Effect of exogenous Phytase on Egg Production and Egg Quality of Spent Hen

The present study determined, assessed and quantified the exogenous phytase on egg production and egg quality of spent hens. Ninety laying hens (ISA- Brown) received iso-energetic and iso-nitrogenous diet supplemented with 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.15 and 0.2 % phytase and reared in cages. Each layer was fed 120g feed/day from 90 to 100 weeks of age. At the inception of the study the spent hen at the age of 90 weeks had an average egg production 65.21 %. Phytase addition in diet increased (p&lt;0.05) egg production  (7.67, 12.17, 12.04 and 15.87 % higher than control group), egg mass output (5.5, 9.34, 7.65 and 12.72 % higher than that of control) and feed conversion, but it did not alter shell weight, shell thickness, shape index, albumen index, Haugh unit, per cent yolk and yolk color. It was concluded that reduced egg production of spent hen at older ages to some extent might have a relationship to decreased availability of phosphorus. The decreased egg production in hens at older ages could be corrected by adding appropriate phytase level in the diet. Thus, it may be possible to extend and prolonged productive life of spent hens by supplying exogenous phytase in diet. However, the effect of availability of phosphorus on egg production using larger population for a longer period may be performed to confirm the findings of the current study.&#x0D; Bangladesh J. of Livestock Res. 20(1-2): 68-76, Jan-Dec 2013</jats:p

Genetic divergence of jesso-balam rice (Oryza sativa L.) of Bangladesh

In total 27 genotypes of Jesso-Balam pure line rice germplasm were studied for fourteen morpho-physiological and four physico-chemical characters at Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, during T. Aman 2009 and T. Aman 2011 seasons. According to principal component scores, the two-dimensional scatter diagram (Z1-Z2) has apparently distributed the genotypes into seven clusters. According to Mahalanobis’ D2 statistic for the studied characters, the genotypes were clubbed into seven groups. The highest number of genotypes (6) were included in clusters I and III and the lowest two (2) in cluster V and VII. It was also revealed that no duplicate was existed among the genotypes. The intra-cluster distance was maximum (0.77) in cluster III and minimum (0.28) in cluster VII, while the maximum intercluster distance (28.37) was observed between the clusters III and IV and the minimum (2.49) between the clusters I and VII. The cluster V has produced the highest means for plant height (148.18 cm), straw yield per hill (39.97 g), panicle length (28.14 cm) and protein content (9.61%). But, the cluster IV has showed the highest means for seedling height (69.5 cm), flag and penultimate leaf area (1059.5 cm2), culm diameter (5.8 cm), filled grain number per panicle (3.64), grain length (8.63 mm) and 1000-grain weight (21.78 g), while the cluster VII had the highest means for grain yield per hill (31.27 g) and effective tiller number per hill (13.5) and the lowest mean for days to maturity (144). Therefore, the genotypes of cluster V need to be crossed with the genotypes of cluster IV or cluster VII, for developing new Balam rice with maximum other good characters. Finally, it could be concluded that the studied Jesso-Balam pure lines germplasm is a good source of valuable genes

Diversity analysis in Boro rice (&lt;i&gt;Oryza sativa&lt;/i&gt; L.) accessions

An experiment was conducted with 36 accessions of traditional (local) Boro rice germplasm accessions of three different groups (20 accessions as Kaliboro, 12 as Jagliboro and 4 as Tepiboro) during Boro season 2004 at BRRI farm to identify the duplicates with the help of morph-agronomic characters. On the basis of D2 values, the 36 genotypes were grouped into six clusters with a range of intra (0.00 for cluster II to 1.78 for cluster I) and inter cluster (1.99 between cluster I and III to 21.20 between cluster II and III) distances. Cluster I comprised the highest number of genotypes (10) and cluster II the lowest (1), while cluster III, IV, V, and VI included 6, 7, 5, and 7 genotypes, respectively. Differences in cluster means existed for almost all the characters. The highest mean value for seedling height (21.68 cm), 1000-grain weight (20.97 g) and grain yield/hill (6.87 g) were observed in cluster I, II for days to 50% flowering (116), panicle length (22.80 cm), grains/panicle (74), and grain length (8.35 mm), cluster IV for tillers/hill (16.44) and panicles/hill (14.17), cluster V for harvest index (0.32) along with cluster I and VI, and cluster VI for plant height (117.17 cm) and flag leaf area (30.68 cm2). None of the 12 characters had the highest mean value under cluster III. The canonical variate analysis showed in general that the important characters for the differentiation in the descending order of importance were grain length, days to 50% flowering, grains/panicle, grain yield/hill, panicle length, flag leaf area, plant height, seedling height, 1000-grain weight, panicles/hill, harvest index, and tillers/hill, but the similar name group accessions are not duplicate mainly due to dissimilarity of grain length, days to 50% flowering, grains/panicle and grain yield/hill characters. It is apparent from the results that the same name group accessions were quite different from each other. Keywords: Duplicate sorting; rice (Oryza sativa L.); germplasm. DOI: 10.3329/bjar.v35i1.5864Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 35(1) : 29-36, March 2010</jats:p

Developmental stages of a common emigrant butterfly Catopsilia crocale fabricius and its association with the host plant Cassia alata

Developmental stages of pierid butterfly Catopsilia crocale Fabricius (Lepidoptera: Pieridae) and its association with Cassia alata: Family-Leguminosae (host plant) was studied in the laboratory under 24 ± 5°C temperature with RH 66 ± 2%. The host plant association and duration of developmental stages was given importance. Duration of life cycle (egg to adult) was 22.0 ± 0.8 days. The incubation period, larval and pupal period were 6.65 ± 0.4, 10.1 ± 0.8 and 6.5 ± 0.44 days, respectively. Eggs, five larval instars and pupal stages were distinct. Correlation was found among the development of larval instars, amount of food consumption and excretion of faeces. The association of C. crocale with host plant was characterized and evidenced by the use of C. alata leaves, buds, stems and shoots for egg laying and for complete development of the larval (9 - 11 days) and pupal (6 - 7 days) stages. The incubation period, different larval instars and pupal stage were found to be deeply associated with the phenological phases of the host plant.Journal of Bangladesh Academy of Sciences, Vol. 39, No. 1, 91-101, 2015</jats:p

Study on food-feed competitive efficiency of Moringa fodder in the active Brahmaputra-Jamuna Floodplain Agro-Ecological Zone of Bangladesh

The research work was carried out to evaluate the food-feed competitive efficiency of Moringa fodder in the Active Brahmaputra-Jamuna Floodplain Agro-Ecological Zone (ABJF-AEZ) of Bangladesh. For determining the competitive land use efficiency of Mornga feed (Mf) production, the Moringa fodder was cultivated in Gaibandha district at ABJF-AEZ with four replications. The annual dry matter (DM) yield of Moringa at on-farm condition was the height (26.67 ton/ha) and it was varied significantly (P&lt;0.05) with on-station condition. Comparing the Moringa fodder with available cash crop, the cost of production of Moringa was higher than that of other two cropping system like Boro-fellow-Jute (BFJ) and Boro-Fellow-Matikalai (BFM) but the gross return of Moringa cultivation was Tk.186.3 thousand, it was about five times higher income than existing cash crop. For determining the impacts of Mf  on milk production and their quality, twelve local cows of third or fourth parity after 1 to 2 weeks of calving in Gaibandha Sadar Upazila were selected and divided into three dietary groups having four animals in each considering their live weight and ante-diet daily milk yield. During 50 days feeding period all experimental cows were fed freshly threshed rice straw and keeping randomly a group under on farm practice that received supplementation of conventionally mixed concentrates (CMC), the other two groups of cows were either received a commercial cattle feed available at the market or Mf replacing conventional concentrate supplements. Mf produced significant amount of milk (1.64 kg/day) and meat (441.3 g/day) followed by commercial cattle feed (1.1 kg/day and 128.2 g/day) and CMC (0.73 kg/day and 48.4 g/day), respectively. It was also indicated that Mf is better than market feed for the increase of milk yield and live weight gain. So, Mf is an unbeatable animal feed to increase the productivities of cows.&#x0D; Bang. J. Anim. Sci. 2019. 48 (1): 36-41</jats:p

Agro-morphological Characterization of Bangladeshi Aromatic Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Germplasm Based on Qualitative Traits

The agro-morphological characterization of germplasm is of utmost importance to generate information to be utilized in plant breeding programmes. The aim of this study was to characterize the agro-morphological traits of 113 accessions of aromatic germplasm (Oryza sativa L.) based on qualitative agro-morphological descriptors. No duplicates were identified among the studied accessions for qualitative traits in the cluster analysis, which means there is a high diversity among the accessions for these traits. Following UPGMA cluster analysis, 113 accessions of aromatic germplasm formed ten distinct clusters. The highest numbers of germplasm (96) were found in cluster IXd, 2 were found in cluster III, IV and VI, 3 were found in IXc and the lowest number of germplasm (1) in cluster I, II,V, VII, VIII, IXa, IXb and X, respectively. Aroma evaluation revealed that 67 germplasm were scented, 34 were lightly scented, while the rest 12 germplasm were nonscented. Germplasm namely Begun bichi, Elai, Chinigura, Basmati 370, Ranisalut, Sakkorkhora, Jirakatari, Raduni Pagal, Kalijira (long grain), Black TAPL-554, Kalgochi, BRRI dhan34, BRRI dhan50, Badshabhog-2, Tulsimala-2, Kataribhog, BU dhan2R , Sakkorkhana, Maloti, Bashful could be used for further improvement for incorporating aroma to the high yielding varieties.&#x0D; Bangladesh Rice j. 2018, 22(2): 41-54</jats:p