Alkaline sulfite–anthraquinone (AS/AQ) pulping of wheat straw and totally chlorine free (TCF) bleaching of pulps

Alkaline sulfite–anthraquinone (AS/AQ) pulping of wheat straw and totally chlorine free (TCF) bleaching of resulting pulps was investigated. Wheat straw was supplied by the Ferdosii University Experimental Station in Northeastern Iran, cleaned and chopped into about 3–5 cm long pieces. In the AS/AQ pulping experiments, the active alkali charge on oven dry wheat straw, heating time to maximum cooking temperature, AQ dose and liquor to straw ratio were kept constant at 16%, 60 min, 0.1% and 4/1, respectively. The alkali ratio, Na₂SO₃/NaOH, calculated as NaOH, was varied from 20/80 to 80/20. Cooking time at maximum temperature was varied from 30 to 90 min and maximum cooking temperature was adjusted between 152 and 160 °C. Reference soda and soda/AQ pulps were produced.AS/AQ and soda/AQ pulps with kappa numbers below 15 were produced easily. Cooking of corresponding soda pulps under comparable conditions stopped at a kappa number of 25. The characteristics of unbleached AS/AQ, soda/AQ and soda pulps were compared. AS/AQ and soda/AQ pulps had similar tensile strength but tear was in favor to AS/AQ. The latter had much higher yield and brightness.TCF bleaching of AS/AQ pulp was performed in O Q (OP) or O Q (OP) P sequences. Oxygen delignification (O) resulted in a delignification degree of approximately one third. Followed by a chelating treatment (Q) and a subsequent (OP) stage under drastic conditions a brightness of 82.7% ISO was achieved in an O Q (OP) sequence. The sequence O Q (OP) P, with 2% H₂O₂ in the final P stage, improved brightness from 77.2% ISO after the OP stage to 83.6% ISO. Bleaching led to only small losses in tensile and burst strength but enhanced tear strength. Short beating in a Jokro mill was sufficient to attain good pulp strength. The results of this study indicate that AS/AQ pulping and TCF bleaching is a convincing alternative to produce high-quality pulp from wheat straw for writing and printing paper.     

Application of Biofloc Technology for the culture of Heteropneustes fossilis (Bloch) in Bangladesh: stocking density,floc volume,growth performance,and profitability

Though Biofloc Technology is a new concept in Bangladesh, it provides advantages for improving aquaculture production in many countries, leading to achieve sustainable development goals. The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of stocking densities on the growth performance of stinging catfish (Heteropneustes fossilis) under Biofloc Technology and assess the economic prospects and business feasibilities. Fingerlings were stocked in unique 5000-L tanks with three stocking densities, i.e., 3500 fish/tank (Treatment-I), 4000 fish/tank (Treatment-II), 4500 fish/tank (Treatment-III). The treatments showed significant differences (P?<?0.05) considering the species-specific growth rate, feed conversion ratio, and protein efficiency ratio. Treatment-I had significantly ((P?<?0.05) higher final biomass (29.51 ± 0.04 kg/m³) than the other treatments. The present findings revealed that using a lower stocking density, the Biofloc Technology reduced ammonia (NH₃), nitrite (NO₂), nitrate (NO₃), TDS, and floc volume but significantly increased the dissolved oxygen. As a result, Treatment-I had generated significantly higher net income (BANGLADESHI TAKA—BDT 86,278.90) over the other treatments. Moreover, the NPV, net BCR, and RoR with 4% and 9% opportunity cost were also significantly higher in Treatment-I than other treatments. The internal rate of return (IRR) and SWOT analysis index indicates that investing in Biofloc Technology is far superior, and a stocking density of 3500 fish/tank (Treatment-I) resulted in a faster investment return.

     

A Recessive Mutant of argonaute1b/gsnl4 Leads to Narrow Leaf,Small Grain Size and Low Seed Setting in Rice

正A gsnl4 mutant characterized by small grain size, narrow leaf and low seed-setting rate was obtained by ethyl methane sulfonate(EMS) mutagenesis of a japonica rice variety Wuyunjing 21. Genetic analysis showed that gsnl4 is a loss-of-function mutant. A single-base mutation in gsnl4 resulted in the substitution of Ser to Asn in the Piwi domain of Os AGO1 b protein. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated editing of Os AGO1 b yielded a mutant phenotypically resembling gsnl4. Furthermore,     

Studies on the effect of prehydrolysis and amine in cooking liquor on producing dissolving pulp from jute (Corchorus capsularis)

Dissolving pulps are the raw materials for the production of many different end-products. Jute is a very good source of cellulose. In this investigation, jute fiber was subjected to pulping in soda process in order to produce dissolving pulp under different prehydrolysis conditions and compared with prehydrolysed kraft pulp from jute. An increase of the prehydrolysis temperature or H₂SO₄ in prehydrolysis liquor increased the α-cellulose content and decreased the viscosity of pulp. The effect of ethylenediamine in soda liquor was also investigated when producing dissolving pulp. Jute fiber produced pulp having 90–97% α-cellulose. Ethylenediamine in soda liquor produced pulp of higher yield, viscosity and higher α-cellulose content than that of prehydrolysis soda or kraft pulp. The α-cellulose content and viscosity were increased with the increase of amine in soda liquor. The kappa number of dissolving pulp from jute was very low (9–5), which indicated that less bleaching chemicals are required for bleaching. The bleachability of soda-ethylenediamine pulp was lower than prehydrolysed soda and kraft pulp in ECF bleaching sequences. The bleachability of soda-ethylenediamine pulp was improved at the sacrifice of pulp yield when prehydrolysis was done prior to pulping. The alkali solubility S ₁₀ and S ₁₈ were 4–9 and 2–4%, respectively.     

Studies on the macromolecular components of nonwood available in Bangladesh

The structural feature of macromolecular component of dhaincha, cotton stalks, jute fiber, rice straw and wheat straw, which are commonly used in paper pulp production in forest deficient countries, was thoroughly studied. Lignin was isolated by classical Bjorkman method and characterized by elemental and methoxyl analysis, alkaline nitrobenzene oxidation, FTIR and ¹H NMR spectroscopy. The C₉ formulas for cotton stalks, jute fiber, dhaincha, rice straw and wheat straw were C₉H_8.95O_3.53(OCH₃)_1.00, C₉H_8.12O_4.03(OCH₃)_1.65, C₉H_8.10O_4.65(OCH₃)_1.32, C₉H_8.58O_3.74(OCH₃)_1.23 and C₉H_8.31O_3.54(OCH₃)_1.23, respectively. The alkaline nitrobenzene oxidation products showed that syringyl to vanilin ratio of these nonwood varied from 1.1 to 2.9. Jute fiber showed the highest syringyl to vanilin ratio that are consistent with C₉ formula. The β-O-4 units in these nonwood lignins had predominately erythro stereochemistry type. The crystalline structure of these nonwood cellulose was also studied using X-ray diffraction and FTIR spectroscopy. The proportions of crystallinity, crystal size were varied from plant to plant. Jute fiber showed the highest proportion of crystallinity (73.4%) and crystal size (4.2 nm). The degree of polymerization of these nonwoods cellulose has also been studied. Degree of polymerization of jute cellulose was also the highest (3875). FTIR spectroscopy showed that these nonwoods cellulose was monoclinic unit cell structure (I_β). Carbohydrate analysis showed that the main sugar component in the hydrolyzates of these nonwoods were xylose apart from glucose.     

Evaluation of limb autotomy as a promising strategy to improve production performances of mud crab (Scylla olivacea) in the soft‐shell farming system

Soft‐shell crab, a newly moulted crab having non‐calcified and hydrated soft exoskeleton, farming has been increasing tremendously in recent years throughout the world due to its high market price and consumer preferences. However, high aggressiveness and cannibalistic behaviour of mud crab limit its culture to an individual chamber system which ultimately makes the soft‐shell mud crab farming space and labour‐intensive. Therefore, the aim of this study was to improve the efficiency of soft‐shell crab production by autotomy of the claw and/or walking legs to reduce the moulting duration and intensify the culture system through double stocking in the existing individual chamber culture system. To achieve our objectives, a series of experiment were conducted at both indoor and on‐farm levels by removing the claw and/or walking legs of Scylla olivacea for two consecutive moulting cycles. Results showed that both claw ablation significantly (p < .01) shortened the moulting duration and increased the carapace width, weight gain, specific growth rate, feeding efficiency and yield parameter compared to the non‐ablated crabs more prominently at 1st moulting than the 2nd moulting in both indoor and on‐farm trials. Ablation of all walking legs while keeping the claw intact did not significantly influence (p > .05) the moulting duration and carapace width, but significantly (p < .01) improved the specific growth rate, weight gain, feeding efficiency and yield parameters at 1st moulting compared to the non‐ablation and unilateral three walking leg ablation groups. However, ablation of all appendages (both claw and walking legs) showed significant (p < .01) improvements of carapace width, weight gain, specific growth rate, feeding efficiency and yield parameters, and shortened the moulting duration up to 23 days from 34 days during 1st moulting and up to 27 days from 40 days at 2nd moulting. The survivals of different autotomized mud crabs were statistically non‐significant (p > .05) to the non‐autotomized crabs in various indoor and on‐farm trials. Besides improving the production performances, ablation of bilateral claw and all appendages allowed to double the stocking density in the existing individual chamber‐based soft‐shell crab farming that enhanced the production about threefold higher than the existing individual chamber‐based culture system. Finally, our results suggest that autotomy could be a promising technology for the commercial farming of soft‐shell mud crab in near future.     

The impacts of aquaculture development on food security: lessons from Bangladesh

Fish contribute a significant amount of animal protein to the diets of people in Bangladesh, about 63% of which comes from aquatic animals. In Bangladesh, fish is mainly derived from two sources: capture and culture. Aquaculture has shown tremendous growth in the last two decades, exhibiting by about 10% average annual growth in production. Capture fisheries, although still the major source of supply of fish, have become static or are in decline due to over‐fishing and environmental degradation, and it is now believed that aquaculture has the greatest potential to meet the growing demand for fish from the increasing population. At present, aquaculture production accounts for about one‐third of the total fish production in Bangladesh. This paper examines the impact of an aquaculture development project in Bangladesh on food security, with particular emphasis on the poor. The analysis shows a positive impact of aquaculture development on employment, income and consumption. A number of implications for policy in areas that might strengthen these outcomes are discussed and recommendations are presented.     

Nitrogen transformation and carbon sequestration in wetland paddy field of Bangladesh

Paddy and Water Environment - Rice-based cropping systems in Bangladesh have received little consideration of changing nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) in soil. Therefore, this study was conducted at...     

The incidence of suspected white spot syndrome virus in semi‐intensive and extensive shrimp farms in Bangladesh: implications for management

The study was conducted to assess key factors influencing suspected white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) disease and associated shrimp production and economic performance in three contrasting black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) culture technologies promoted by the United States Agency for International Development funded Shrimp Quality Support Project (SQSP) in Bangladesh. A total of 350 traditional, 315 Modified Traditional Technology1 (MTT1), 36 MTT2 and 88 Closed System Technology (CST) farmers from 10 sub‐districts in three districts of Khulna division were surveyed following random sampling at the end of the project. Binomial probit regression analysis revealed that smaller newly constructed ponds (known locally as gher) were less susceptible to WSSV, provided aquatic weeds were controlled using chemicals. Removal of sludge from ghers also had a positive effect, irrespective of technology and location. It was also shown that stocking of screened shrimp postlarvae (PL) does not guarantee protection against WSSV (t = 1.39, P > 0.05). Higher shrimp production was obtained by farmers practicing CST, followed by those operating MTTs and traditional technology respectively. Farmers who adopted CST also gained higher profitability followed by those operating MTT1, MTT2 and traditional technology.     

Influence of carboxylic acids on mechanical properties of thermoplastic starch by spray drying

Biodegradable packaging is gaining much attention in food industry as the awareness on sustainability has increased. Thermoplastic starch is a possible alternative. This study evaluated the influence of malic acid (MA) and citric acid (CA), used as a plasticizer, on the mechanical properties of thermoplastic starch (TPS) obtained by spray drying. TPS powder was produced from solution spray drying. This powder was further compression molded to prepare TPS dog-bone test samples. X-ray Diffraction (XRD) results showed that both the spray dried TPS powder and dog-bone test samples were amorphous in nature irrespective of the amount of plasticizer added. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to examine the morphology of solution spray dried TPS powder. No noticeable difference was observed in the morphology. Particles were spherical in shape with homogenous surface. The FT-IR analysis indicated the interaction of plasticizers with starch chains by hydrogen bonding. During TGA analysis, apart from moisture loss at 100 °C, samples were thermally stable up to 170 °C. Mechanical testing of TPS dog-bone revealed that sample containing malic acid as plasticizer exhibited a more elastic behavior as compared to citric acid plasticized formulations. It was revealed that the tensile strength of TPS dog-bone samples was inversely proportional to the quantity of plasticizer used.