Current Issue : January - March Volume : 2016 Issue Number : 1 Articles : 5 Articles
Bioelectrochemical systems (BES) are a newly emerged technology for energy-efficient\nwater and wastewater treatment. Much effort as well as significant progress has been made\nin advancing this technology towards practical applications treating various types of waste.\nHowever, BES application for agriculture has not been well explored. Herein, studies\nof BES related to agriculture are reviewed and the potential applications of BES for\npromoting sustainable agriculture are discussed. BES may be applied to treat the\nwaste/wastewater from agricultural production, minimizing contaminants, producing\nbioenergy, and recovering useful nutrients. BES can also be used to supply irrigation\nwater via desalinating brackish water or producing reclaimed water from wastewater. The\nenergy generated in BES can be used as a power source for wireless sensors monitoring\nthe key parameters for agricultural activities. The importance of BES to sustainable\nagriculture should be recognized, and future development of this technology should identify\nproper application niches with technological advancement....
Mangroves are recognized as a provider of a variety of products and essential\necosystem services that contribute significantly to the livelihood of local communities.\nHowever, over the past decades, mangroves in many tropical areas including the Takalar\ndistrict, South Sulawesi have degraded and decreased mainly due to conversion to\naquaculture. Currently, little is known about the economic benefits of commercialization of\naquaculture as compared to those derived from mangroves in the form of products and\nservices. Here, we estimate the Total Economic Value (TEV) of mangrove benefits in order\nto compare it with the benefit value of commercial aquaculture. Market prices, replacement\ncosts, benefit transfer value and Cost-Benefit Analyses (CBA) have been used for value\ndetermination and comparison. The results show that the per year TEV of mangroves in the\nstudy area (Takalar district, South Sulawesi) was in the range of 4370 thousands USD\n(kUSD) to 10,597 kUSD or 4 kUSD to 8 kUSD per hectare (the highest value contribution\nderived from the indirect use value (94%)), whereas commercial aquaculture had a net\nbenefit value of 228 kUSD or 3 kUSD per hectare. In addition, the comparison of Net Present\nValue (NPV) between the benefit value of mangroves and that of commercial aquaculture\nrevealed that conversion of mangroves into commercial aquaculture was not economically beneficial when the analysis was expanded to cover the costs of environmental and\nforest rehabilitation....
Phosphorous is one of the major nutrients needed to dry plants and micro organisms for performing in crop fields. The aim of this study was to perform an isolation and screening of native phosphofungi from forest soil and also study the effect phosphofungi on seed germination and seedling vigour (green gram and groundnut seed). The phosphofungi were screened using Pikovskaya’s agar medium with tricalcium phosphate (Ca3(PO4)2) as the phosphorus source. Five promising fungal strains were screened such as Aspergillus niger, Trichoderma viride, Penicillium chrysogenum, Penicillium sp1 and Penicillium sp2. The soluble phosphorus, phosphate solubilizing activity, titrable acidity, pH and fungal biomass were determined. Aspergillus niger (28±4.6 mm) and Trichoderma viride (22±2.6 mm) showed the more phosphate solubilising index than compared to other fungal isolates. Mineral phosphate solubilizing (MPS) activities of five isolates were tested in tricalcium phosphate medium by analyzing the possible phosphorus release, from 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th day of incubation. Maximum phosphate solubilizing activity was showed by Penicillium sp1 (765±15 µg/ml) and Penicillium chrysogenum (425±14 µg/ml) on 6th and 12th day after incubation. Antagonistic effect of phosphofungi Penicillium chrysogenum (75±10 mm) and Trichoderma viride (60±8.6 mm) showed more effective against Colletotrichum sp than compared to other fungal isolates. Aspergillus niger, Trichoderma viride and Penicillium chrysogenum showed the more effectiveness on seed germination and seedling vigour for green gram and ground nut seeds. Hence, the potentials of phosphofungi could be effectively exploited in the future for the production of eco-friendly phosphate solubilizing biofertilizer for sustainable agriculture....
This study attempts to examine the relationship between soil salinity and physico-chemical properties of paddy\nfield soils of Jhilwanja union in Cox�s Bazar, Bangladesh. Data were analyzed by the help of Statistical Package\nfor the Social Sciences (SPSS: version-18) and study area map was prepared by Arc GIS 9.3 software. Present\ninvestigation reveals that soil textural class ranged from sandy to loam, a mean bulk density 1.58 g/cm3\n, and high\nsoil temperature (M = 31.55). Soils were moderately acidic to basic and soil salinity (EC) content comes under\nlow to medium (minimum = 3.10 dS/m, maximum = 7. 24 dS/m) range. The organic matter level exhibited\nabsolutely lower (M = 0.75) than good agricultural soil. Soils of the area represents low in total N (M = 0.08),\nvery low in total P content (M = 0.06), exchangeable Ca (M = 0.0009) were too low and lower content of\nexchangeable Mg (M = 0.26), but high level of exchangeable K (M = 0.57) content. Simple regression analysis\nshowed that there was a significant effect of soil salinity on soil pH, soil temperature, OM, total N, total P,\nexchangeable K and Mg. Repairing coastal embankment (rubber dam), cultivating native high yielding variety,\nusing organic fertilizer, implementing Integrated Soil Nutrient Management (ISNM) and adapting Integrated\nCoastal Zone Management (ICZM) can increase crop production and soil fertility level in study area....
There is little information on tolerance of glyphosate-resistant maize to glyphosate plus MCPA amine as influenced by dose and\ntiming underOntario environmental conditions.Atotal of seven field trialswere conducted at various locations inOntario,Canada,\nin 2011ââ?¬â??2013 to evaluate tolerance of field maize to tank mixes of glyphosate (900 g a.e./ha) plusMCPA amine (79, 158, 315, 630, 1260,\n2520, or 5040 g a.e./ha) at either the 4- or 8-leaf stage. The predicted dose ofMCPA amine that caused 5, 10, and 20% injury was 339,\n751, and 1914 g a.e./ha when applied to 4-leaf maize but only 64, 140, and 344 g a.e./ha when applied to 8-leaf maize, respectively.The\npredicted dose of MCPA amine that caused 5, 10, and 20% reduction in shoot dry weight of maize was 488, 844, and 1971 g a.e./ha\nwhen applied to 4-leaf maize and only 14, 136, and 616 g a.e./ha when applied to 8-leaf maize, respectively. The predicted dose of\nMCPA amine that caused 5, 10, and 20% yield reduction was 2557, 4247, and >5040 g a.e./ha when applied to 4-leaf maize and 184,\n441, and 1245 g a.e./ha when applied to 8-leaf maize, respectively. Based on these results, glyphosate plus MCPA amine applied at the\nmanufacturerââ?¬â?¢s recommended dose of 630 g a.e./ha applied to 4-leaf maize has potential to cause injury but the injury is transient\nwith no significant reduction in yield. However, when glyphosate plus MCPA amine is applied to 8-leaf maize it has the potential\nto cause significant injury and yield loss in maize....
Loading....