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Vishishta Composting: A Fastest Method and Ecofriendly Recipe for Preparing Compost from Parthenium hysterophorus Weed

Introduction: Parthenium hysterophorus has become a huge problem throughout the world and is menacingly threatening the agriculture and environment. The existing methods for controlling or eradicating P. hysterophorus weed have their own limitations, that is, physical methods are very laborious, costly and ineffective in long term; chemical methods are costly and less environmental friendly and biological methods are not appropriate on large scale. The compost from Parthenium weed can be prepared to recycle the nutrients that are sucked by undesired weed from the soil. Presently, the available methods take a long time in preparing Parthenium compost, while the shorter methods are mostly less ecofriendly. In the present work, a method and recipe have been developed for preparing compost of Parthenium weed in comparatively less time (60 days only) and that too, in an ecofriendly manner; and it has been named as Vishishta composting. The term ‘Vishishta’ is a Hindi word, which means ‘something special’. Materials and Methods: In the present experiment, Parthenium weed was composted using rock phosphate, Trichoderma viride fungi culture powder and different organic wastes such as cow dung, sawdust, cow dung ash, dried fallen leaves and wheat straw in a duration of 60 days using the method of Vishishta composting. Results: The P. hysterophorus compost contains more nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium and other nutrients than farmyard manure. Overall status of the nutrients as-prepared compost is appreciable. Conclusion: In the present experiment, a method and recipe have been developed for composting Parthenium weed in shortest duration as compared to earlier methods available till date.

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Effect of Mineral and Organic Nutrient Management on Sweet Corn Production System in Acid Lateritic Soil of India

Introduction: Nutrient management plays a key role in improving crop yield with maintenance of soil fertility for sustainable production in intensive cropping. Aim: A field experiment was conducted to study the effect of organic and mineral sources of fertilizer on yield and quality of sweet corn grown in acid laterite soil of India during the years 2009 and 2010. Materials and Methods: The organic inputs were vermicompost (VC), vermiwash (VW), biofertilizer (BF), and crop residue (CR) and the inorganic input was mineral fertilizer. Results: Optimal application of N, P, and K (100% recommended dose) either through organic source or mineral source was significantly superior to their suboptimal dose in increasing the yield of sweet corn, wherein mineral fertilizer recorded maximum production. Between organic and mineral sources of fertilizer application, ascorbic acid and total phenolics content of sweet corm were higher in organic nutrient management. The ascorbic acid was higher by 133% in VC100 and 37% in VC50 + CF50 compared to mineral (CF100) treatment. But crude protein content was low by 13.5% in VC100 and 2.9% in VC50 + CF50, respectively, as compared to CF100 treatment. Organic carbon content and pH of the acid lateritic soil were improved in organic nutrient management as compared to mineral fertilizer. Conclusion: Organic fertilizer application, therefore, exhibited potential in improving sweet corn yield and quality and soil health in acid lateritic soil of the subtropical climate.

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Investigating the Environmental Skill, Attitude, and Knowledge of Bojnourd Islamic Azad University Students

Introduction: The main causes of increased environmental crisis are miseducation and lack of environmental education. Objective: The purpose of this research is investigating environmental skill, attitude, and knowledge of Bojnourd Islamic Azad University students during the academic year 2013-2014. Materials and Methods: It research method is descriptive-survey. Number of studying students has been 5570; through Cochran formula estimated sample size has calculated to 359 who have been chosen by random-stratified method. Furthermore, it is noteworthy that to collect data measuring Environmental behavior standard questionnaire of Omran and Mohamadi (2008) has been used which its Cronbach alpha has been calculated 0.732; it indicate that the questionnaire has reliability. The validity of this questionnaire has been previously approved and implemented to analysis data SPSS 21 software has been used after collecting questionnaires. After investigating data normality through Kolmogorov-Smirnov and confirming used scale, hypotheses have been analyzed by one-sample t-test. Then relations statuses between dimensions and research variables according to respondents view have been analyzed. Results: Results have indicated that significance level of knowledge, attitude, and skill variables among Bojnord Islamic Azad University students is more than average and < 5%; with 95% confidence it can be claimed that all hypotheses have been approved (standard value). Conclusions: The environmental skill, attitude, and knowledge are desirable in Bojnourd Islamic Azad University students.

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Dispersion Modeling of Total Suspended Particles (TSP) Emitted from a Steel Plant at Different Time Scales Using AERMOD View

Introduction: One of the main challenges of this modern life is air pollution and industry is the major producer of pollutions in the environment. In this regard, air quality monitoring and assessing exceedance of air quality standards around an area or industrial plant can be a useful method in order to control and establish limits for pollutant sources. Air dispersion models could be the simplest and the most effective way for monitoring and evaluating the pollutant concentrations as well as the impact of each source on the air quality of a given area, and also can be applied for adopting management approaches and appropriate strategies to prevent and reduce air pollution. Aim: In this study, by applying AERMOD developed by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and recommended as one of the preferred and advanced models, dispersion of total suspended particles (TSP) emitted from electric arc furnace chimney of a steel plant in Isfahan was simulated. Materials and Methods: In this study, AERMOD View is run within an area with 30 km × 30 km extent (regional scale) and 2000 m network distance (961 grid points) for 1, 3, 8, 12, 24-h time averages and monthly and annual periods, and then maximum ground level concentrations (GLC) compared with EPA and Iran clean air standards to assess the exceedance of this pollutant. Results: Results revealed that simulated concentrations for 24-h average and annual period are far below the threshold limits of both standards. Moreover, the highest concentrations of TSP took place in a different direction with prevailing winds where there are no inhabitants. However, the cumulative impact of such activities must be considered. This study also highlights the effectiveness of bag filter systems in reducing particle matter emissions from industrial units.

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Toxicological Effects of Heavy Metal Cadmium on Two Aquatic Species: Rutilus rutilus and Hypophthalmichthys molitrix

Introduction: Cadmium (Cd) is toxic to fish at low doses and never beneficial to an organism. As Caspian roach ( Rutilus rutilus ) and silver carp ( Hypophthalmichthys molitrix ) are two key fish species, the aim of this study was to gather data on different sensitivities of few inland fish to Cd to use them in the ecotoxicity experiment studies. Subject and Methods: All samples were exposed to the different doses of cadmium chloride (0, 0.2, 1, 2, 6, 10, and 15 ppm). Mortality was recorded after 24, 48, 72, and 96 h and the median lethal concentration (LC 50 ) amount and its confidence limits (95%) were measured by Finney’s method of probit analysis. Results: Toxicity experimenting statistical endpoints indicated that lowest observed effect concentration in roach was higher than silver carp (2 and 1 ppm, respectively), which means that no observed effect concentration was also higher for roach than silver carp (6 and 2 ppm, respectively), and LC 50 was also different between species (5.26 and 6.58 ppm for roach and silver carp, respectively). Conclusion: Our results showed that Cd is toxic for these fish, especially roach; therefore, we suggest using this fish species for toxicity experiment of heavy metals as a suitable indicator of toxicological studies.

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Application of Palm Kernel Shell Activated Carbon for the Removal of Pollutant and Color in Palm Oil Mill Effluent Treatment

Introduction: Application of palm kernel shell activated carbon (PKSAC) in reducing the pollutant in palm oil mill effluent (POME) was studied as the alternative treatment system. Aim: The objective of this study was to determine the optimum PKSAC dosage and treatment time for its capability to treat the effluent. Methods: The study was carried out in batch and continuous systems. For batch system, activated carbon dosage ranging from 1% to 15% (w/v) was added into 200 mL of POME and agitated at 160 rpm for 24-120 h treatment time. As for continuous system, POME samples were fed into 2000 mL fixed-bed glass column and run continuously for 8 h/cycle. Results: For the batch study, results showed that the PKSAC works with maximum removal of pollutant at very high dosage up to 15% (w/v) in 72 h treatment time. Meanwhile, for fixed-bed treatment, POME was fed to the column with flow rate of 15 mL/min. The initial chemical oxygen demand (COD) and color of samples were in the range of 450-910 mg/L and 3500-6500 Pt/Co, respectively, and after the treatment, the maximum COD and color removal were 75% and 76%, respectively. The PKSAC became saturated after 8 treatment cycle. Conclusion: It can be concluded that the palm-based activated carbon was able to remove the organic pollutant and color of POME in both batch and continuous adsorption treatments. Being the raw material available in the palm oil mill, the PKS can be converted into activated carbon and used as sustainable practice to treat POME.

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Saltgrass, a Minimum Water and Nutrient Requirement Halophytic Plant Species for Sustainable Agriculture in Desert Regions

Context: Desertification of arable lands due to global warming and water shortage mandates use of low-quality water for irrigation. Using low-quality water imposes more stress on plants which are already under stress. Thus, there is an urgent need for finding stress tolerant plant species to survive/sustain under such stressful conditions. Since the native plants are already growing under such conditions and are adapted to these stresses, they are the most suitable candidates to be manipulated under the minimum cultural practices and minimum inputs for use under stress. If stress tolerant species/genotypes of the native plants are identified, there would be a substantial savings in cultural practices and inputs in using them. Aim: This grass has multi usages, including animal feed, soil conservation, saline soils reclamation, use in desert landscaping, and combating desertification. The objectives of this study were to find the most salinity and drought tolerant of various saltgrass genotypes for use in arid regions, where limited water supplies coupled with saline soils result in drought and salinity stresses. Materials and Methods: Various genotypes of saltgrass were studied in a greenhouse either hydroponically in culture solution for salt tolerance or in large galvanized cans contained fritted clay for drought tolerance. For the salinity stress tolerance, twelve inland saltgrass clones were studied in a greenhouse, using hydroponics technique to evaluate their growth responses under salt stress. Four salt treatments (EC 6, 20, 34, and 48 dS/m salinity stress) were replicated 3 times in a randomized complete block design experiment. Grasses were grown under these conditions for 10 weeks. During this period, shoots were clipped bi-weekly, clippings were oven dried at 75°C and dry matter (DM) weights were recorded, shoot and root lengths were also measured. At the last harvest, roots were also harvested, oven dried, and DM weights were determined. Grass quality was weekly evaluated and recorded. Although all the grasses showed a high level of salinity tolerance, there was a wide range of variations observed in salt tolerance of these saltgrass clones. For the drought tolerance study, 21 saltgrass clones were studied to evaluate their growth responses under drought stress. Plants were grown under normal condition for 6 months for complete establishment. Then, they were deprived from water for 4 months. Plant shoots were harvested weekly and oven dried at 75°C for DM weight determination. At each harvest, percentages of plant green covers were also estimated and recorded. Both the shoot dry weights and the percent of plant visual green cover decreased as drought period progressed. Results: Although all the grasses exhibited a high level of drought tolerance, there was a wide range of variations observed in various clones' responses. The superior salinity and drought stress tolerant genotypes were identified to be used for biological salinity control or reclamation of desert saline soils and combating desertification. Conclusion: My investigations at the University of Arizona on saltgrass (Distichlis spicata L.), a halophytic plant species, have indicated that this plant has an excellent drought and salinity tolerance with a great potential to be used under harsh environmental conditions.

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Forest Fire Risk Zone Mapping Using RS and GIS Techniques: A Study in Achankovil Forest Division, Kerala, India

<b>Introduction:</b> Forest fires are one of the major natural hazards that affect the forest ecosystem, damaging the biodiversity, environment, and wildlife. The study area, Achankovil forest division, a part of the Western Ghats, is also prone to forest fire, wherein a total of 15 fires were reported for the past 11 years. <b>Objective:</b> The aim of this study is to demarcate the fire risk zones in Achankovil forest division. <b>Materials and Methods:</b> A method that integrated remote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS) techniques was used to generate the fire risk zone map of the study area. In this mapping process, factors such as land cover type, slope, distance from settlement, distance from road, and elevation were taken into account. The risk zone map of the area of this study was created using the Fire Risk Index (FRI) method. <b>Results:</b> The final map comprised five fire risk zones, <i>viz.</i>, very low, low, moderate, high, and very high. The high- and very high-risk zones together constituted 55.75% of the study area. The result of this study was validated with the fire incidence data and showed appreciable reliability. <b>Conclusion:</b> This study, based on geospatial technology, will help the authorities of the forest protection and conservation department to easily identify the fire risk zones for prevention and management of forest fires in the future.

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Effectiveness of Teaching Recycling on the Perception Concept of Recycling in Sixth Grade Female Students

Purpose: This study was to determine the effect of teaching recycling on the students’ perception of concept of recycling. Subjects and Methods: The method of this research was about conducting pretest and posttest for experimental and control groups. The sample consisted of 60 sixth-grade girls from district four of Isfahan from a population of 1000 who were systematically randomly selected and randomly placed in the experimental group and control group. The subjects of the experimental group received the necessary training during 8 one-hourly sessions through the educational book of principles and methods of recycling. A researcher-made questionnaire was used in this study. The reliability of the questionnaire was 1 and its validity was 0.809. The collected data were analyzed based on descriptive method (mean, standard deviation, percentage, etc.) and analytical method (analysis of covariance). Result: The findings of this study revealed that teaching recycling had an effect on the perception of the concept of recycling, paper recycling, glass recycling, metal recycling and also on identifying those who help people collect recyclable garbage (P < 0.001). But teaching recycling had no effects on the perception of the concept of garbage and the importance of recycling, plastic and the concept of garbage recycling (P < 0.001).

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