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Fulltext Asian Livestock Industry Leaders' Perceptions of the Importance of, and Solutions for, Animal Welfare Issues

Sinclair M, Phillips CJC

Animals (Basel), 2019 Jun 05;9(6).
PMID: 31195720 DOI: 10.3390/ani9060319

The welfare of farm animals has been the focus of increasing international interest, however, the movement has had little engagement with livestock leaders who are, arguably, the stakeholders in the position most able to make decisions that impact on animal welfare at critical times. Previous studies have drawn attention to the need to engage in constructive collaborations with the livestock industry for the betterment of animal welfare, and to uncover mutual benefits for both stakeholders and proponents of animal welfare with which collaborations can be motivated. This study aimed to continue this need to understand leaders in livestock management, by consulting their opinions as to what constitutes the most critical animal welfare issues during farming and slaughter, and what they see as some of the solutions to begin addressing livestock welfare issues in their country. Seventeen focus group sessions were held with 139 leaders in livestock industries in six diverse countries in Asia, including China, India, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Bangladesh. Leaders included government representatives, key academics in agriculture, and business managers and leaders within the domestic animal agriculture industries, as relevant to each country. After conducting thematic analysis and applying basic statistical measures, the findings suggest that solutions within the themes of education, training, and awareness are most valued. However, how each of these could be best addressed varied by country. The need for local research and local solutions also contributed to the most frequent opportunities, as did the requirement for prescriptive and consistent standards and expectations. A ranking of animal welfare issues is presented, as is a selection of suggested animal welfare initiatives resulting from the findings of this study.

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
Survey-based data on food security, nutrition and agricultural production shocks among rural farming households in northern Uganda

Mwungu CM, Shikuku KM, Atibo C, Mwongera C

Data Brief, 2019 Apr;23:103818.
PMID: 31372462 DOI: 10.1016/j.dib.2019.103818

Climate change, degradation of natural resources, conflict or civil war, diseases and poverty are among the key threats that impact agriculture, human nutrition, food security and food safety among rural households in developing countries. Sustainability of food systems and livelihoods will thus crucially depend on not only the ability to accommodate or recover from these threats but also to tap into opportunities for strengthening long-term capabilities. One approach to enhancing resilience to enhance food security and nutrition is building an evidence base to better understand the various types of smallholders, threats to agriculture production and the associated risks to food security and nutrition and household food preferences. Unfortunately, such data in many African countries is still unavailable or has not been shared publicly. In this paper, we describe data that were collected in Nwoya district, Northern Uganda in December 2017. These data can be used to assess the relationship between resilience of farm households to climatic risks and their food and nutrition security.

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
Fulltext Quantifying the legacy of the Chinese Neolithic on the maternal genetic heritage of Taiwan and Island Southeast Asia

Brandão A, Eng KK, Rito T, Cavadas B, Bulbeck D, Gandini F, et al.

Hum Genet, 2016 Apr;135(4):363-76.
PMID: 26875094 DOI: 10.1007/s00439-016-1640-3

There has been a long-standing debate concerning the extent to which the spread of Neolithic ceramics and Malay-Polynesian languages in Island Southeast Asia (ISEA) were coupled to an agriculturally driven demic dispersal out of Taiwan 4000 years ago (4 ka). We previously addressed this question using founder analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control-region sequences to identify major lineage clusters most likely to have dispersed from Taiwan into ISEA, proposing that the dispersal had a relatively minor impact on the extant genetic structure of ISEA, and that the role of agriculture in the expansion of the Austronesian languages was therefore likely to have been correspondingly minor. Here we test these conclusions by sequencing whole mtDNAs from across Taiwan and ISEA, using their higher chronological precision to resolve the overall proportion that participated in the "out-of-Taiwan" mid-Holocene dispersal as opposed to earlier, postglacial expansions in the Early Holocene. We show that, in total, about 20 % of mtDNA lineages in the modern ISEA pool result from the "out-of-Taiwan" dispersal, with most of the remainder signifying earlier processes, mainly due to sea-level rises after the Last Glacial Maximum. Notably, we show that every one of these founder clusters previously entered Taiwan from China, 6-7 ka, where rice-farming originated, and remained distinct from the indigenous Taiwanese population until after the subsequent dispersal into ISEA.

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
Genetic modification in Malaysia and India: current regulatory framework and the special case of non-transformative RNAi in agriculture

Darsan Singh JK, Mat Jalaluddin NS, Sanan-Mishra N, Harikrishna JA

Plant Cell Rep, 2019 Dec;38(12):1449-1463.
PMID: 31350570 DOI: 10.1007/s00299-019-02446-6

Recent developments in modern biotechnology such as the use of RNA interference (RNAi) have broadened the scope of crop genetic modification. RNAi strategies have led to significant achievements in crop protection against biotic and abiotic stresses, modification of plant traits, and yield improvement. As RNAi-derived varieties of crops become more useful in the field, it is important to examine the capacity of current regulatory systems to deal with such varieties, and to determine if changes are needed to improve the existing frameworks. We review the biosafety frameworks from the perspective of developing countries that are increasingly involved in modern biotechnology research, including RNAi applications, and make some recommendations. Malaysia and India have approved laws regulating living modified organisms and products thereof, highlighting that the use of any genetically modified step requires regulatory scrutiny. In view of production methods for exogenously applied double-stranded RNAs and potential risks from the resulting double-stranded RNA-based products, we argue that a process-based system may be inappropriate for the non-transformative RNAi technology. We here propose that the current legislation needs rewording to take account of the non-transgenic RNAi technology, and discuss the best alternative for regulatory systems in India and Malaysia in comparison with the existing frameworks in other countries.

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
Fulltext Development of Organic Insect-Repellent Biodegradable Pot

Nur Atirah Hasmi, Siti Sarah Azman, Nadia Nisha Musa, Wan Nurul Hidayah Wan Anuar, Nur Nadirah Rodzali

Jurnal Inovasi Malaysia, 2020;4(1):99-111.
MyJurnal

The potential of natural organic compounds as a repellent in biodegradable organic pot is budding into one of the new agriculture innovation. The use of recyclable materials in the production of the pot can reduce the excessive waste disposal problem and thus prevent pollution problems. The objectives are to recycle old newspapers into biodegradable pot for seedling of plants and to repel plant insect pests using organic compounds (Pandanus sp., Petroselinum crispum and Alium sativum). The production of the biodegradable pot incorporates the use of waste materials such as old newspapers and coconut husk together with natural organic materials such as tapioca flour, Pandanus amaryllifolius (pandan leaf), Petroselinum crispum (parsley) and Alium sativum (garlic). This product is distinguishable among others as it is environmental-friendly since the pot can naturally break over time (biodegradable). The aroma from the Pandanus amaryllifolius, Petroselinum crispum and Alium sativum can repel flying and crawling insect that may attack the crops. The organic insect-repellent biodegradable pot has a potential in replacing plastic polybags since the crops planted in the pot can be directly replanted in the soil without the need of disposing the pot. Root is allowed to grow through the pot where later on, it will be degraded. Apart from that, this pot has high commercial values since it is easy to be handled, low in production cost, eco-friendly where only recyclable and natural organic materials were used, and the most crucial point is it can act as an insect repellent.

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
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
Fulltext Land use change using geospatial techniques in upper prek thnot watershed in Cambodia

Norin Khorn, Mohd Hasmadi Ismail, Norizah Kamarudin, Siti Nurhidayu

Pertanika Journal of Science & Technology, 2020;28(3):879-892.
MyJurnal

Monitoring of land use change is crucial for sustainable resource management and development planning. Up-to-date land use change information is important to understand its pattern and identify the drivers. Remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) have proven as a useful tool to measure and analyze land use changes. Recent advances in remote sensing technology with digital image processing provide unprecedented possibilities for detecting changes in land use over large areas, with less costs and processing time. Thus, the objective of this study was to assess the land use changes in upper Prek Thnot watershed in Cambodia from 2006 until 2018. Geospatial tools such as remote sensing and GIS were used to process and produce land use maps from Landsat 5 TM, Landsat 7 ETM+ and Landsat 8. The post-classification comparison was conducted for analysing the land use changes. Results show forest area was greatly decreased by 1,162.06 km2 (33.67%) which was converted to rubber plantation (10.55 km2 ), wood shrub (37.65 km2 ), agricultural land (1,099.71 km2 ), built-up area (17.76 km2 ), barren land (3.65 km2 ), and water body (14.69 km2 ). Agricultural land increased by 1,258.99 km2 (36.48%), while wood shrub declined by 161.88 km2 (4.69%). Rubber plantation, built-up area, barren land, and water bodies were increased by 10.55 km2 (0.31%), 33.64 km2 (0.97%), 4.87 km2 (0.14%) and 15.89 km2 (0.46%), respectively. The decrease of forest and wood shrub had resulted due to population growth (1.8% from 2008 to 2019) and land conversion for agricultural purposes. Hence, this study may provide vital information for wise sustainable watershed’s land management, especially for further study on the effect of land use change on runoff in this area.

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
Trends and advances in edible biopolymer coating for tropical fruit: A review

Md Nor S, Ding P

Food Res Int, 2020 08;134:109208.
PMID: 32517939 DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2020.109208

Nowadays, many of the tropical fruits have been commercialized worldwide due to increasing demand. In 2018, global tropical fruit has reached an unprecedented peak of 7.1 million tonnes. As such, a lot of large scale farming has been initiated to cultivate the fruit for commercialization. The nature of tropical fruit is perishable make the fruit easily undergo post-harvest losses especially when the fruit travels in a long distance for distribution. Losses of tropical fruit is estimated around 18-28% after harvesting. Then, the losses will continually develop during the trading process. Applying fruit coating on the fruit can minimize substantial privation. This article compendiously reviews the needs of coating and discuss different types of coating materials. The efficiency of different coating materials; polysaccharide, protein, lipid and composite based coating on tropical fruit is highlighted. There are various types of coating available for major fruit such as banana, mango, pineapple and avocado that can effectively extend the post-harvest life, minimize water loss, reduce chilling injuries and fight against post-harvest disease. Coating from minor fruit such as durian, rambutan, passion-fruit and mangosteen are still limited especially made from lipid and protein coating. In choosing the most appropriate coating for tropical, the nature of fruit needs to be understood. In addition, the chemistry of coating components and techniques of application is important in modulating the fruit quality.

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
Impact of Land-use Change on Vertical Soil Bacterial Communities in Sabah

Tin HS, Palaniveloo K, Anilik J, Vickneswaran M, Tashiro Y, Vairappan CS, et al.

Microb Ecol, 2018 Feb;75(2):459-467.
PMID: 28779295 DOI: 10.1007/s00248-017-1043-6

Decline in forest productivity due to forest conversion is defining the Bornean landscape. Responses of bacterial communities due to land-use changes are vital and could define our understanding of ecosystem functions. This study reports the changes in bacterial community structure in organic soil (0-5 cm; O-Horizon) and organic-mineral soil (5-15 cm; A-Horizon) across Maliau Basin Conservation Area old growth forest (MBOG), Fragment E logged forest (FELF) located in Kalabakan Forest Reserve to Benta Wawasan oil palm plantation (BWOP) using two-step PCR amplicon analysis of bacteria DNA on Illumina Miseq next generation sequencing. A total of 30 soil samples yielded 893,752-OTU reads at ≥97% similarity from 5,446,512 good quality sequences. Soil from BWOP plantation showed highest unshared OTUs for organic (49.2%) and organic-mineral (50.9%) soil. MBOG soil showed a drop in unshared OTUs between organic (48.6%) and organic-mineral (33.9%). At phylum level, Proteobacteria dominated MBOG but shifted to Actinobacteria in logged and plantation soil. Present findings also indicated that only FELF exhibited change in bacterial communities along the soil depth, moving from the organic to the organic-mineral layer. Both layers of BWOP plantation soils deviated from other forests' soil in β-diversity analysis. To our knowledge, this is the first report on transitions of bacterial community structures with different soil horizons in the tropical rainforest including Borneo, Sabah. Borneo tropical soils form a large reservoir for soil bacteria and future exploration is needed for fully understanding the diversity structure and their bacterial functional properties.

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
Fulltext A review on climate change and Malaysia’s actions

Narinderjeet Kaur, Syed Sharizman Syed Abdul Rahim, Zahir Izuan Azhar, Mohd Yusof Ibrahim, Mohammad Saffree Jeffree, Mohd Rohaizat Hassan

Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences, 2019;15(106):72-72.
MyJurnal

Introduction: One of the biggest global health threats of the 21st century is climate change It is so catastrophic that the climate action has been given a platform as it is the 13th goal of the 17 United Nations Sustainable developmen-tal goals (SDG). This review seeks to understand the factors causing climate change, followed by understanding the impact it has on individual and population health. We also identify the strategies to control and prevent further cli-mate change. Methods: Reviews of local and international articles from the past ten years was conducted. The focus of the review was the causes, health effects as well as strategies. Data base used was Pro Quest. Results: This re-view identified that the main contributor to climate change are man-made activities such as fossil fuels combustion, livestock farming, and deforestation. This change in climate has many repercussions from mass migrations, increase communicable diseases as well as an increase in extreme weather events and natural disasters. All this eventually leads to the deterioration of individual and population health. Strengthening adaptivity to climate-related hazard, climate change integration into national policies, education, awareness-raising, impact reduction and early warning are actions that are present in Malaysia to manage this crisis. Conclusion: Climate change is occurring globally, and its presence can no longer be denied. Actions have been put forth, but only when its importance and impact is taken seriously will the positive changes be sustainable.

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
Fulltext Job hazard analyses (JHA) for ergonomics risk factors in Malaysian pineapple plantation

Nur Fazrina Mohamad Salleh, Ezrin Hani Sukadarin

Journal of Occupational Safety and Health, 2018;15(1):17-25.
MyJurnal

The prevalence of Musculoskeletal Symptoms (MSS) rapidly increases and it is recognized as a significant health outcome in agricultural sector. Agricultural ergonomics risk factor is one of hazards constantly arising from all job task activities including awkward postures and heavy lifting. Job hazard analyses (JHA) were conducted to assess the exposure of ergonomics risk factors in Malaysia Pineapple Plantation. The analyses performed involved two steps. They were: 1) guidelines and manual book Malaysia Pineapple Plantation as references; and 2) conducting walkthrough observation based on checklist approaches at the plantation. The identified risk factors were prolonged exposure of standing, squatting, stooping and kneeling, highly repetitive motion on the lower limbs, deviation and twisting of wrist and lastly, heavy lifting. The analyses confirmed that the exposure to ergonomics risk factors in pineapple plantation is high. It would be desirable to reduce the risk factors by educating and training the pineapple workers to perform their task with strong consideration of occupational safety and health.

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
Active restoration accelerates the carbon recovery of human-modified tropical forests

Philipson CD, Cutler MEJ, Brodrick PG, Asner GP, Boyd DS, Moura Costa P, et al.

Science, 2020 08 14;369(6505):838-841.
PMID: 32792397 DOI: 10.1126/science.aay4490

More than half of all tropical forests are degraded by human impacts, leaving them threatened with conversion to agricultural plantations and risking substantial biodiversity and carbon losses. Restoration could accelerate recovery of aboveground carbon density (ACD), but adoption of restoration is constrained by cost and uncertainties over effectiveness. We report a long-term comparison of ACD recovery rates between naturally regenerating and actively restored logged tropical forests. Restoration enhanced decadal ACD recovery by more than 50%, from 2.9 to 4.4 megagrams per hectare per year. This magnitude of response, coupled with modal values of restoration costs globally, would require higher carbon prices to justify investment in restoration. However, carbon prices required to fulfill the 2016 Paris climate agreement [$40 to $80 (USD) per tonne carbon dioxide equivalent] would provide an economic justification for tropical forest restoration.

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
Fulltext Synthesis and characterization of rice husk biochar via hydrothermal carbonization for wastewater treatment and biofuel production

Hossain N, Nizamuddin S, Griffin G, Selvakannan P, Mubarak NM, Mahlia TMI

Sci Rep, 2020 Nov 02;10(1):18851.
PMID: 33139793 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-75936-3

The recent implication of circular economy in Australia spurred the demand for waste material utilization for value-added product generations on a commercial scale. Therefore, this experimental study emphasized on agricultural waste biomass, rice husk (RH) as potential feedstock to produce valuable products. Rice husk biochar (RB) was obtained at temperature: 180 °C, pressure: 70 bar, reaction time: 20 min with water via hydrothermal carbonization (HTC), and the obtained biochar yield was 57.9%. Enhancement of zeta potential value from - 30.1 to - 10.6 mV in RB presented the higher suspension stability, and improvement of surface area and porosity in RB demonstrated the wastewater adsorption capacity. Along with that, an increase of crystallinity in RB, 60.5%, also indicates the enhancement of the catalytic performance of the material significantly more favorable to improve the adsorption efficiency of transitional compounds. In contrast, an increase of the atomic O/C ratio in RB, 0.51 delineated high breakdown of the cellulosic component, which is favorable for biofuel purpose. 13.98% SiO2 reduction in RB confirmed ash content minimization and better quality of fuel properties. Therefore, the rice husk biochar through HTC can be considered a suitable material for further application to treat wastewater and generate bioenergy.

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
Fulltext Microwave Hydrothermal Carbonization of Rice Straw: Optimization of Process Parameters and Upgrading of Chemical, Fuel, Structural and Thermal Properties

Nizamuddin S, Qureshi SS, Baloch HA, Siddiqui MTH, Takkalkar P, Mubarak NM, et al.

Materials (Basel), 2019 Jan 28;12(3).
PMID: 30696042 DOI: 10.3390/ma12030403

The process parameters of microwave-induced hydrothermal carbonization (MIHTC) play an important role on the hydrothermal chars (hydrochar) yield. The effect of reaction temperature, reaction time, particle size and biomass to water ratio was optimized for hydrochar yield by modeling using the central composite design (CCD). Further, the rice straw and hydrochar at optimum conditions have been characterized for energy, chemical, structural and thermal properties. The optimum condition for hydrochar synthesis was found to be at a 180 °C reaction temperature, a 20 min reaction time, a 1:15 weight per volume (w/v) biomass to water ratio and a 3 mm particle size, yielding 57.9% of hydrochar. The higher heating value (HHV), carbon content and fixed carbon values increased from 12.3 MJ/kg, 37.19% and 14.37% for rice straw to 17.6 MJ/kg, 48.8% and 35.4% for hydrochar. The porosity, crystallinity and thermal stability of the hydrochar were improved remarkably compared to rice straw after MIHTC. Two characteristic peaks from XRD were observed at 2θ of 15° and 26°, whereas DTG peaks were observed at 50⁻150 °C and 300⁻350 °C for both the materials. Based on the results, it can be suggested that the hydrochar could be potentially used for adsorption, carbon sequestration, energy and agriculture applications.

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
Single-step pyrolysis of phosphoric acid-activated chitin for efficient adsorption of cephalexin antibiotic

Khanday WA, Ahmed MJ, Okoye PU, Hummadi EH, Hameed BH

Bioresour Technol, 2019 May;280:255-259.
PMID: 30772638 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2019.02.003

Cephalexin (CFX) antibiotic, a potent pharmaceutical water pollutant, was efficiently removed by activated carbon (AC) derived from a single-step pyrolysis of phosphoric acid-activated chitin. Experimental conditions such as temperature, CFX initial concentration, and solution pH were screened in batch adsorption. Phosphoric acid activation of chitin and subsequent pyrolysis tailored the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area, total pore volume, and average pore diameter to 1199.02 m2/g, 0.641 cm3/g, and 21.37 Å, respectively. The Langmuir isotherm adequately described the equilibrium data for CFX adsorption on chitin-AC, with an R2 of 0.99 and a monolayer capacity of 245.19 mg/g at 50 °C. Chitin-AC showed higher adsorption capacity compared with other ACs derived from industrial and agricultural precursors. When activated by phosphoric acid, chitin-AC featured functional multi-sites for vast antibiotic adsorption treatment. Overall, chitin-AC could be a promising adsorbent for removal of CFX.

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
Fulltext Heavy metals contamination in paddy soil and water and associated dermal health risk among farmers

Siti Khairunnisaq Rudzi, Ho, Yu Bin, Intan Idayu Abd Kharni

Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences, 2018;14(102):2-10.
MyJurnal

Introduction: This study aims to quantify the concentrations of Cu, Cr, Zn, Ni, Pb, As and Cd in paddy soil and water and assess their potential dermal health risk to the farmers at Kampung Sawah Sempadan, Malaysia. Methods: 72 water samples and 72 soil samples were collected and analysed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). 117 respondents were interviewed using a questionnaire to obtain the exposure information for dermal health risk assessments. Results: All elements in water did not exceed the recommended concentration by Malaysia National Water Quality Standard (NWQS) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Nevertheless, the maxi- mum concentration of As (31.49 mg/kg) in paddy soil exceeded the Dutch Target Value for soil protection (29 mg/ kg). There was no significant chronic non-carcinogenic health risk for farmers working in the paddy soil and water (HQ

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
Fulltext Physicomechanical Properties of Rice Husk/Coco Peat Reinforced Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene Blend Composites

Norhasnan NHA, Hassan MZ, Nor AFM, Zaki SA, Dolah R, Jamaludin KR, et al.

Polymers (Basel), 2021 Apr 06;13(7).
PMID: 33917337 DOI: 10.3390/polym13071171

Utilizing agro-waste material such as rice husk (RH) and coco peat (CP) reinforced with thermoplastic resin to produce low-cost green composites is a fascinating discovery. In this study, the effectiveness of these blended biocomposites was evaluated for their physical, mechanical, and thermal properties. Initially, the samples were fabricated by using a combination of melt blend internal mixer and injection molding techniques. Increasing in RH content increased the coupons density. However, it reduced the water vapor kinetics sorption of the biocomposite. Moisture absorption studies disclosed that water uptake was significantly increased with the increase of coco peat (CP) filler. It showed that the mechanical properties, including tensile modulus, flexural modulus, and impact strength of the 15% RH-5% CP reinforced acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), gave the highest value. Results also revealed that all RH/CP filled composites exhibited a brittle fracture manner. Observation on the tensile morphology surfaces by using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) affirmed the above finding to be satisfactory. Therefore, it can be concluded that blend-agriculture waste reinforced ABS biocomposite can be exploited as a biodegradable material for short life engineering application where good mechanical and thermal properties are paramount.

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
Oil palm 'slash-and-burn' practice increases post-fire greenhouse gas emissions and nutrient concentrations in burnt regions of an agricultural tropical peatland

Dhandapani S, Evers S

Sci Total Environ, 2020 Nov 10;742:140648.
PMID: 32721749 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140648

Fire is one of the major issues facing Southeast Asian peatlands causing socio-economic, human health and climate crises. Many of these fires in the region are associated with land clearing or management practices for oil palm plantations. Here we study the direct post-fire impacts of slash-and-burn oil palm agriculture on greenhouse gas emissions, peat physico-chemical properties and nutrient concentrations. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were measured using Los Gatos ultraportable greenhouse gas analyser one month after a fire in dry season and five months after the fire event, in wet season. Surface soil samples were collected from each individual GHG measurement points, along with 50 cm cores from both burnt and non-burnt control areas for lab analyses. As an immediate post-fire impact, carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) emissions, pH, electrical conductivity, and all macronutrient concentrations except nitrogen (N) were increased multi-fold, while the redox potential, carbon (C) and N content were greatly reduced in the burnt region. While some of the properties such as CO2 emissions, and electrical conductivity reverted to normal after five months, other properties such as CH4 emissions, pH and nutrient concentrations remained high in the burnt region. This study also found very high loss of surface peat C content in the burnt region post fire, which is irreversible. The results also show that surface peat layers up to 20 cm depth were affected the most by slash-and-burn activity in oil palm agriculture, however the intensity of fire can vary widely between different oil palm management and needs further research to fully understand the long term and regional impacts of such slash-and-burn activity in tropical peatlands.

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
Fulltext Healthy Eating Determinants: A Study among Malaysian Young Adults

Mamun AA, Hayat N, Zainol NRB

Foods, 2020 Jul 23;9(8).
PMID: 32717851 DOI: 10.3390/foods9080974

This study aimed to examine the effect of health consciousness, knowledge about healthy food, attitudes toward healthy food, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control on the intention to consume healthy food, which subsequently affects the consumption of healthy food among Malaysian young adults. The current study also examined the moderating effect of perceived barriers on the association between intention to consume healthy food and the consumption of healthy food. This study adopted a cross-sectional design and collected quantitative data from 1651 Malaysian young adults (between the age of 18 and 40 years) by sharing a Google form link through social media. The findings reveal that health consciousness, knowledge about healthy food, attitude toward healthy food, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control had a significant positive effect on the intention to consume healthy food. Findings also show that the intention to consume healthy food has a significant positive effect on the consumption of healthy food among Malaysian young adults. Furthermore, the findings reveal the positive and significant mediating effect of the intention to consume healthy food and the significant moderating effect of perceived barriers on the association between the intention to consume healthy food and the consumption of healthy food. The multi-group analysis revealed that the effect of perceived barriers on the consumption of healthy food and the moderating effect of perceived barriers were significantly higher among urban respondents. Health and agriculture policymakers should focus on the attributes of healthy eating practices and their health benefits to promote the mass adoption of healthy food among Malaysian young adults.

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
Fulltext Comparison of the effects of two laser photobiomodulation techniques on bio-physical properties of Zea mays L. seeds

Hasan M, Hanafiah MM, Alhilfy IHH, Aeyad Taha Z

PeerJ, 2021;9:e10614.
PMID: 33520446 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.10614

Background: Laser applications in agriculture have recently gained much interest due to improved plant characteristics following laser treatment before the sowing of seeds. In this study, maize seeds were exposed to different levels of laser treatment prior to sowing to improve their field performance. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of pre-sowing laser photobiomodulation on the field emergence and growth of treated maize seeds.
Methods: The maize seeds were first photobiomodulated with two lasers: 1) a helium-neon (He-Ne) red laser (632.8 nm), and 2) a neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) green laser (532 nm). Following three replications of randomized complete block design (RCBD), four irradiation treatments were applied (45 s, 65 s, 85 s, and 105 s) at two power intensities (2 mW/cm2 and 4 mW/cm2).
Results: Based on the results, maize seeds pretreated with a green laser and 2 mW/cm2 power intensity for 105 s exhibited the highest rate of seed emergence (96%) compared to the untreated control seeds with a lower seed emergence rate (62.5%). Furthermore, maize seeds treated with a red laser for 45 s showed an increased vigor index compared to the other treatment options and the control (P

Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture

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