Roselle or Mesta (Hibiscus sabdariffa) is one of the plants whose plant parts are used to prepare juices. The Roselle calyx is considered as a good source of antioxidants. But the antioxidant properties of BJRI (Bangladesh Jute Research Institute) released Roselle vegetable variety, BJRI vegetable mesta-1, is not quantified yet. With the objective of making this vegetable more popular among the consumers, an experiment was conducted at the Jute Agriculture Experimental Station, Bangladesh Jute Research Institute, Jagir, Manikganj to find out the antioxidant properties of BJRI vegetable mesta-1. Total four antioxidant components eg., total phenol content, total flavonoid content, proanthocyanidin content, anthocyanin content and three antioxidant activities eg., DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging, (FRAP) ferric ion reducing antioxidant power, H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide), radical scavenging were measured from the calyx sample of BJRI vegetable mesta-1. Among the four antioxidant components, total flavonoid contents (959.53 mg 100 g–1) posses the highest position and anothocyanine contents (0.17 mg 100 g–1) were in the lowest position. FRAP activities were highest among the antioxidant activities of the calyx of our studied vegetable mesta. Our findings represented the quantity of antioxidant contents of the calyx of BJRI vegetable mesta-1 which justify its uses as natural antioxidants. Thus, Roselle calyx may act as an alternative source of antioxidant rich natural herbal tea.

An investigation was done to assess the genetic variability, character associations, and genetic diversity of eight jute genotypes for seven morphological traits in a randomised complete block design at Bangladesh Jute Research Institute during 15 March, 2018 to 31 December, 2019. Analyses results revealed significant differences (P<0.01) among all genotypes for studied traits indicating the presence of variability. All the lines performed better than one control (JRO-524), and the line (O-0412-9-4) provided good results for desired traits than all controls. Jute fibre yield showed the highest broad sense heritability (98.54%). The studied jute morphological traits i.e. Plant population, the plant height, green weight, dry fibre yield and dry stick yield gave high heritability along with high genotypic and phenotypic variances, genetic advances in percent of the mean, highly significant and positive correlations. It indicates the possibility of crop improvement through phenotypic selection and maximum genetic gain, simultaneously at the genotypic-phenotypic level. Clustering analysis grouped all genotypes into three distinct clusters. The cluster II showed the highest mean values for all traits followed by cluster I and III. The first two principal components with higher Eigen values (>1.0) accounted for 90.88% of the total variation in the principal component analysis. PCA and cluster analyses indicated that the advanced breeding line O-0412-9-4 made its individual cluster II with higher inter-cluster distance and higher fibre yield (3.12 t ha-1). The investigation was done to select the genotype(s) with good fibre yield and distinct features in respect of developing high yielding Tossa jute variety for cultivation in the farmers’ field. This genotype O-0412-9-4 was selected based on higher plant height, base diameter, fibre yield content. It will be developed as a high yielding variety considering its’ higher genetic variability, heritability, genetic advance, significant associations for desirable characters.

A field experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of pruned materials of two hedgerow species on wheat production and soil nutrient changes at different nitrogen levels in the research farm of the Bangabandhu Shiekh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University (BSMARU) during November 2012 to March 2013. The design of the experiment was split plot, where two multipurpose tree species (MPTS) namely Gliricidia sepium and Leucaena leucocephala were arranged in main plots and five different doses of nitrogen (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 % of recommended dose) with pruned materials were distributed to sub plots. Alley widths of both tree species were 6.0 meter. There were also control plots where full dose of recommended nitrogen was applied but no pruned material (PM) was incorporated. The soil chemical properties in the alleys consisting of G. sepium and L. leucocephala responded differently. Positive changes in the soil fertility in terms of soil pH, organic C, total N, available P, available S and exchangeable Ca, Mg, K and CEC of the top soil layer were observed in alley cropping system. Pruned materials application substantially reduced the nitrogen requirement for wheat production and 50 % Nitrogen fertilizer could be saved through pruned materials application. Among the tree species G. sepium seemed to be superior over L. leucocephala in building soil health.

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