from a multinomial logit model specify that age, gender and education level of household head, household annual total income, household assets, farm size, tenure status, farming experience, access to agricultural credit, availability of subsidies, electricity at home, and farmer-to-farmer extension services all affect adaptation choices. Therefore, policy makers should target these determinants to boost farmers’ adaptation and thereby diminish the adverse effects of climate change. The analytical framework used in this study has produced robust results. It should be replicated in other developing countries experiencing adverse climate change and having similar characteristics to Bangladesh