South-west Region Of Bangladesh Research Articles

Women Empowerment through Climate-Smart Agriculture in Southwest Region of Bangladesh

Women Empowerment through Climate-Smart Agriculture in Southwest Region of Bangladesh

DOES FARMERS' EDUCATION AFFECT THE PROFITABILITY OF SHRIMP FARMING? EVIDENCE FROM THE COASTAL REGION OF BANGLADESH

This study explores the impact of farmers' level of education on the profitability of shrimp farming. The authors have collected data from a sample of 200 shrimp farmers in three districts in the southwest region of Bangladesh, namely Khulna, Bagerhat, and Satkhira, using a proportionate random sampling technique. The shrimp farmers' education and productivity status are investigated through descriptive statistics. The authors estimated a Cobb-Douglas Production Function (CDPF) to examine the effect of farmers' level of education on the profitability of shrimp farming. Using a Tobit regression model, this study tried to investigate the association between the educational attainment of farmers and their degree of knowledge in farm management. The study finds that the average level of shrimp production in southwestern Bangladesh is 425 kg per hectare, resulting from the absence of modern farming methods and a deficiency in adequate farming knowledge. The activity budget equation illustrates that farmers with higher education levels exhibit greater profitability compared to their less educated counterparts. The analysis of efficiency factors of production (EFP) indicates that farmers with higher education levels exhibit greater efficiency than their counterparts with lower education levels. The break-even point (BEP) analysis reveals that the average production volume, price, and the gher size in the study area outstrip the BEP threshold, suggesting that shrimp farming in this region is economically feasible. The analysis of field-level data reveals a strong association between farmers' level of education and their profitability, suggesting that higher levels of education among farmers have a substantial positive impact on their financial gains. It is evident from the study findings that knowledge of farm management plays a significant role in shrimp productivity. Therefore, the degree of farm management knowledge is affected by the education of the farmers. Consequently, this research suggests augmenting the accessibility of contemporary technology-driven farming methods and effectively utilizing information via a training initiative targeting shrimp farmers. Additionally, this study recommends offering incentives or credit opportunities to newly participating educated farmers.

Acute effects of malathion 57 EC pesticides on the histology, and blood cell structure of Silver barb (Barbonymus gonionotus) in the South-west region of Bangladesh

Pesticides used in agriculture that wash off have a detrimental effect on freshwater fish in Bangladesh. The purpose of this research is to assess the effects of the organophosphate insecticide Malathion 57 EC on the silver barb (Barbonymus gonionotus). The effects of Malathion 57 EC at dosages of 0.001 and 0.005 ppm, respectively, were assessed using a histological bio-assay of the gill, liver, kidney, and RBC count of B. gonionotus. For B. gonionotus, the LC50 value of Malathion 57 EC was estimated to be 0.08 ppm. The notable alterations included gill clubbing, missing gill lamellae, hyperplasia, nuclear hypertrophy, vacuolation, glomerular enlargement, increasing the width of renal tubules, bleeding, necrosis, and pyknosis were found in the histological analysis. Large lymphocytes, dead cells, tear-shaped cells, a fusion of cells, binucleated cells, ghost cells, senile cells, and irregular cell shapes were among the abnormalities detected in peripheral nuclear erythrocytes. In B. gonionotus, the RBC count was considerably lower (P<0.01) at lower pesticide doses compared to higher ones. The outcome of the study shows that the organophosphorus pesticide has a negative impact on the histology and haematology of various organs in B. gonionotus. Res. Agric. Livest. Fish. Vol. 10, No. 2, August 2023: 207-218

EFFECTIVENESS OF BANNING PLASTIC BAG IN BANGLADESH FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

Ranging from degradation of air quality to increase in ocean toxicity, plastic bag contributes to disruption of ecosystem processes and the environmental attributes. Plastic bag is the cheapest and most available means to carry goods. However, mass use and improper disposal of this product generate severe environmental issues in developing countries. Bangladesh promulgated nationwide ban on plastic bag in 2002 as a protective measure for safeguarding environment and ecosystem. This study investigates the effectiveness of the ban in the south-west region of Bangladesh. A total of 180 randomly selected retailers from six upazilas of three districts in the south-west region of Bangladesh were surveyed taking one rural and one urban agglomerate from each district. More than three-fourths of the retailers provide plastic bag to the customers and only four percent retailers provide jute bag. Our findings suggest that the efficacy of authority to execute the ban is insignificant that generates the scope of violating the banning efforts of plastic bag. The retailers endorse that lack of alternative bag is the reason behind violating the ban on plastic bag. The logistic regression results suggest that frequency of raid by public authority, non-availability of alternative product, lack of knowledge regarding deteriorating impact of plastic bag on ecosystem and environment, and business license significantly influence the retailers to comply with the enforcement of banning plastic bag, whereas the proximity of shop to the main road provides room for non-compliance. This study suggests for easy availability of environment friendly bag, awareness among mass people and frequent raid from the authority which will contribute in environmental protection and ecosystem restoration through effectively enabling the ban.

Doing Ethnography Remotely: Rethinking Methodologies of Fieldwork in Gabura of Southwest Bangladesh during the Global COVID-19 Pandemic

This article describes the possible processes of conducting ethnographic fieldwork remotely through mediated ways among the Gabura Islanders in Southwest region of Bangladesh during the global COVID-19 pandemic. As observed, due to the impact of COVID-19, a crisis of choosing the ‘field’ and conducting ‘fieldwork’ has taken place in writing ethnography that requires both methodological and theoretical rethinking. However, the basic of anthropological fieldwork is physical immersion into the culture as much as possible. Also, it has become nearly impossible to conduct field research in such an intimate way during the period of COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic situation has forced the ethnographers to stay home and have had to find new way of gaining access to the field. To this backdrop, this article depicts the possible processes of conducting ethnographic fieldwork through mediated ways such as using digital communications and engaging research assistant in the data collection process. Thus, the article presents author’s own experiences and challenges of doing ethnography remotely through mediates ways by gaining rapport and making interaction with the Gabura Islanders in Southwest Bangladesh during the covid-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, this article does not advocate that in-person immersion of fieldwork should be replaced by alternative means or mediated ways, rather urges to consider the changing methodologies as choices not as necessity of conducting conventional ethnography. Social Science Review, Vol. 39(1), June 2022 Page 165-177

Households’ Willingness to Pay for Community-Based Health Insurance in the Southwest Region of Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, especially the informal sector workers are deprived of proper healthcare owing to high cost and lack of security like health insurance. The study aims to estimate the willingness to pay (WTP) of the informal sector workers for premium-based health insurance on the basis of data collected from 210 households, where double bounded dichotomous choice (DBDC) model was applied. The study estimates that this working-class people are willing to pay a monthly premium of on average around BDT (Bangladeshi Taka) 315 (USD 3.66) in response to enjoy the facilities of health insurance scheme for a household comprising up to four family members. Moreover, the per household estimated average monthly optimum tariff rate of almost BDT 300 (USD 3.54) and monthly mean social optimum tariff rate of about BDT 100 (USD 1.18) indicate the assurance of socially desirable welfare for all of the market participants. By charging this tariff, approximately 97 percent of the people would enjoy access to community-based health insurance, in addition to generating revenue that is around 1.13 times the project’s cost. Even by charging this monthly mean social optimum tariff, approximately 97 percent of the households would enjoy the access to community-based health insurance; the generating revenue through that tariff rate is around 1.13 times of the probable cost for high service package health scheme. In order to alleviate the burden of the out-of-pocket (OOP) costs for this vulnerable community, the study advises policymakers to initiate health insurance scheme by maintaining effective supervision over market dynamics and fixing the best fit premium rate.

Salinity extrusion and resilience of coastal aquaculture to the climatic changes in the southwest region of Bangladesh

The southwest coastal belt of Bangladesh is characterized by a fresh and saline water interaction which gives rise to a discrete inter-saline freshwater convergence zone (ICZ). Hydrology and farming along this transition zone is influenced by upstream and downstream abiotic factors including salinity intrusion and water flow. To better understand the changing geography of the transitional ICZ line and the relative influence of these hydrological events on farming therein, the recent study compared relative changes from 2010 to 2014 based on qualitative and quantitative survey work with 80 households of 4 villages (Shobna, Faltita, Badukhali and Rudaghora) from Khulna and Bagerhat district. Contrary to the conventional hotcake climate change induced salinity intrusion the study found a significant decrease in saltwater influx and increased freshwater volume in the ICZ villages, reflecting a seaward movement trend. Farmer perception shifted to low saline and freshwater in many areas where it was high saline and medium saline in 2010. The factual and perceived salinity were varied from 1 ± 0.44 to 2 ± 0.77 ppt in the studied villages. To confront the condition farmer diversified their farming pattern from single crop like either only shrimp or prawn culture to concurrent culture of shrimp-prawn, shrimp, prawn and rice with an increased production of (68-204 kg/ha), finfish (217-553 kg/ha) and dyke crop (92–800 kg/ha). Thus, affecting the socioeconomic condition of the farmer with an increase in average monthly income, reported for the better-off classes in 2014, ranged from 14,300 to 51,667 BDT and for the worse-off ranged from 5000 to 9900 BDT. In contrast, this average monthly income was 9500- 27,000 for better-off and 3875 - 8600 for worse-off classes, reported in 2010. Besides, farming areas (average 17% for better-off and −0.5% for worse-off) and land leasing (average increment rate per ha 50%) also increased among the surveyed farmers, reported in 2014 compared to 2010. In addition, several adaptation strategies like unrefined salt use, change of water use, diversification through prawn, finfish and dyke crops along with traditional shrimp and overall land use change have a positive impact on farmer’s economic and nutritional security as well as farming intensity. The study showed a unique attributes of salinity extrusion in micro-level of ICZ line where farmers intensified farming system with indigenous knowledge to secured their livelihoods.

Hydrobiology of Saline Agriculture Ecosystem: A Review of Scenario Change in South-West Region of Bangladesh

The aim of this review paper is to identify the production trends of shrimp and rice farming systems and associated hydrobiological parameters such as salinity in the coastal districts of Bangladesh. An intensive literature review has been conducted to explore salt stress-driven land use change, crop production, and changing ecosystem hydrobiology to adapt climate change impact from 2012–2022. The results indicate that a gradual extension of salt-driven land use and land cover (LULC) change has stressed agricultural production to a greater extent from 1973 to 2022 due to the high level of salinity. The unplanned expansion of shrimp culture is creating adverse consequences for the coastal ecosystem. Some suggestions have been proposed by analysing the mechanisms of crops’ response to salt stress, including several physiological, biochemical, and molecular bases to mitigate the adverse effects of salinity on agricultural production. Alternatively, prawn, shrimp, and crab have similar or slightly higher economic outputs, except for the crop-based agricultural system, which is highly affected by salinity rise. However, due to low input costs, low maintenance, and less environmental impact, farmers are shifting towards crab fattening and thus changing the hydrobiology of coastal land use and land cover.

Dietary vitamin A intake and its major food sources among rural pregnant women of South-West Bangladesh

The study aimed to estimate the dietary intake of vitamin A and its major food sources among rural pregnant women from the southwest region of Bangladesh. A multi-stage random cluster sampling method was used to select the respondents (N = 1012). A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect the data, and statistical analysis was conducted using IBM SPSS 20.0. The mean age of the respondents was 23.27 ± 5.23 years, and the majority were in their second (48%) and third trimester (49%). The mean dietary intake of vitamin A was 392 ± 566 μg Retinol Activity Equivalent (RAE)/day (51% of Recommended Dietary Allowance). The contribution of β-carotene (plant source) and retinol (animal source) in vitamin A intake was about 60% and 40%, respectively. The major β-carotene contributing food groups were vegetables (dark and light) and tubers, and food items were colocasia, potato, beans, brinjal, and ripe tomatoes. On the other hand, the major retinol-contributing food groups were fish, eggs, and milk, and food items were small fish, Rui (carp) fish, and cow’s milk. It was also observed that the consumption of food items from β-carotene and retinol-contributing food groups did not differ significantly among the three groups of respondents, but the variations in the amount of the different food items consumed were significant. Dietary vitamin A intake is low among pregnant women in the South-West region of Bangladesh. Hence, they are at a greater risk of adverse materno-fetal health outcomes associated with vitamin A deficiency.

MODERN TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION BY THE RICE FARMERS IN THE SOUTH-WEST REGION OF BANGLADESH

Modern technology adoption usually leads to an increase in agricultural productivity. The rate of this technology adoption might vary depending on diverse agro-economic and socio-political factors. This study attempts to scrutinize the pattern and level of technology adoption by the rice farmers in the south-west region of Bangladesh. Descriptive and inferential analytical techniques are applied using cross-sectional data collected from randomly selected 120 rice-producing farmers in the south-west region of Bangladesh using a pre-tested interview questionnaire. The surveyed farmers have more than 23 years of farming experience on average. Study findings indicate that around 87 percent of the farming households have adopted modern technologies in terms of improved seed, irrigation management, and chemical fertilizer use in the study area. The ratio decreases to around 60 percent if the adoption of harvesting technology is considered. The farmers are lagging far behind to adopt mechanization in the land preparation phase in terms of tractor use. The technology adopter farmers observe that their intensity of technology adoption has increased over the time period. The study findings exhibit that the intensity of technology adoption is higher for the farmers who have better credit access and have engagement in the farmers’ group compared to others. Moreover, farmers who have received farm management training adopt modern technology more intensively than other farmers. This study identifies the backwardness of harvesting and land preparation phases in terms of technology adoption. It also finds that socio-economic circumstances and institutional issues trigger technology adoption decisions.

STUDY OF SKIN MORBIDITY PROFILE IN PORTLAND CEMENT INDUSTRY WORKER AT KHULNA CITY CORPORATION, BANGLADESH

Cement, specifically Portland cement is now used for construction and rapid urbanization worldwide. Though development of cement industry in Bangladesh takes back to early fifties this industry is in rapid growth state from about a decade, involving a large number of worker population. High alkalinity of cement and its tiny content of water soluble chromate can cause occupational skin diseases to workers who are involved with any type of cement handling activities. Cement industry workers are mainly low income group people and are driven by poverty, illiteracy, overpopulation and thus can pay little or no attention for health protection and treatment. Therefore, this study aims to identify skin disease status of workers in a Bangladeshi cement industry. Study was conducted amongthe workers working in a particular cement industry in south-west region of Bangladesh, at Labanchara, Rupsha Khulna. Data was collected by questionnaire survey method using modified version of standard questionnaire, which was drafted and pre-tested based on the reconnaissance survey. The study found that workers were suffering from various irritant dermatitis, allergic dermatitis and cement burn of different parts of their body, significantly in hand, forearm and leg. Study revealed, lack of proper sanitation and maintenance of safety equipment, coupled with habit of smoking and working for many years are mostly responsible, besides regular dust exposure for the association of skin diseases in cement workers.

SHRIMP CULTIVATION IN SOUTHWEST COASTAL BANGLADESH: A REVIEW OF COVERAGE AREA AND PRODUCTION

This study administers a survey on available literatures and secondary data sources on shrimp cultivation in Bangladesh. The survey results indicate that there are significant variations in production and area coverage data under shrimp farming in the country. It also finds a lack of uniqueness and uniformity in the available dataset. This study uses the concept of extrapolation and makes some assumptions to confine into a representative and updated dataset of shrimp and prawn cultivated area and production in the south-west region of Bangladesh. The study findings indicate that the calculated shrimp and prawn cultivated area in the region is 0.19 million hectare (ha) with 0.15 million ha minimum and 0.23 million ha maximum values for the year 2011. It also confines the shrimp and prawn production value to 369 million US$ with 155 million US$ minimum and 667 million US$ maximum values in the region for the year 2011. Since there is no consensus yet in the literatures about the shrimp and prawn area coverage and production data, the findings of this study may be a benchmark for future studies.

Practice and Economics of Freshwater Prawn Farming in Seasonally Saline Rice Field in Bangladesh

This paper evaluates the production pattern and economics of freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) farming in seasonally saline rice fields in Bangladesh. The reconnaissance survey was conducted on 30 rice-prawn ghers (RPG) in south-west region of Bangladesh. The farmers were found to use their rice fields for farming prawn and rice (aman) concurrently from April/May to January, and for only rice (boro) from January to April. In the RPG farming system, farmers use rain water during wet season, and underground water with salinity of 1-5 ‰ during dry season. The average production of prawn, aman, and boro was recorded as 439.79±90.46, 3155.48±397.33, 4778.54±389.37 kg/ha/yr, respectively. The economic analysis show potentially good return, and the net return and benefit-cost ratio were US$ 1078.35 and 1.25, respectively. The payback period was determined as 9.37 years. The study implies that the culture of prawn in seasonally saline paddy field is economically viable.
 

‘B-M MODEL’ FOR FARMERS’ KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN INCREASING RICE PRODUCTION

Quantifying knowledge on agriculture can have many benefits to stakeholders. While many knowledge-based systems exist in modern days for farmers’ decision support, specific models are lacking on how knowledge traits can impact on agricultural production systems. This study employed modelling technique, supported by field data, to provide a clear understanding and quantifying how knowledge management in production practices can contribute to rice productivity in the environmentally stressed southwest Bangladesh. This research accounted for ‘Boro’ rice as the target crop and ‘BRRI dhan28’ as the test variety. The ‘B-M Model’ was developed following the principle and procedure from published literature, ‘brainstorming’ and data from field surveys. Three knowledge management traits (KMT) were defined and quantified as the inputs of the model. Those are: self-experience and observation (SEO), extension advisory services (EAS) and accessed information sources (AIS). The yield influencing process (YIP), the intermediate state variable of the model, was deduced by accounting for the two dominant agronomic practices, seedling age for transplanting and triple superphosphate (TSP) application. ‘Knowledge drives farmers’ practice change which in turn influences yield’ was composed as the theoretical framework of the ‘B-M Model’. The model performed strongly against an independently collected field data set. Across the 180 farmers’ data, the average relative rice yield (RRY) predicted by the model (0.705) and observed in the field (0.716) was close (root mean squared deviation (RMSD) = 0.018). The difference between predicted and observed RRY was not statistically different (LSD = 0.03), indicating the model fully captured the field data. A regression of predicted and observed RRY explained 96% variance in observation, further proving the model’s strength in estimating RRY in a wider range of farmers’ rice yield. In a normative analysis, the practicality and usefulness of the model to stakeholders were simulated for the understanding of how much achievable yield could be expected by changing farmers’ knowledge pool (the sum of three KMT) on rice production practices, and at what combination(s) of KMT to be considered at strategic hierarchy to materialize a targeted achievable yield. To the best of the knowledge, a model quantifying rice yield in relation to knowledge management trait does not exist in literature. Upon successful testing under diverse yield scenarios using multiple and sophisticated statistical tools that enhanced the credibility of the model, it is concluded that the model has the potential to be used for identifying quantitative pathways of farmers’ knowledge acquisition for practice change leading to improved productivity of rice in the southwest region of Bangladesh.

HEALTH COST OF PESTICIDE USE ON RICE CULTIVATION IN THE SOUTH-WEST REGION OF BANGLADESH

The study concentrates on assessing health hazards caused by pesticide spray in rice cultivation in the South-west region of Bangladesh. The data particularized that the probability of facing discomfort due to pesticide exposure is 79 percent. The cost-of-illness (Mitigation cost and income loss due to sickness) and avertive action are considered to estimate pesticide use costs. For health cost estimation, a household survey on rice fanners was conducted. The data were collected through an interview method by using a well-structured questionnaire. Logit, Probit, Poission regression, and Negative binomial regression models have been applied in this study. The predicted probability of falling sick from pesticide-related symptoms is significantly higher among individuals who apply pesticides with high chemical concentrations. For both the logit and probit models, it is statistically significant at a 5 percent significance level. On the other hand, an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) application, first aid knowledge, avertive action, treatment facilities, and knowledge level help reduce the probability of diseases caused by pesticide exposure. Finally, the study finds BDT 5273 per person per season as the health cost for pesticide application-oriented health hazard.

Molecular identification of white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) and associated risk factors for white spot disease (WSD) prevalence in shrimp (Penaeus monodon) aquaculture in Bangladesh

White spot disease has caused significant economic losses in the shrimp farming industry of Bangladesh over the last two decades. The responsible virus, WSSV, may show severe disease with significant mortality depending on farm management and environmental and seasonal changes. Data on farm management and environmental parameters were collected from the southwest region of Bangladesh in 2018, and WSSV infection was confirmed by the species-specific gene VP28 using conventional PCR, real-time PCR and sequencing. Through bivariate analysis, nine significant risk factors for WSD were identified, viz. farm age, presence of nursery pond, reservoir of PL, weed in farm area, control of weed, stocking density, stocking frequency, ammonia and oxygen concentration. This study detected 46 WSSV-infected shrimp farms by conventional PCR, whereas real-time PCR identified 47 WSSV-positive out of 49 farms. WSSV prevalence was highest in the Khulna region, with 100% positivity in all seasons. WSSV loads ranged from 5.62 × 109 to 2.01 × 1015 copies/g of shrimp tissue. The VP28 gene sequence confirmed that 15 representative samples were 100% identical to the 2018 WSSV strain of India. The relationships among risk factors, prevalence and severity of disease, and origin of WSSV strains could be impactful for WSD management.

ENVIRONMENTAL VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT IN THE SOUTH-WEST COASTAL REGION OF BANGLADESH USING PRINCIPAL COMPONENT ANALYSIS

Being located in a low-lying coastal zone and having a unique brackish water ecosystem, the South-west region of Bangladesh is highly susceptible to environmental vulnerability. An assessment of environmental vulnerability over this large area of 24,188 km2 is a complex process and one of the most essential parts for any coastal zone management. Since the changes in the environmental indicators are posing adverse impacts, the environment tends to be more vulnerable. This study assesses the environmental vulnerability in 40 Upazilas (lower level of the administrative unit) in the South-west region of Bangladesh. After reviewing the literature, this study incorporated 10 relevant indicators (i.e. soil type, average temperature, vegetation change, population density, population change, road density, surface salinity, Cumulative Dry Day (CDD), Cumulative Wet Day (CWD), groundwater level). Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was applied to find the weight for each indicator in IBM SPSS 20 software and the values were normalized into a unified dimension. The generated environmental vulnerability map is assorted into five vulnerability groups consisting of very low, low, medium, high, very high vulnerabilities with an interval of 0-0.05, 0.05-0.4, 0.4-0.5, 0.5-0.6, 0.6-1.0 respectively. From the spatial analysis, it has been seen that the vulnerability groups representing very low, low, medium, high, and very high contain 10percent, 35percent, 28percent, 17percent, and 10percent of the Upazilas, respectively. The findings of environmental vulnerability assessment can support effective guidance for long-term environmental management in terms of coastal zone management. The development framework can be assessed at different spatial and temporal scales in the coastal zone with the availability of environmental indicator data and by applying the PCA method.Recorded Presentation from the vICCE (YouTube Link): https://youtu.be/iQ_CwlOBCJE

Diversity of Vibrio Species’ and Their Antibiotic Resistance Patterns in Black Tiger Shrimp Penaeus monodon Fabricius, 1798 Cultured in South-West Region of Bangladesh

Diversity of Vibrio Species’ and Their Antibiotic Resistance Patterns in Black Tiger Shrimp Penaeus monodon Fabricius, 1798 Cultured in South-West Region of Bangladesh

Shrimp/prawn farming status in south-west region of Bangladesh in context of quality control and food safety issues

To determine hazardous antibiotics/chemicals and pesticides residues in Good Aquaculture Practice(GAP) and non-GAP farms and exploring the post-harvest management techniques of shrimp/ prawn forensuring its food safety issues, a study was conducted from July 2016 to June 2019 in three upazilas viz.Bagerhat Sadar, Rampal and Kachua of Bagerhat district. A total of 550 shrimp/prawn farms were randomlysurveyed considering GAP criteria. The farms were categorized as Category A- the farms which comply 90-100% GAP criteria; Category B- farms which comply 70-< 90% GAP criteria and Category C- farms whichcomply 50-<70% GAP criteria. From the study it was found that only 1.67±0.58 % farms were underCategory-A, 37.67±6.81 % farms were under Category-B and 53±6.08 % farms were under Category-C. Atotal of 108 shrimp/prawn samples were collected in which 30% samples were from GAP farms and 70%samples were from non-GAP farms. Collected samples were analyzed for hazardous antibiotics/chemicals andpesticides residues (Heptachlor, Endrin, Dieldrin and DDT) using LC-MS and GC-MS machine. Nohazardous Nitrofuran and Chloramphenicol metabolites were found from the collected samples and noresidual concentrations of Heptachlor, Endrin, Dieldrin and DDT were found from GAP samples. In non-GAP samples, 14.8% samples contained some residues of Heptachlor, Endrin and Dieldrin in which 10.2%samples residues were lower than the Maximum Residual Limit (MRL) which is not harmful for humanhealth. Only 4.6% samples had residues which were slightly higher than the MRL. Exploration of postharvestmanagement techniques of shrimp and prawn were done by observing the icing system quality andtransportation system from farms to market/depot. It was found that 5.67±2.08% farmer used proper icingand transportation system as well, 16.33±3.21% farmers used moderate icing and transportation system and78±2% farmers used poor icing and transportation system. It was also observed that pathogenic bacterialload was higher in poor icing and transportation system as well than the proper icing and transportationsystem. From the study it can be concluded that, if farmers follow at least 50% of the GAP criteria then thefoods (shrimp/prawn) will be safer for human consumption.

Effectiveness of Microfinance on Household Income Generation Strategy in the Southwest Region of Bangladesh

The primary purpose of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of microfinance on household income generation in the south-west region of Bangladesh. A set of statistical tools such as descriptive analysis, t-test, correlation analysis, and log-linear multiple regression models have been used to achieve the objective of the study. It has been found that the difference between household income, expenditure, saving, working hours, and capital is statistical and significant after joining the microfinance program. Also, results from correlation analysis show a positive and meaningful relationship between credit and household monthly income, expenditure, and savings. Besides, the regression analysis confirms that the age of the respondent, family members and loan amount has a positive and statistically significant impact on income generation for the microfinance receiver. The finding of the research is crucial and meaningful to the policymaker to take practical steps in reducing poverty and sustainable rural development.