Calf morbidity and mortality are important causes of economic losses on dairy farms worldwide. An investigation on the incidence of calf morbidity and mortality was conducted on 92 purposively selected CIG (Common Interest Group) dairy farms in Muktagacha upazila of Mymensingh district. A total of 119 calves from the farms were longitudinally followed from August 2014 to November 2014 for major health problems. Representative fecal samples from diarrhoeic calves were tested to identify gastro-enteropathogens associated with diarrhea by rapid detection test kit (Bio K 306). The overall incidence risk of morbidity and mortality were 56.17% and 6.29%, respectively. The most frequent disease syndrome was diarrhea with incidence risk of 34.82% followed by navel ill (7.22%) and pneumonia (6.29%). In addition, fever, arthritis, pica and foot and mouth disease were encountered. The main causes of death in calf were pneumonia (3.739%) and FMD (1.78%). A variety of infectious agents are implicated in calf diarrhea and co-infection of multiple pathogens is not uncommon. The overall prevalence of microorganisms associated with diarrhea was 69.2% in which Clostridium perfringens was the highest (38.5%) within the first month of age. The prevalence of Cryptosporidium spp within first month of age was 7.7%. In this study, mixed infection with Clostridium perfringens and Cryptosporidium spp or Corona virus was found in 7.7% of diarrheic calves within 10 days of the age. It is now established that calf morbidity and mortality are an important limiting factors for the success of modern dairy farms and accordingly vigorous and comprehensive research should be taken to minimize the problem.

Soybean (Glycine max) seed loses its viability in the storage which causes shortage in supply of quality seed and consequently hinders the expansion of soybean cultivation in Bangladesh.Losses of seed viability of soybean (Glycine max) in traditional storage is very common in the tropical environment. An experiment was conducted at the Seed Laboratory, Regional Agricultural Research Station, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Jamalpur in 2011 and 2012 to find out the effect of seed moisture content and types of storage container on soybean seed germination and seedling vigour. In 2011, soybean seed having 94% initial germination was stored at 8, 10 and 12% moisture levels but in 2012 seeds having 96% initial germination was stored at 6, 8, 10 and 12% initial moisture levels in four different types of storage containers viz., polythene bag, plastic pot, tin can and glass jar. weredays after storage ().The experiment was arranged in a factorial completely randomized design with three replications. In 2011, high germination of soybean seed (77-85%) was retained at 200 DAS for those stored at 8% initial seed moisture content (SMC) in any of the containers. Germination index and seedling dry matter decreased with increased initial seed moisture content irrespective of storage containers used. Tin preserved higher seed moisture contents of 9.93, 11.71 and 14.15% for seed stored at 8%, 10% and 12% initial seed moisture content, respectively. In 2012, 80-94% seed germination was retained at 200 DAS for those stored at 6% initial SMC in any of the containers. The germination declined to a range between 75.0 and 91.3% within 200 DAS at 8% initial SMC while those stored at 12% SMC showed rapid germination loss and the value showed down to between 9.3 and 22.0%. Vigour index and seedling dry matter decreased with increased initial seed moisture content irrespective of storage containers used. Tin also Seeds stored in tin container showed the higher final seed moisture contents irrespective of initial seed moisture content. Bangladesh Agron. J. 2018, 21(1): 131-141

Tricho-compost, a Trichoderma based compost fertilizer, was developed by mixing a definite concentration of spore suspension of a Trichoderma harzianum strain with measured amounts of processed raw materials, such as cowdung, poultry refuse, water hyacinth, vegetable wastes, sawdust, maize bran, and molasses. Tricho-leachate, a liquid by-product of the Tricho-compost, was obtained during decomposition of Tricho-compost materials. These bioproducts were tested both in the laboratory and in seedbed nurseries to evaluate their effectiveness against soil-borne pathogens for growing cabbage seedlings. Application of Tricho-compost and Tricho-leachate reduced the seedling mortalities of cabbage caused by Sclerotium rolfsii by about 98%. In laboratory tests, Trichoderma harzianum, after re-isolation from Tricho-compost and tricho-leachate, was also found to be highly effective to arrest the growth of S. rolfsii. T. harzianum destroyed the radial growth of S. rolfsii mycelium by 59.7% after five days, and effected total destruction of the mycelium in 10 days. In seedbed nurseries, soil applications of Tricho-compost and Tricho-leachate significantly increased the seedling germination rate and reduced the incidence of soil-borne diseases and infestation of root-knot nematodes. Field experiment showed that combined application of Tricho-compost and Tricho-leachate reduced the seedling mortalities by 40.9% to 64.5% in Gazipur and 53.3% to 62.1% in Bogra. Application of Tricho-leachate at 500 ml per sq. metre increased plant weight by about 55.6%, and reduced the seedling mortality by about 84.0% in Gazipur. Seedbed nurseries treated with Tricho-compost and Tricho-leachate had only Pythium spp as a soil-borne pathogen, whereas the control plot had as many as four soil-borne pathogens -Pythium, Rhizoctonia, Sclerotium and Fusarium spp. Use of richo-compost and Tricho-leachate also reduced the infestation of root-knot nematode by about 80.7% to 91.0%. The results clearly showed that use of Tricho-compost and Tricho-leachate is highly effective for production of healthy cabbage seedlings. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjar.v37i4.14390 Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 37(4): 653-664, December 2012

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