MyMedR

Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 596 in total

Abstract:

Sort:

Synergism: biocontrol agents and biostimulants in reducing abiotic and biotic stresses in crop

Anuar MSK, Hashim AM, Ho CL, Wong MY, Sundram S, Saidi NB, et al.

World J Microbiol Biotechnol, 2023 Mar 19;39(5):123.
PMID: 36934342 DOI: 10.1007/s11274-023-03579-3

In today's fast-shifting climate change scenario, crops are exposed to environmental pressures, abiotic and biotic stress. Hence, these will affect the production of agricultural products and give rise to a worldwide economic crisis. The increase in world population has exacerbated the situation with increasing food demand. The use of chemical agents is no longer recommended due to adverse effects towards the environment and health. Biocontrol agents (BCAs) and biostimulants, are feasible options for dealing with yield losses induced by plant stresses, which are becoming more intense due to climate change. BCAs and biostimulants have been recommended due to their dual action in reducing both stresses simultaneously. Although protection against biotic stresses falls outside the generally accepted definition of biostimulant, some microbial and non-microbial biostimulants possess the biocontrol function, which helps reduce biotic pressure on crops. The application of synergisms using BCAs and biostimulants to control crop stresses is rarely explored. Currently, a combined application using both agents offer a great alternative to increase the yield and growth of crops while managing stresses. This article provides an overview of crop stresses and plant stress responses, a general knowledge on synergism, mathematical modelling used for synergy evaluation and type of in vitro and in vivo synergy testing, as well as the application of synergism using BCAs and biostimulants in reducing crop stresses. This review will facilitate an understanding of the combined effect of both agents on improving crop yield and growth and reducing stress while also providing an eco-friendly alternative to agroecosystems.

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture*; Crops, Agricultural
Need for developing a security robot-based risk management for emerging practices in the workplace using the Advanced Human-Robot Collaboration Model

Zheyuan C, Rahman MA, Tao H, Liu Y, Pengxuan D, Yaseen ZM

Work, 2021;68(3):825-834.
PMID: 33612525 DOI: 10.3233/WOR-203416

BACKGROUND: The increasing use of robotics in the work of co-workers poses some new problems in terms of occupational safety and health. In the workplace, industrial robots are being used increasingly. During operations such as repairs, unmanageable, adjustment, and set-up, robots can cause serious and fatal injuries to workers. Collaborative robotics recently plays a rising role in the manufacturing filed, warehouses, mining agriculture, and much more in modern industrial environments. This development advances with many benefits, like higher efficiency, increased productivity, and new challenges like new hazards and risks from the elimination of human and robotic barriers.
OBJECTIVES: In this paper, the Advanced Human-Robot Collaboration Model (AHRCM) approach is to enhance the risk assessment and to make the workplace involving security robots. The robots use perception cameras and generate scene diagrams for semantic depictions of their environment. Furthermore, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) have utilized to develop a highly protected security robot based risk management system in the workplace.
RESULTS: The experimental results show that the proposed AHRCM method achieves high performance in human-robot mutual adaption and reduce the risk.
CONCLUSION: Through an experiment in the field of human subjects, demonstrated that policies based on the proposed model improved the efficiency of the human-robot team significantly compared with policies assuming complete human-robot adaptation.

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
Enhancing the hydrophobicity of mangrove bark by esterification for oil adsorption

Asadpour R, Sapari NB, Isa MH, Orji KU

Water Sci Technol, 2014 10 18;70(7):1220-8.
PMID: 25325547 DOI: 10.2166/wst.2014.355

Oil spills generally cause worldwide concern due to their detrimental effects on the environment and the economy. An assortment of commercial systems has been developed to control these spills, including the use of agricultural wastes as sorbents. This work deals with raw and modified mangrove barks (Rhizophora apiculata), an industrial lignocellulosic waste, as a low cost adsorbent for oil-product-spill cleanup in the aquatic environment. Mangrove bark was modified using fatty acids (oleic acid and palmitic acid) to improve its adsorption capacity. The oil sorption capacity of the modified bark was studied and compared with that of the raw bark. Kinetic tests were conducted with a series of contact times. The influence of particle size, oil dosage, pH and temperature on oil sorption capacity was investigated. The results showed that oleic acid treated bark has a higher sorption capacity (2,860.00 ± 2.00 mg/g) than untreated bark for Tapis crude oil. A correlation between surface functional groups, morphology and surface area of the adsorbent was studied by Fourier transform infrared spectrum, field emission scanning electron microscopy images and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis. Isotherm study was conducted using the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. The result showed that adsorption of crude oil on treated mangrove bark could be best described by the Langmuir model.

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
Runoff quality and pollution loadings from a tropical urban catchment

Yusop Z, Tan LW, Ujang Z, Mohamed M, Nasir KA

Water Sci Technol, 2005;52(9):125-32.
PMID: 16445181

Runoff quality draining from 17.14 km2 urban catchment in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, was analysed. The land-use consists of residential (30.3%), agricultural (27.3%), open space (27.9%), industrial (8.1%) and commercial (6.4%) areas. Three storm events were sampled in detail. These storms produced stormflow between 0.84 mm and 27.82 mm, and peakflow from 2.19 m3/s to 42.36 m3/s. Water quality showed marked variation during storms especially for TSS, BOD and COD with maximum concentrations of 778 mg/l, 135 mg/l and 358 mg/l, respectively. Concentrations of TOC, DOC, NH3-N, Fe and level of colour were also high. In general, the river quality is badly polluted and falls in Class V based on the Malaysian Interim National Water Quality Standards. Event Mean Concentrations (EMC) for various parameters varied considerably between storms. The largest storm produced higher EMC for TSS, NO3-N and SS whereas the smaller storms tend to register higher EMC for BOD, COD, NH3-N, TOC, Ca, K, Mg, Fe and Zn. Such variations could be explained in terms of pollutant availability and the effects of flushing and dilution. Based on a three-month average recurrence interval (ARI) of rainfall, the estimated event loadings (ton/ha) of TSS, BOD, COD, TOC, NH3-N and NO3-N were 0.055, 0.016, 0.012, 0.039, 0.010, 0.0007 and 0.0002, respectively. Heavy metals present in trace quantities. Storms with 3 months ARI could capture about 70% of the total annual loads of major pollutants.

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
Treatment of phenolic wastewater using agricultural wastes as an adsorbent in a sequencing batch reactor

Lee KM, Lim PE

Water Sci Technol, 2003;47(10):41-7.
PMID: 12862215

The objective of this study is to investigate the potential of the activated rice husk to be used as an alternative adsorbent to powdered activated carbon (PAC) in the simultaneous adsorption and biodegradation processes under sequencing batch reactor (SBR) operation to treat synthetic wastewater containing phenol, p-methylphenol, p-ethylphenol and p-isopropylphenol. The rice husk (PRH) was activated by pyrolysis at 600 degrees C for 5 hours in a nitrogen atmosphere. Using the Langmuir model, the limiting adsorption capacities of PRH for the phenols were found to vary from 0.015-0.05 of those of PAC. The SBR reactors with and without adsorbent addition were operated with fill, react, settle, draw and idle periods in the ratio of 4:6:1:0.76:0.25 for a cycle time of 12 hours. For phenolic wastewater containing, 1,200 mg/L phenol, 1,200 mg/L p-methylphenol, 800 mg/L p-ethylphenol and 660 mg/L p-isopropylphenol, it was found that the biodegradation process alone was unable to produce effluent of quality which would satisfy the discharge standards of COD < or = 100 mg/L and phenol concentration < or = 1 mg/L. The addition of PAC in the ratio of PAC/phenolic compound at 0.095 g/g for phenol, 0.119 g/g for p-methylpheol, 0.179 g/g for p-ethylphenol and 0.220 g/g for p-isopropylphenol, can improve the effluent quality to satisfy the discharge standards. Equivalent treatment performance was achieved with the use of PRH at dosages of 2-3 times higher than those of PAC for all the phenolic wastewater studied. The increased adsorption capacity of PRH shown in the treatment indicates bioregeneration of the adsorbed surface during the treatment process.

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture*
Increasing the fertilizer value of palm oil mill sludge: bioaugmentation in nitrification

Onyia CO, Uyu AM, Akunna JC, Norulaini NA, Omar AK

Water Sci Technol, 2001;44(10):157-62.
PMID: 11794647

Malaysia is essentially an agricultural country and her major polluting effluents have been from agro-based industries of which palm oil and rubber industries together contribute about 80% of the industrial pollution. Palm oil sludge, commonly referred to, as palm oil mill effluent (POME) is brown slurry composed of 4-5% solids, mainly organic, 0.5-1% residual oil, and about 95% water. The effluent also contains high concentrations of organic nitrogen. The technique for the treatment of POME is basically biological, consisting of pond systems, where the organic nitrogen is converted to ammonia, which is subsequently transformed to nitrate, in a process called nitrification. A 15-month monitoring program of a pond system (combined anaerobic, facultative, and aerobic ponds in series) confirmed studies by other authors and POME operators that nitrification in a pond system demands relatively long hydraulic retention time (HRT), which is not easily achieved, due to high production capacity of most factories. Bioaugmentation of POME with mixed culture of nitrifiers (ammonia and nitrite oxidizers) has been identified as an effective tool not only for enhancing nitrification of POME but also for improving quality of POME as source of liquid nitrogen fertilizer for use in the agricultural sector, especially in oil palm plantations. Nitrate is readily absorbable by most plants, although some plants are able to absorb nitrogen in the form of ammoniun. In this study, up to 60% reduction in HRT (or up to 20% reduction in potential land requirement) was achieved when bioaugmentation of POME was carried out with the aim of achieving full nitrification.

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
Three stage cultivation process of facultative strain of Chlorella sorokiniana for treating dairy farm effluent and lipid enhancement

Hena S, Fatihah N, Tabassum S, Ismail N

Water Res, 2015 Sep 1;80:346-56.
PMID: 26043271 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2015.05.001

Reserve lipids of microalgae are promising for biodiesel production. However, economically feasible and sustainable energy production from microalgae requires optimization of cultivation conditions for both biomass yield and lipid production of microalgae. Biomass yield and lipid production in microalgae are a contradictory problem because required conditions for both targets are different. Simultaneously, the mass cultivation of microalgae for biofuel production also depends extremely on the performance of the microalgae strains used. In this study a green unicellular microalgae Chlorella sorokiniana (DS6) isolated from the holding tanks of farm wastewater treatment plant using multi-step screening and acclimation procedures was found high-lipid producing facultative heterotrophic microalgae strain capable of growing on dairy farm effluent (DFE) for biodiesel feedstock and wastewater treatment. Morphological features and the phylogenetic analysis for the 18S rRNA identified the isolated strains. A novel three stage cultivation process of facultative strain of C. sorokiniana was examined for lipid production.

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
Artificial neural network modeling of the water quality index using land use areas as predictors

Gazzaz NM, Yusoff MK, Ramli MF, Juahir H, Aris AZ

Water Environ Res, 2015 Feb;87(2):99-112.
PMID: 25790513

This paper describes the design of an artificial neural network (ANN) model to predict the water quality index (WQI) using land use areas as predictors. Ten-year records of land use statistics and water quality data for Kinta River (Malaysia) were employed in the modeling process. The most accurate WQI predictions were obtained with the network architecture 7-23-1; the back propagation training algorithm; and a learning rate of 0.02. The WQI forecasts of this model had significant (p < 0.01), positive, very high correlation (ρs = 0.882) with the measured WQI values. Sensitivity analysis revealed that the relative importance of the land use classes to WQI predictions followed the order: mining > rubber > forest > logging > urban areas > agriculture > oil palm. These findings show that the ANNs are highly reliable means of relating water quality to land use, thus integrating land use development with river water quality management.

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
Effect on heavy metals concentration from vermiconversion of agro-waste mixed with landfill leachate

Azizi AB, Choy MY, Noor ZM, Noorlidah A

Waste Manag, 2015 Apr;38:431-5.
PMID: 25670166 DOI: 10.1016/j.wasman.2015.01.020

Spent Pleurotus sajor-caju compost mixed with livestock excreta, i.e. cow dung or goat manure, was contaminated with landfill leachate and vermiremediated in 75 days. Results showed an extreme decrease of heavy metals, i.e. Cd, Cr and Pb up to 99.81% removal as effect of vermiconversion process employing epigeic earthworms i.e. Lumbricus rubellus. In addition, there were increments of Cu and Zn from 15.01% to 85.63%, which was expected as non-accumulative in L. rubellus and secreted out as contained in vermicompost. This phenomenon is due to dual effects of heavy metal excretion period and mineralisation. Nonetheless, the increments were 50-fold below the limit set by EU and USA compost limits and the Malaysian Recommended Site Screening Levels for Contaminated Land (SSLs). Moreover, the vermicompost C:N ratio range is 20.65-22.93 and it can be an advantageous tool to revitalise insalubrious soil by acting as soil stabiliser or conditioner.

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
Co-combustion of agricultural residues with coal in a fluidized bed combustor

Ghani WA, Alias AB, Savory RM, Cliffe KR

Waste Manag, 2009 Feb;29(2):767-73.
PMID: 18614348 DOI: 10.1016/j.wasman.2008.03.025

Power generation from biomass is an attractive technology that utilizes agricultural residual waste. In order to explain the behavior of biomass-fired fluidized bed incinerator, biomass sources from agricultural residues (rice husk and palm kernel) were co-fired with coal in a 0.15m diameter and 2.3m high fluidized bed combustor. The combustion efficiency and carbon monoxide emissions were studied and compared with those for pure coal combustion. Co-combustion of a mixture of biomass with coal in a fluidized bed combustor designed for coal combustion increased combustion efficiency up to 20% depending upon excess air levels. Observed carbon monoxide levels fluctuated between 200 and 900 ppm with the addition of coal. It is evident from this research that efficient co-firing of biomass with coal can be achieved with minimal modifications to existing coal-fired boilers.

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture*
Compost maturity and nitrogen availability by co-composting of paddy husk and chicken manure amended with clinoptilolite zeolite

Latifah O, Ahmed OH, Susilawati K, Majid NM

Waste Manag Res, 2015 Apr;33(4):322-31.
PMID: 25819928 DOI: 10.1177/0734242X15576771

The availability of paddy husk from rice processing plants remains high owing to increase in the worldwide rice consumption. Increasing demand for chicken products leads to poultry wastes production. Co-composting of the aforementioned wastes could solve the indiscriminate disposal of these wastes. Thus, co-composting of paddy husk and chicken slurry with clinoptilolite zeolite and urea as additive was carried out. Clinoptilolite zeolite was used to enhance ammonium and nitrate retention in the compost. Temperature of the compost was monitored three times daily for 55 days. Cation exchange capacity, organic matter, ash, humic acids, pH, total C, N, C/N ratio; total P, exchangeable Ca, Mg, K, NH4+, NO3-, and heavy metals contents were determined using standard procedures. pH, total N, humic acids, ash, NH4+, NO3-, P, Ca, Mg, and K contents increased but the salinity, heavy metals contents, and microbial population were low after the co-composting process. Zea mays L. (test crop) seed germination rate in distilled water and the compost were not significantly different. Growth of Spinach oleracea (test crop) on a peat-based growing medium and the compost was also not significantly different. These findings were possible because the clinoptilolite zeolite used in co-composting reduced accumulation of heavy metals that may have damage effects on the test crops. Mature compost with good agronomic properties can be produced by co-composting chicken slurry and paddy husk using clinoptilolite zeolite and urea as additives.

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
Modified use of methylene blue in the tissue compression technique to detect sarcocysts in meat-producing animals

Ng YH, Subramaniam V, Lau YL

Vet Parasitol, 2015 Nov 30;214(1-2):200-3.
PMID: 26455572 DOI: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2015.09.032

Sarcocystosis in meat-producing animals is a major cause of reduced productivity in many countries, especially those that rely on agriculture. Although several diagnostic methods are available to detect sarcocystosis, many are too time-consuming for routine use in abattoirs and meat inspection centers, where large numbers of samples need to be tested. This study aimed to compare the sensitivity of the methylene blue tissue preparation, unstained tissue preparation and nested PCR in the detection of sarcocysts in tissue samples. Approximately three-fold more sarcocysts were detected in methylene blue-stained tissue compared to unstained controls (McNemar's test: P<0.01). Test sensitivity was comparable to that of the gold standard for sarcocyst detection, nested polymerase chain reaction. These results suggest that methylene blue can be used in tissue compression as a rapid, safe, and inexpensive technique for the detection of ruminant sarcocystosis in abattoirs.

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
Prevalence of antibodies to influenza viruses among handlers of live pigs at three locations in Ibadan, Nigeria

Adeola OA, Adeniji JA

Vet. Ital., 2010 Apr-Jun;46(2):147-53.
PMID: 20560124

The authors investigated the prevalence of haemagglutination inhibition (HI) antibodies to four strains of influenza viruses among handlers of live pigs in Ibadan, Nigeria. Venous blood specimens were collected from thirty pig handlers (out of a total of forty-eight) at three locations in Ibadan in April and May 2008. The overall prevalence of antibodies to influenza viruses was 100%, while those of influenza A and B viruses were 68.3% and 58.3%, respectively. The prevalence of influenza A/Brisbane/59/2007 (H1N1), A/Brisbane/10/2007 (H3N2), B/Shanghai/361/2002-like and B/Malaysia/2506/2004-like was 46.7%, 90.0%, 76.7% and 40.0%, respectively. A total of 96.7% (n = 30) of pig handlers tested had polytypic influenza antibody reactions. This is the first report to document the prevalence of influenza antibodies among pig handlers in Nigeria and shows that humans who have regular and direct contact with live pigs in Ibadan are exposed to different strains of influenza viruses.

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture*
Agriculture: access to technology limited

UN Chron, 1997;34(4):58.
PMID: 12293737

From country to country and even regionally, the roles of women in agriculture vary, but most of their labor is in unpaid subsistence production and their contributions tend to be underestimated, according to the results of the [UN] Secretary-General's report. Depending on circumstances, they have complementary roles with men, sharing or dividing tasks in the production of crops, care of animals, and forestry management. In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, women contribute 60-80% of labor in food production for both household consumption and sale, while in Malaysia the women account for only 35% of the agricultural labor force, and in Ireland the participation rate is only 10.4%. Although women make this important amount of labor contributions to agricultural production, "development policies tend to favor export crops to earn foreign exchange and the agricultural research tends to address the improvement of production and technologies for commercial production". This results in limited access for women to technical knowledge and innovations, including irrigation, machinery, farming techniques and extension services. This is strengthened by the fact that most of the extension services target farmers who own land and can obtain credit to invest in input and technology.

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture*
Fulltext THE POTENTIAL OF SOLID ELECTROLYTE FROM FISH WASTE FOR BATTERY APPLICATION

Muhammad Ashraff Aiman Roslan, Nik Aziz Nik Ali

UMT Journal of Undergraduate Research, 2020;2(1):9-14.
MyJurnal

This experiment was conducted to study the potential of solid electrolyte from the fish waste of Clarias gariepinus for battery application. The battery was one of the important components that supplies electrical energy to users throughout the world, and it strongly contributed to technology development in the economic sector, transportation, residential as well as agriculture. The presence of ammonia in organic fish waste could produce renewable energy and helped to reduce the use of lithium-ion batteries in modern industries. Two different parameters were being observed in this study, which was the quantity of fish and the number of the cell layer. The process of collecting the fish waste was carried out in the hatchery at Universiti Malaysia Terengganu using two methods, which were filtering and soaking. The result showed that the highest value of energy output was 0.430V from waste filtering of 50 fish and 0.207V from soaking in waste of 50 fish. Meanwhile, the lowest energy output was from the tank that contained ten fish with an energy output of 0.177V for filtering and 0.101V for soaking. Besides, for a different number of the cell layer, the highest value of energy output was 0.414V at 25 layers, and the lowest voltage was 0.175V at five layers. Thus, from the study was observed that the produced voltage was dependent on the quantity of fish and the number of the cell layer, when the quantity of fish and number of cell layer increases, the output energy was also increased.

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
Fulltext POPULATION ABUNDANCE OF RED PALM WEEVIL, RHYNCHOPHORUS FERRUGINEUS (COLEOPTERA: DRYOPHTHORIDAE) IN RHU TAPAI COCONUT PLANTATION

Nurul Syafiqah Senafi, Nor Zalipah Mohamed

UMT Journal of Undergraduate Research, 2020;2(1):71-76.
MyJurnal

Red Palm Weevil (RPW), Rhynchophorus ferrugineus is a lethal pest which has been described as a serious pest that reduces the production of coconut tree and other major cultivated palms. RPW infestation was initially detected by Department of Agriculture (DOA) in 2007 in all eight Terengganu districts. Rhu Tapai plantation area is one of the highly infested areas in Terengganu. Until now, limited reports on population abundance of this lethal pest have been discussed particularly in Rhu Tapai. Therefore, a study on population abundance is a must in order to understand the population dynamic of RPW which will be the first step of its control strategy. A total of 12 traps were installed and synthetic pheromones (P028 Ferrolure+) were used in attracting the RPW adults. Overall, 81 individuals of RPW were successfully collected after 16 weeks of pheromone trapping (3rd September until 28th November 2018). The trend of weekly RPW captured was eventually decreasing from Week 1 to Week 16 but showed a sudden increment in Week 10. Pandan cultivar plot captured the highest number of adult RPW compared with Mawa cultivar plots. Result showed no significant difference between RPW sexes percentage of sexes which was 53% of male and 47% of female (1:1 ratio) (U= 0.143, p > 0.05). Daily rainfall and temperature significantly reduced the trapping efficiency (R²rainfall = 0.142, p = 0.145; R²temperature = 0.0858; p = 0.258). These results will be the baseline information for future study regarding control management strategy using pheromone-based mass trapping system.

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
Fulltext RAINFALL FORECASTING WITH TIME SERIES MODEL IN ALOR SETAR, KEDAH

FAIQAH MOHAMAD FUDZI, ZAHAYU MD YUSOF, MASNITA MISIRAN

UMT Journal of Undergraduate Research, 2021;3(1):37-44.
MyJurnal

The prediction of rainfall on monthly and seasonal time scales is not only scientifically challenging but is also important for planning and devising agricultural strategies. In this paper, the study is conducted to examine the pattern of monthly rainfall in Alor Setar, Kedah within ten years which is from 2008 to 2018. This paper considered a model based on real data that obtained from Department of Meteorology Malaysia. This study indicates that the monthly rainfall in Alor Setar has a seasonal and trend pattern based on yt vs t plotting, autocorrelation function and Kruskal Wallis Test for seasonality. The examined rainfall time-series modelling approaches include Naïve Model, Decomposition Method, Holt-Winter’s and Box-Jenkins ARIMA. Multiplicative Decomposition Method was identified as the best model to forecast rainfall for the year of 2019 by analysing the previous ten-year’s data (2008-2018).As a result from the forecast of 2019, October is the wettest month with highest forecasted rainfall of 276.15mm while the driest month is in February with lowest forecasted rainfall of 50.55mm. The model is therefore adequate and appropriate to forecast future monthly rainfall values in the catchment which can help farmers to plan their farming activities ahead of time.

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
Fulltext POTENTIAL OF AQUEOUS GINGER EXTRACT AS FRUIT COATING ON TOMATO

NOR AMIRA IZATI NOR AZMAN, NUR FAZLEEN SYUHADA ROSTAM, NURUL FAZIHA IBRAHIM, SUHAIZAN LOB

UMT Journal of Undergraduate Research, 2020;2(4):23-30.
MyJurnal

Soft fleshed tomatoes are easily damaged due to mechanical injuries. Later, the wounded tissue will be exposed to fungal infection thus fasten the deterioration rate and reduce the quality of tomato. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential aqueous ginger extract to inhibit fungal pathogen that causes tomato wilt and its potential in delaying the weight loss of tomato fruits. For this purpose, in vitro antifungal assay using poison plate technique was used to observe the inhibition of fungal pathogen. Then, healthy tomato fruits were dipped in aqueous ginger extract before evaluated for the post-harvest quality such as weight loss and firmness. The results of this study show that 10% aqueous ginger extract can inhibit the fungal pathogen (Fusarium oxysporum) that causes tomato wilt with 13.57% inhibition. Through in vivo antifungal assay, tomato fruits dipped in this plant extract showed lower weight loss (14.44%) and higher firmness (1.7 N) as compared to untreated fruit, but the data were not significantly different. Therefore, manipulation of this extract was suggested to increase its antifungal properties or as eco-friendly coating to lengthen the shelf life of agricultural produces.

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
Fulltext THE POTENTIAL OF LOCAL EARTHWORMS IN VERMICOMPOSTING GOAT MANURE (GM) AND SPENT COCONUT FLAKES (SCF)

Muhammad Faris bin Md Yusoff, Suhaizan binti Lob, Nurul Faziha Ibrahim

UMT Journal of Undergraduate Research, 2019;1(4):19-28.
MyJurnal

Vermicomposting is a process that involves biological, chemical and physical transformations of solid organic materials such as agricultural residues of plant and animal through the use of microorganisms and earthworms. There are three main classes of earthworms, and only those from one class are usually used for vermicomposting. However, mostly foreign earthworms are used in the setup. Foreign earthworms are more expensive and harder to obtain than local earthworms. This makes the local farmers reluctant to try since they are expensive. The difference in vermicompost using two species of epigeic earthworms, a local earthworm and a foreign earthworm (Eisenia fetida), and normal compost without any earthworms was measured in this study. Both species of earthworms were placed in identical vermibeds consisting of partially composted goat manure and partially composted spent coconut flakes (SCF) with the ratio of 5:1 respectively in terms of weight. The vermibed moisture content was maintained at 60 – 70% throughout the whole process. The end products showed a difference from one another. The E. fetida showed a better result compared to the local earthworms in terms of the nutrient content presence and the adaptability of the earthworms during the whole process. However, the end product from the local earthworms was still better compared to the normal compost without any earthworms.

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
Fulltext APPLICATION OF MFRS 141: INSIGHTS FROM FINANCIAL STATEMENTS OF COMPANIES IN MALAYSIA

SITINURIZZATI JAMIL,, AKMALIA MOHAMAD ARIF, SHAHNAZ ISMAIL

UMT Journal of Undergraduate Research, 2019;1(2):59-68.
MyJurnal

This study examined biological asset information that has been reported by companies in Malaysia and the methods of valuation used in reporting the biological assets. It aimed to provide useful information to the regulators about the application of MFRS 141, the accounting standards for agriculture, in corporate reporting. This study employed the data derived from the 2016 annual reportsof plantation companies listed on Bursa Malaysia. Descriptive analysis was used to examine the biological asset information that has been reported and the characteristics of the companies such as age, size, and leverage. The results of this study showed that most of the plantation companies believed that fair value and historical cost could be the best way to measure their biological assets. The findings of this study provide input towards identifying the gap in corporate reporting practices and the challenges faced by companies in the application of MFRS 141. The findings are expected to contribute to the regulatory improvement towards increasing the full adoption of MFRS 141 by companies in Malaysia.

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture

Filters

Please provide feedback to Administrator (afdal@afpm.org.my)

External Links