Durio zibethinus, commonly known as Durian, is an exotic Southeast Asian tropical fruit. More than the pungent aroma the fruit is well-known for, it is said to be beneficial to health as it contains many antioxidants and bioactive compounds that have different potentials for positive impacts on health. However, there is scant existing literature which gives an overview on the amounts of bioactive compounds in several varieties of durian in Southeast Asia, and the relevant health benefits. This review article therefore seeks to consolidate the literature which have identified bioactive compounds and investigated antioxidant activities in durian cultivars from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and China, and studies that have given insight on potential medicinal properties of durians. A literature review was conducted using databases Scopus and ScienceDirect and a total of 30 articles were reviewed. Total polyphenols and flavonoids were highest in the Mon Thong cultivar compared to other Thailand varieties, and ripe or overripe durians were found to contain the highest amounts of polyphenols and flavonoids. Durians were also found to contain medicinal properties, such as anti-inflammatory and antidiabetic potential, and protective effects on cardiac health. Further research on these bioactive compounds in the nutritious fruit with potential medicinal properties can contribute to the medicinal value of durians, as well as benefit the pharmaceutical industries.

Mango is one of the major fruit crops of Terai region of Nepal; however, farmers are experiencing poor productivity. Therefore, a study was conducted to determine the factors affecting the productivity and major constraints of the mango production in Saptari district of Nepal. Pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire was administered among randomly selected 106 farmers from the district of Nepal. Face to face interview was scheduled to obtain the data from sampled farmers from March 26 to May 25, 2020. Multiple regressions were used to access the various factors affecting the productivity of the mango. The regression model depicted that the total number of productive trees and training on commercial mango production was found statistically significant at 1% level of significance. A unit change in the total number of productive trees was found to change the productivity by 0.94 units. Additionally, one-unit change in the trainings regarding commercial mango farming caused the change in productivity by 0.53 units. Further, incidence of diseases and pests, poor access to market, lack of irrigation facility, incidences of natural hazards and modicum of fertilizers on orchard were the major production constraints of mango in Spatari district of Nepal. Therefore, the study has suggested indispensable need training on commercial mango cultivation practices in Saptari district of Nepal.

Seed perform a vital role in agricultural sector for crop production as well as seed business. Scarcity of healthy seed hinder not only the crop production but also the quality of seed. Storing of healthy seed with proper storing condition is one of the suitable methods to maximize production however, healthy seed also lose its quality during seed storage. Seed remains viable for long time if the seed stored by maintaining seed moisture content, storage temperature with storage container. So, this experiment was carried out to observe the quality parameters of jute seed during long term storing. To find out the storage effect an experiment was conducted on march, 2020 at seed laboratory, Jute Agriculture Experimental Station, Jagir, Manikganj, Bangladesh during the period of January 2016 to March, 2020. Plastic pot was used in this experiment as a storage container to store jute seeds. Three tossa jute (C. olitorius L.) varieties viz., O-795 (V1), O-9897 (V2) and OM-1 (V3) were used in this study. Result revealed that storage period and jute variety showed significant effect on different seed quality parameters. The highest seed germination, field emergence, seed vigour and the lowest 1000-seed weight, moisture content were recorded in T5 (2019-20) treatment. On the other hand, the lowest seed germination, field emergence, seed vigour and the highest 1000-seed weight, moisture content were recorded in T1 (2015-2016) treatment. Furthermore, seed germination, field emergence, seed vigour was negatively but 1000-seed weight was positively correlate with moisture content. Results revealed that extended storage period caused the decreasing seed quality and seed can be stored for three years in plastic container without hampering the seed quality.

A piece of study was carried out to identify the resistant varieties to stemphylium blight disease of lentil at Plant Pathology Division, Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute, Joydebpur, Gazipur during the period of September 2013 to April 2014. The experimental design was RCB in field condition having three replications. Eleven lentil test entries along with 2 check variety BARI masur-1 and BARI masur-7 were evaluated. At maturity 4 lines showed Moderately Resistant (MR) and 7 lines showed Moderately Susceptible (MS) types of reaction. The line BLX-06004-12 gave the highest yield (1456 kg ha-1) followed by BLX-06004-2 (1113.30 kg ha-1 ) and BLX-05001-6 (1106.30 kg ha-1) which were designated as moderately resistant to stemphylium blight disease. The lowest yield (987.30 kg ha-1) was recorded in BLX-05008-21 which was designated as moderately susceptible to stemphylium blight disease.

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of different plant extracts on sprouting, storability and post-harvest loss of potato at ambient condition in Baglung district, Nepal. The parameters observed were sprouting percentage, sprout number, sprout length, sprout mass, weight loss percentage and damage score. The experiment consists of ten different treatments namely; Zingiber officinale rhizome, Azadirachta indica leaves, Atimisia spp. leaves, Utica dioica leaves, Control, Acorus calamus rhizome, Brassica campestris oil, Cymbopogon spp. oil, Azadirachta indica oil and Mentha spp. oil. The experiment was conducted in a Completely Randomized Design with four replications. Cympopogan oil, Mentha oil and Acorus powder completely suppressed the sprouting until 60 days with Cympopogan oil being the most effective to suppress sprouting throughout the experiment. The highest sprout number was recorded from Mentha oil (1.92) and control (1.79) after 90 days. The lowest sprout number was recorded from Cymbopogon oil (0.38). The average sprout length of Mentha spp. oil (13.47 mm) and control (13.19 mm) was maximum with minimum being that of Cymbopogon oil (2.5 mm) and Acorus (5.63 mm). The sprout mass measured at the end was maximum in control (2 gm) and minimum in Cymbopogon oil (0.25 gm). The weight loss percentage was maximum in control (10.66 %) with minimum in Cymbopogon oil (6.8 %). The tubers treated with Brassica campestris oil were damage to least (1.46) and highest damage score was recorded from control (1.88). A strong correlation was obtained between weight loss and sprout length (r=0.85), sprout number (r=0.78) and sprout mass (r=0.70).

Poultry production is a growing industry that accounts about 3.5% of total GDP. The number of commercial farm is concentrated to districts like Chitwan, Kathmandu and Kaski but major of the poultry farming is followed by rural people which is under the free range system and low input production system. This review was written to summarize and study the present status, challenges and potential of poultry farming. In order to meet the demand of the poultry, the commercial poultry population has increased about more than two times than the last decade. Similarly, there has been marked increase in the number of laying birds, meat production and egg production in these recent years. But it has not been able to surpass the demand in the market. To meet the demand through commercialization, people have suffered different challenges like increase cost of production, lack of maintenance of bio-security, improper maintenance of housing ,lack of proper knowledge about poultry production ,irregular supply of qualifiable chicks ,religious and cultural restrictions ,outbreak of different diseases , lack of slaughter house and processing plant etc which has threatened the poultry business which can be uplifted through certain management strategies along with policies, programs and awareness campaign.

A sixty days laboratory incubation study was conducted to investigate the effect of heavy metals on soil carbon, nitrogen and iron mineralization under aerobic condition. Sulphate salts of cadmium, zinc and copper were added individually and in combinations to soil samples and incubated in different plastic pots. Soil organic carbon did not change significantly throughout the incubation period. Soil microbial biomass carbon declined from 0.38mgkg-1to 0.19 mgkg-1 in Cd treated soil and 0.39 mgkg-1 to 0.28 mgkg-1 in Cu treated soil which account for about 50% and 28% reduction (p ≤0.05) in biomass carbon respectively. Cd:Zn and Cu:Cd treated soil had reduced 36.84% while Zn:Cu had 42.11% reduction in biomass carbon.CO2-C effluxes peaked by day 15 for all the single metal amended soil indicating that priming effects might have occurred. But in combination, metal showed some interaction for what the respiration rates were declined for the first 15 days. Rapid ammonification with presumed immobilization to ok place up to day 30. The result indicated a significant (p ≤0.05) net mineralization of nitrogen for Cd:Zn (63.72%) and Cu:Cd (66.66%) treatments at the end of the experiment. Available iron content showed significant changes in combined metal treatment than a single metal.

The study was conducted to evaluate the effect of photoperiod on the growth performance and behavioral pattern of Achatina achatina. Ninety snails of uniform weights were used for the study which lasted for 56 days. The snails were randomly assigned to three treatments and each treatment was replicated three times with 10 snails per replicate. The snails were exposed to different light duration. Treatment 1 had 12 hours light and 12 hours darkness, Treatment 2 was subjected to 18 hours light and 6 hours darkness, Treatment 3 was subjected to 24 hours light. The data collected was analysed using one-way analysis of variance and Duncan multiple range test for significant mean separation. Data were collected on feed intake, weight gain, time of feeding and reproductive behaviors. The results of the experiment showed that there were no significant differences (P>0.05) in final weight gain, average daily weight gain, total feed intake, average daily feed intake, feed conversion ratio, duration of courtship, duration of feeding and cost of feed per kg weight gain between tre atments. The results also showed that there were significant differences in number of eggs laid and mating duration between treatments. From the result, it was concluded that the best photoperiod for Achatina achatina is 24 hours light as it produced the lowest feed conversion ratio and cost of feed per kg weight gain and that was recommended for effective growth of Achatina achatina.