An investigation was carried out to study frequency of pesticide use during vegetable production and its impact on environment. A structured questionnaire and researcher’s observation were used for this study. The data were collected from six different villages of sixty farmers at Mymensingh sadar upazilla in Bangladesh during February to May, 2013. More than half of the respondents (51.7%) were illiterate and lack of knowledge on pesticide use. About 60% respondents had 16-20 years farming experience and showed comparative knowledge on pesticide use. About 56.7% respondents practiced monthly communication with extension worker (Block Supervisor). About 66.7% respondents spent 04-06 hours to media every day. Half of the respondents had low level knowledge on pesticide use, where only 3.3% respondent showed high level knowledge on pesticide use. About half of the respondents (51.7%) used pesticide 16-20 times during the season. About 21.7% respondent used pesticide 21-25 times during the season. For selective vegetable okra showed highest frequency, about 16.7% respondents used pesticide 26-30 times during the season, while one third respondents (33.3%) used pesticide 16-20 times. About 58.3% respondent used pesticide 16-20 times for brinjal, while 8.3% respondents used 21-25 times. About two- fifth respondents (41.7%) used pesticide 16-20 times and 21-25 times for bitter gourd, while 8.3% respondents used 05-10 times and 10-15 times. About 58.3% respondent used pesticide 16-20 times for snake gourd, while 16.3% respondents used 21-25 times. About 66.7% respondent used pesticide 16-20 times for cucumber, while 16.7% respondents used 21-25 times. It indicated farmers used pesticide to their field 1-2 times in a week during the season in some vegetable cultivation. Therefore it has a high chance of remaining pesticide residues in the vegetables and soil. Moreover, most of the respondents applied pesticides without any protection measure and faced health problem due to expose with pesticide. Routine research work with wide public awareness, government and NGO participation, and government regulation are needed for food safety and sound environment.Progressive Agriculture 26 (2): 97-102, 2015

Sumithion, an organophosphate pesticide, has been used extensively in agriculture as well as in broodfish and nursery ponds in Bangladesh. Although it is being applied for beneficial purposes but eventually it exhibits some short and long term toxic effects to the aquatic ecosystem. Therefore, the present study investigated the toxic effects of sumithion on the breeding performance and subsequent viability of embryos and larvae of Heteropneustes fossilis. A total of 400 adult H. fossilis were equally stocked in two ponds. Sumithion at the dose of 0.24 ppm was applied for four months every 7 days interval in one pond while the rest one was considered as control. No significant (p>0.05) difference was found in growth between the treated and control H. fossilis; however, fertilization and hatching rates of the eggs obtained from the treated group were significantly (p>0.05) lower than that of control. Subsequently, the embryos and larvae produced from the broods of the control pond were exposed to 5 different concentrations of sumithion (0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0, and 8.0 ppm) against a control (0 ppm). Each concentration was assessed in five replicates having 200 eggs. Data obtained from the sumithion acute toxicity tests were evaluated using the Probit Analysis. The mortality of embryos increased with the increasing sumithion concentrations from 0 to 8.0 ppm and the significant (p>0.05) differences were found only among the treated concentrations above 2.0 ppm. The 24 h LC 50 value for embryos was estimated to be 7.803 ppm. Dose-response decreased in hatching success and recorded as 90.8, 85.0, 76.2, 73.0, 65.0, and 51.2 % for control and 5 different concentrations of sumithion, respectively (p<0.05). The numbers of dead larvae also increased significantly with the increasing sumithion concentrations exposed for 24-96 h. The 24, 48, 72, and 96 h LC 50 values were estimated to be 8. 677, 8.245, 7.664, and 6.782 ppm, respectively and these values were significantly (p<0.05) different to each other. Besides, the larvae obtained from 0.5, 2.0, and 8.0 ppm sumithion were reared against a control for 21 days to assess the residual effect. Significant negative effects on both growth and survival of the larvae were found among the sumithion concentrations used. The study therefore, suggested that sumithion has adverse and residual effects on the breeding performance along with early embryonic and larval development of H. fossilis even in lower concentration.

The presence of formalin and ethepon was investigated in some fruits viz. Apple, Banana and Mango collected from three local markets viz. Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) KR Market, BAU Shesh More market and Notun Bazar of Mymensingh Sadar. Samples were analyzed by gas chromatograph coupled with flame ionization detector. Data were tested in indentical condition with proper calibration of the instrument. Of the samples, 67 percent were free from both chemicals. About 10 ppm formalin was detected in the apple samples of BAU Shesh More. In contrast, 32 ppm ethepon was quantified in the banana samples of BAU KR market.

Organic wastes are rich in nutrients that can improve soil fertility and enhance crop yield. A study was conducted at the experimental field of Department of Environmental Science, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh during July-December 2014 to examine the effect of different organic wastes on soil quality and rice yield. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) taking five treatments with three replications. The treatments were: T1 (recommended chemical fertilizers), T2 (50% farm waste + 50% poultry manure), T3 (50% poultry manure + 50% municipal solid waste), T4(50% cowdung + 50% farm waste) and T5 (50% farm waste+25% poultry manure +25% cow dung). All wastes were applied at one time after final land preparation and before 15 days of rice (BRRI dhan 49) transplanting. Minimum and maximum soil moisture content was 26.16% and 30.83% recorded at T1 and T2 treatments and that of pH values were 5.26 and 5.93 at T3and T4 treatments, respectively. Incase of soil nutrient content, organic matter, N and S content was highest in T2 treatment and P and K contents were highest in T4 treatment whereas lowest values were observed in T1 treatment.  Pb and Cd contents were highest at T5 treatment and lowest at T1 treatment. However, the values of Pb and Cd were below the permissible limit for agricultural soil. The highest grain yield (4.72 t ha-1) was recorded in T4 treatment and the lowest grain yield (3.87 t ha-1) was observed in T1 treatment. Considering crop yield and soil properties, treatment T4 was better compared to other treatments. The present study clearly indicated that the quality of soil and yield increased due to the application of organic waste compared to chemical fertilizer.Progressive Agriculture 26 (2): 122-128, 2015

SIDR had great impact on crop, livestock and fisheries at Pirojpur district in Barisal Division. To perform this study data were collected from the three selected village (south Shailkati, Hothkhali and Lahori) affected people by random sampling after selecting the study topic and area. SIDR also created a great impact on the production of different types of crop. Rice production was reduced to 7.5%, chili to 11.66% and vegetables to 10%. After SIDR the production of pulse was increased 21.67% due to increase in acreage in Pirojpur. From this study we found vegetables lands (58.33%) and fish in river (70.83%) were affected by the saline water than the rice (33.33%), fruit (9.16%) and fish in pond (24.16%) respectively. Due to the tidal surge and storm the cattle reduced to 18%, goats to 14%, buffalos to 21%, chickens to 10.09%, duck to 8.82%, Pigeons to 24%; that means majority of the poultry birds were reduced than the livestock. The food habit of the affected people was also changed. They now took more flour rather than rice. The scarcity of agricultural production created the reduction of food stock. Most of the respondents had no food stock. But the situation is better than close post SIDR period. Most of the cases they are adopting with the changing socio-economic conditions.