Malaysian Journal of Sustainable Agriculture (MJSA)

The study was conducted to examine the performance of growing snails (Archachatina marginata) fed with formulated feed supplemented with calcium from four sources (Agricultural Limestone, Bone meal, Egg shell and Snail shell) in the domestication unit of Department of Forest Resources and Wildlife Management, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Benin, Benin City. A total of sixty (60) juvenile snails with average weight of 97.85±2.06g were randomly allotted to five treatment groups (T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5), replicated three times with four snails per replicate in a completely randomized design. The treatment was Agricultural limestone (T1), Bone Meal (T2), Egg shell (T3), Snail shell (T4) and control: natural feed (T5). The feeding trials lasted for 16 weeks. The results showed no significant differences (P>0.05) in weight gain (12.50a ± 3.15), shell length (0.35a ± 0.06) and shell width increment (0.163 ± 0.03) of the snails under the various diet. Increases in body weight, shell length, shell width was recorded in all the treatments with the highest recorded in snails (Archachatina marginata) under feed formulated with the snail shells. The result showed significant differences (P<0.05) in edible tissue weight (112.57a ± 0.91), shell weight (58.5a ± 0.3) and visceral weight (31.90a ± 0.2) of the snails. Snails fed with feed formulated with snail shell, had a significant (P<0.05) higher value than the snail fed with other diets. It was concluded that the snails fed with snail shell meal performed better in terms of growth performances in the snails compared to other snails fed with other sources of calcium. Formulated feed with adequate quality of calcium source should be fed to snails, for growth and development of the snails.

In the coming decades, river pollution is a serious problem not only in Asia but around the world. As the river flows through many countries, the development and water quality of the Mekong River is related directly to stability and peace of the region. This study analysed regulatory authority and legislation in Mekong River and discussed the inadequacy of Mekong River current management. Through collecting data and documents, it analysed and concluded current river management situation of Mekong River. At last, this paper advised several recommendations and tried to find out which approaches will make Mekong Basin under a good environment of sustainable development.

The forest resource is the material basis of forestry production. The status of forest resources is the most important symbol to measure the effectiveness of forestry work. Due to the impact of human activities and natural factors, forest resources are always in dynamic change. There is a worldwide forest decrease, which has devastating effects on the environment ecosystem although regulatory measures have been taken to accentuate the significance of environment ecosystem preservation. So, management of forest resource becomes an important researching topic. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the management and supervision of forest resources and the establishment of a scientific and effective management system. Management of forest resource is decision-making and organized activities in forest protection, cultivating, updating and application of forest resources through planning, control, adjustment, inspection and supervision. The main purpose of this report is to identify and survey the management of forest resource in Russia where lies large areas of forest resource, introduce the components of forest resources, probe into the specific means of management of forest resource, evaluate the measure and point out effective management solutions and failing reasons. At last potential efforts for better management of forest resource is discussed.

Water scarcity has emerged as a global issue and the situation is getting worse. In accordance with the urgency, this study aimed to assess the suitability of a rainwater harvesting system (RWHS) to supply water for domestic uses in residential colleges in the Bangi campus of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). The study also analysed the level of awareness on the importance of rainwater and RWHS among the students residing in the 10 residential colleges. The study used Likert scale 1 -5 questionnaire survey method and the sample involved 1,075 respondents randomly selected from 10 residential colleges in UKM. The findings showed that the suitability of rainwater collected by the RWHS for domestic uses had a mean of 3.45, while the mean value of awareness level towards the importance of rainwater and RWHS was 3.75. The questions group with the lowest mean score was “knowledge regarding the objectives of collection and reuse of rainwater”, with a mean of 3.28. A case study of RWHS was carried out by installing a RWHS in one of the residential college, namely Ungku Omar College. Residents at Ungku Omar College got the highest total percentage for “agree” and “strongly agree” scores when being asked if rainwater collected by RWHS is suitable for domestic uses, as compared to the scores obtained by other residential colleges. Among the important aspects of RWHS include safety of water collected, sustainability of the system and quantity of water collected with mean of 4.39, 4.19 and 4.07, respectively. In conclusion, RWHS is a method that can be widely accepted among college students at UKM, mainly for domestic uses. However, further efforts should be incorporated to increase the awareness level and knowledge on the importance of conserving water resource.

A rapid development in economic sectors has induced the water depletion in most of the developing country, particularly for Malaysia. This study estimates the consumptive water use of cultivating 5 cash crops, i.e. cassava, maize, rice, sugarcane and sweet potato in Peninsular Malaysia. The consumptive water uses for cultivating these 5 crops was determined based on the CROPWAT 8.0 and Penman Monteith model. CROPWAT 8.0 model was used to compute the evapotranspiration and crop water requirement (effective rainfall and irrigation requirement) of the cash crops grown in Peninsular Malaysia from 2005-2013 (9 years). It was found that the green water uses for cultivating cassava, maize, paddy, sugarcane and sweet potato for Peninsular Malaysia is higher than the blue water use. In conclusion, water use for cultivating agricultural crops will accelerate the competition on the consumption of clean water with the other sectors. However, the availability of water resource in Peninsular Malaysia is sufficient to fulfil the demands for water at the present time.

Water shortage or scarcity is becoming a major concern for many nations across the world. The situation is worsened by rapid urbanization and population growth in developing countries, thus increase competition for water used for irrigated agriculture. Various efforts have been made by the authorities in the developing countries to provide sufficient water and improve the quality of water resources. Yet, there are still many developing countries facing shortages of water for domestic and agricultural purposes, especially during the dry months of the year. Libya is one of the Northern African countries that have been experiencing water shortages especially in urban areas. This paper aims to identify the current situation and constraints of water resources management in Libya. The latter part is devoted to the solutions and recommendations at individual, community, state and government levels that can help solving the water problems in Libya. A number of previous studies on the water resources management and challenges perceived by both developed and developing countries were critically reviewed. It was found that water scarcity in developing countries is expected to be worsen as their population are expected to increase gradually year by year and it can be summarized from the reviewed previous studies that lack of government planning, industrial and human wastes along with government intervention and mismanaging water resources are some of the critical constraints towards achieving sustainable management in most of the countries including Libya. Potential solutions such as improving supply demand and good quality management of water resources must be taken into consideration. In addition, active participation from the local residents by enhancing awareness amongst them would be one of the supportive strategies to minimize the constraints. Sustainable economic and environmental management together with efficient use of water is required to conserve our clean water supply.

The major threats of horseshoe crabs in Hong Kong include (1) coastal development, whichdestroys the sprawling grounds of horseshoe crabs; and (2) fisheries, which reduces its populationin the wild directly. Artificial breeding of juvenile horseshoe crabs for wild release is therefore considered as one of the means to raise the population of this species.

Socio-ecological dynamics describe forms of interaction between society and ecosystems, through social, economic and ecological processes that influence the state of natural resources. The aim of this paper is to understand the functioning of the Manglaralto Socio-Ecological System through a participatory modeling method called PARDI (Problem, Actors, Resources, Dynamics and Interactions), in order to determine possible solutions for sustainability of groundwater resources. The sustainable management of the Manglaralto Coastal Aquifer has been identified as the problem. The actors involved in the socio-ecological dynamics of the Manglaralto Coastal Aquifer are the Manglaralto Regional Drinking Water Management Board as manager; as well as users, such as the population of rural communities and economic activities, highlighting the tourism activity. The key resources identified were rainfalls, forested areas and surface waters, which are considered the most relevant recharge sources of the coastal aquifer. The main dynamics and interactions that have directly intervened in the operation of the aquifer are: the growing water demand of 1,179.30% during the period 2005-2015 and the increase of 80.85% in the construction of urbanized areas for housing and tourist activities during the period 2006-2013. Currently, there are thirteen water wells; considered as the limit for the coastal aquifer. The Manglaralto Coastal Aquifer has dropped to 32.30% of its capacity, so there are schedules of water supply as a regulatory measure for the sustainability of the aquifer. Through in a participatory process between the actors involved, researchers and universities, possible collectively acceptable solutions have been identified for a first stage. These solutions are: the water repression through the construction of river tapes, the incentive for reforestation in livestock areas, a desalination plant and the nomination of the Manglaralto Coastal Aquifer as Heritage of Ecuador.

In the present study, response surface methodology (RSM) was used to develop an approach for the optimization of quantity of flower waste and cow dung to determine maturity during the vermicomposting of flower waste. The effect of maturity parameters such as C:N ratio, Germination index and CO2 evolution rate were studied using central composite design (CCD). Eisenia foetida was used in different combination of flower waste and cow dung during the vermicomposting of flower waste. Results of study showed significant effect of both variables and their interactions with process parameters during vermicomposting process. The optimum results obtained from response surface methodology was nearly equal between predicted and experimental analysis. The optimum variation of process parameter was pH 7.07-7.12, electrical conductivity 3.28 -3.42 mS/cm, total organic carbon 33.72-34.06%, C: N ratio 14-15, phosphorous 4.95-5.21 g/kg and potassium 13.99-14.31 g/kg. The results suggest that compost obtained from the vermicomposting of flower waste and cow dung contains sodium, potassium and phosphorous which are beneficial for the plant growth. Flower waste compost is suitable for organic manure which reduces the quantity of waste by converting into valuable products.

Bio-monitoring is the use of biological responses to assess changes in the environment. Biological monitoring is considered to provide an integrated approach to assess water and overall environmental quality. The ultimate objective of bio-monitoring in the Rampur Ghol is to ensure that local resource users in the water sector to apply biodiversity friendly management practices within their day to day activities. In this research macro invertebrates are used to classify the Rampur Ghol into different Water Quality Classes based on Saprobic Water Quality Classification (SWQC) approach. Rampur Ghol was selected as research site for biological monitoring, situated in Chitwan district, Mangalpur VDC Ward No. 2. Macrophytes were collected from both the aquatic habitat and buffer zone of the Rampur Ghol in seasonal basis using fixed quadrate of 1×1m2 . Benthic macro-invertebrates were sampled by using bin sampler and grab sampler and then analysed. During study period altogether 14 families belonging to 10 orders of aquatic macro-invertebrate were found in dry season and 18 families belonging to 12 orders of aquatic macro-invertebrates were found in rainy season. Accessing the Biotic Index of macro-invertebrates, it was found that eight sites fall in water quality class III and site 7 and site 10 were rated class II-III and class III-IV respectively in dry season. Similarly, seven sites were rated water quality class III and three sites were rated water quality class II-III in rainy season. Study of the macrophytes in site 7, 8 and 10 concluded that the macrophytes from sites 8 and 10 showed high degree of organic pollution and showed the dominance of Pistia stratiotes throughout the study, which is considered to be indicator of organic pollution. High anthropogenic activities show fluctuation of water quality in Rampur Ghol. It can be concluded that humans are the key factor for degrading the Ghol.