Rubber is an economically important perennial crop in Myanmar for latex production. As the rubber plantation area increases yearly, the requirement of vigorous rubber seedlings for its establishment plays a central role. The success of rubber plantations depends on some farming practices such as using different compost or other materials in the potting soil-medium, varietal selection for stock and scion in the budding process, and fertilizer application methods. The objective of this study was to assess the farmer’s practices in the establishment of rubber nurseries in mostly rubber planted areas in Myanmar. The survey interviewed 60 respondents from three townships in Mon State, namely Mudon, Kyaikmaraw, and Thanbyuzayat. The response data were analyzed through the descriptive method. This survey exposed the potentially active operators (middle age of 30 - 60 years) in rubber nursery production. Local experienced farmers usually raised the budded seedlings with 15 cm × 23 cm polyethylene bag in all study regions. Most farmers selected multi-clonal seed for stock and BPM 24 for scion according to the local market demand and high latex yield. All survey areas used both organic and inorganic fertilizers for nutrient management. Compost is a chief component of growing medium in their nursery production. However, making compost and high demand of the compost were local constraints. Therefore, this survey suggested improving the proper composting method for rubber nursery establishment.

The aim of the study is to assess the factors that influence the sustainability of agricultural development. The study was carried out in the municipality of Bobonaro for about four months, from July to October 2021. Slovin’s method was used to determine the sample size, with a desired percentage of 10% of the total population. Thus, 154 producers were interviewed as respondents and key persons in the area of agriculture. The variables interviewed are the main factors of agricultural productivity and the factors that affect sustainable agricultural development. The results of the descriptive statistical analysis of the data showed that about 94.87% of the respondents’ productive area is in operation, with an average of 1.84 ha per respondent and the abandoned area around 0.11 ha per respondent. The average value of rice production is 2.38 ton per ha and corn 1.07 ton per ha. About 87% of producers raised the main types of animals such as cattle, pigs, goats with an average density of 2 to 5 animals per establishment. About 61% of producers have access to the market at a normal price for agricultural products. The factors that hinder less successful agricultural development, such as: those of nature with the greatest impact are climate changes, which influence changes in cultivation sessions and in the characteristics of productive soils, availability of water for irrigation and animal feed. On the socioeconomic side, it includes the willingness or interest of young people who want to work as farmers, less investment and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. It is concluded that natural and socioeconomic impacts can reduce agricultural productivity, so that this will be a major challenge for the development of the agricultural sector in the future.

In biological controls using Bacillus spp., cyclic lipopeptides play a role as elicitors to induce disease resistance on various host plants. However, it is still unclear the specificity between cyclic lipopeptides and host plants to induce disease resistance. In this study, we aimed to clarify the specificity to induce disease resistance among cyclic lipopeptides on various host plants. Our data clearly showed both cyclic lipopeptides conferred disease suppression on most of host plants, but at different range of cyclic lipopeptide concentration. Our findings contribute to understanding the complex on the specificity of cyclic lipopeptide derived induced disease resistance.

Cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.] is an important grain legume mainly grown in tropical and subtropical regions for vegetables, grains, and fodder. The crop is grown predominantly in the dry savannahs to the Sahel in the fringes of the Sahara Desert where the annual rainfall is around 300 mm or less. Cowpea provides shelter as a cover crop and improves soil fertility by fixing atmospheric nitrogen. Its grain is preferred for high levels of protein, energy, micro-and macronutrients. Cowpea belongs to the family Fabaceae and sub-family Faboidea, and it is a self-pollinating crop with low and narrow genetic diversity, making it susceptible to various environmental factors. Various research projects have been established on cowpea, and as a result, various cowpea germplasm is stored at Africa International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)—Nigeria, the USDA repository in Griffin, GA (USA), the University of California, Riverside, CA (USA), and at the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) in New Delhi, India. Despite the available germplasms, cowpea productivity remains very low in many countries due to a wide array of abiotic and biotic stresses and socio-economic constraints. This review summarizes some aspects of cowpea, including origin and history, challenges, economic importance, and constraints to production, providing possible useful information for cowpea researchers, agronomists, and producers in SSA.

The experiment was conducted at the Regional Spices Research Center, BARI, Gazipur during June 2016 to October 2017 to evaluate the effect of genotype and growth regulator (IBA) on the success and performance of plum air layering. Air layering was done on two plum varieties (BARI Alubokhara-1 and PD Gaz 004) using seven levels of IBA concentration (viz. 0, 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000 and 6000 ppm) under a complete randomized (factorial) design (CRD). Significant variation was observed on rooting, establishment and death of layers due to variety and IBA concentrations except rooting and separation time. The un-fruiting line PD Gaz 004 showed outstanding performance in rooting and survivability of layers over BARI Alubokhara-1. Poor rooting and lower establishment caused very high mortality of layers in BARI Alubokhara-1. Rooting and survivability, number of roots, length of roots and leaf production increased with the increasing levels of IBA concentration up to 5000 ppm. The maximum (10 out of 10) rooting success of layer with 65.83% and 59.17% establishment from PD Gaz004 was obtained when 3000 and 4000 ppm IBA was used, respectively. In BARI Alubokhara-1, the highest rooting success (3.08), establishment rate (29.42%), number of root (4.28/layer) and root length (5.08 cm) were recorded with 4000 ppm IBA concentration.

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Information is limited on the potential of cowpea-wheat double cropping in the southern United States to enhance soil health and increase net returns. Using the Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) crop model and weather data spanning 80 years, we assessed the effects of soil type (Darco: Grossarenic Paleudults and Lilbert: Arenic Plinthic Paleudults), N application rate (0, 100, and 200 kg•ha−1), and El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on the grain yields of double-cropped cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in this region. Yield differences were tested using the pairwise Wilcoxon rank sum test. Results showed that yields of wheat that followed cowpea (cwheat) were greater than those that followed fallow (fwheat). The soil type effects on cwheat and fwheat yields decreased with an increase in N rate. The soil type effect on cowpea yields was greater during La Niña. The ENSO impact on cowpea yields was greater on the less fertile soil Darco. Yields of cwheat and fwheat increased with an increase in N rate up to 100 and 200 kg•ha−1, respectively. The yield response of cwheat to N rate was less than that of fwheat. The N rate effects on cwheat and fwheat yields were greater on Darco and under El Niño. Yields of cowpea were greatest under El Niño, whereas those of wheat were greatest under La Niña. The ENSO effect on cowpea yields was greater on Darco. With an increase in N rate, the effect of ENSO was diminished.

The agricultural soil is a highly variable and complex active medium for the plant’s life. Due to prolonged formation processes, it must be considered as a non-renewable resource, easily subject to many degradative processes, in most cases due to human activities. These activities lead to the definition of “anthropic” soils, often labelled also as “disturbed”, “manipulated”, “artificial”, or “deviations” of the natural soil continuum. In the agronomic sense, however, when these deviations result from the optimization of structural characteristics of fine earth fractions, they may represent the main quality parameters of soil in terms of physical, chemical, and biological fertility. Nevertheless, over the fine earth fractions, many agricultural soils have a variable percentage of varying coarse fractions in their arable layer, interfering with cultivation needs, damaging the machinery, and requiring extra energy and time for soil tillage. They may even make the use of machinery impracticable. When these conditions occur, it becomes necessary to proceed with soil destoning to recover arable land and optimize the cultural management according to modern farming techniques and machines for soil cultivation. The research aimed at evaluating the different possibilities of reclamation of stony soils and the machines that can be used in different environmental conditions, according to the various cultivation needs, and for the recovery and optimization of the non-renewable resource “soil”. This review briefly summarizes the soil destoning techniques currently available for agricultural lands: 1) the collection and removal of stones from the field; 2) the on-site stones crushing; 3) the stone burial.

“Rice transplanter” has brought a radical change in the method of rice seedlings transplanting in Bangladesh. The machine is gaining popularity with the increase of labor crisis during the peak period of transplanting, reduction time of in-between crops, rapid urbanization and industrialization, and changing socio-economic status of the farmers. Alternatively, the traditional way of rice transplanting is labor-intensive and involves high drudgery. Mechanical rice transplanter is cost-effective and operation-friendly. It is suitable to plant young seedlings maintaining plant to plant and line to line distance which plays an important role in increasing yield. Moreover, it is easy to take care of the crops planted in rows. It helps in maintaining soil physical properties and is considered to be better from a crop management and productivity point of view. In malignancy of having an edge over the traditional broadcasting, the adoption rate of mechanical transplanters is low due to high primary investment, lack of knowledge in growing mat type nursery, lack of repair and maintenance facility to the end-users, and unavailability of spare parts. Imparting these, available supply, entrepreneurship development, and encouraging custom hire services may be some of the practical results for adding the rice area under mechanical transplanting. This review summarizes the problems and prospects associated with seedling rice transplanting, technological gaps in the adoption of mechanical transplanters in a sustainable manner, and future ways to make transplanters more user-friendly and cost-effective.

The use of wastewater in urban agriculture has been promoted as an alternative to water scarcity and as a means to increase soil fertilizer. However, the use of wastewater in urban agriculture raises major public health concerns, mainly due to the often high concentration of pathogenic micro-organisms. Waterborne parasites are a major health concern in this regard, especially in endemic areas, mainly due to the high environmental resistance of eggs/cysts combined with a low infectious dose. In this study, the parasitological risk to vegetables producers in Ouagadougou using polluted water was evaluated through the quantitative microbiological risk analysis method. For this purpose, the search for and quantification of viable parasite eggs and cysts in irrigation water was coupled with epidemiological surveillance of vegetables producers in Ouagadougou. Protozoa and helminths belonging to 9 species were recorded and samples analyzed. These include Ancylostoma sp., Ascaris lumbricoides, tapeworm’s sp, Strongyloides stercoralis, Entamoeba histolytica, Giardia lamblia. Despite the variability of isolated parasitic species, Ancylostoma sp. eggs were common and severe to all types of water. Moreover, epidemiological approach showed that there were more parasitic species found in irrigation water and also other parasitic species circulating among vegetable farmers. In addition, there is no statistical significant association between the type of water used for irrigation and the carried parasites by vegetable gardeners. However, contamination of the groups using the raw wastewater is once higher than those using well water. When one is interested in the groups using treated wastewater as a source of irrigation, these risks of contaminations are halved. These contaminations are halved when one looks at groups using treated wastewater as a source of irrigation water. Still, whatever the type of water used by the gardeners, they have a probability of infection with Ancylostoma sp. of around 9.83 × 10−1 pppy.