Fertility of Red Chittagong bulls (RCB) using Non-Return Rate (NRR), reproductive efficiency of Red Chittagong cows (RCC) using pregnancy rate and number of services per pregnancy and parasitic infestation of two different ages and sexes were studied. The NRR ranged from 53.1% to 70.6% with an overall mean of 63.9%. Overall pregnancy rate was 65.8% and about 1.4 services were required per pregnancy. Overall 47.7% animals were infested with parasites. Five species of parasites were detected in the faeces: Balantidium coli (40%), Paramphistomum spp (47.7%), Fasciola spp (5.8%), Coccidia spp (4.5%), and Moniezia spp (1.9%). The prevalence of parasites in animals over four years age was higher (P<0.05) than in animals below four years of age: the prevalence was higher in female than in male hosts (P>0.05). (Bangl. vet.
Rhizospheric bacteria
Bacillus subtilis
and
Pseudomonas fluorescens
are two widely tested biological control agents against root-knot nematodes (RKN) of different crops. However, their performance as bio-control agents varies with their place of origin. Culture filtrates of rhizospheric bacteria contain some intermediary metabolites that have nematicidal activity. An
in vitro
experiment was undertaken to evaluate the functionality of culture filtrates of
B. subtilis
(MN252542.1) and
P. fluorescens
(MN256394.1) at different concentrations (1.0%, 2.5%, 5.0%, 7.0%, 10.0% and 25.0%) on the hatching and mortality of
Meloidogyne javanica
at different time span. Bacterial strains were isolated from rhizospheric soils of Bangladesh. At three days after incubation (DAI), 25.0% concentration of culture filtrates of both
B. subtilis
and
P. fluorescens
showed 100.0% mortality of second stage juveniles (J
2
) of
M. javanica
. Additionally, 25.0% concentration of culture filtrates of both bacteria showed 100.0% inhibition of hatching at one week after incubation (WAI). A decreasing trend in hatching of
M. javanica
was observed with the increment of the concentration of culture filtrates and progression of incubation time. The findings of this experiment reveal that culture filtrates of these accessions of
B. subtilis
and
P. fluorescens
are effective for controlling
M. javanica
and would be potential candidates for developing bio-nematicides.
Cumin (
Cuminum cyminum
L.) is an important spice crop worldwide and its production is hampered by the infection of Alternaria blight. Cultivation of cumin in Bangladesh is very limited due to the lack of appropriate germplasm and adequate scientific information regarding the prevalence of Alternaria blight. Field trials were conducted with four advanced lines of cumin
viz.
CN026, CN028, CN031 and CN038 in five agro-ecological zones (AEZ) to know the adaptation possibility of these lines against the incidence and severity of Alternaria blight of cumin in Bangladesh. Among all lines, CN026 was found as the best in germination capacity and other yield parameters in all locations. The incidence and severity of the disease was observed as high as 98% and 88%, respectively, however, out of the five locations, the incidence and severity of the disease was the lowest in Bogura for the line CN026. In an attempt to identify the causal organism of the Alternaria blight of cumin by using molecular tools, a total of twenty three isolates were collected from the plants showing Alternaria blight symptoms from different AEZ in Bangladesh. Based on the molecular analysis, the isolates were identified as
Alternaria alternata
,
A
.
burnsii
,
A
.
gaisen
and
A
.
tenuissima
.
A
.
alternata
was the most prevalent species followed by
A
.
tenuissima
. The isolates of the identified species were found to have genetic, morphological and pathogenic variation. An isolate of
A
.
alternata
was observed as the most virulent among the isolates. This is the first report of
A
.
alternata
causing Alternaria blight disease of cumin in Bangladesh. The findings of this experiment will help in selecting suitable cumin germplasm and designing proper management strategies against Alternaria blight of cumin in Bangladesh.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.