Agriculture and nanotechnologies (কৃষি ও ন্যানো প্রযুক্তি)

Image: Nano technology in agriculture (Avens Online)

Nanotechnology monitors a leading agricultural controlling process, especially by its miniature dimension. Additionally, many potential benefits such as enhancement of food quality and safety, reduction of agricultural inputs, enrichment of absorbing nanoscale nutrients from the soil, etc. allow the application of nanotechnology to be resonant encumbrance. Agriculture, food, and natural resources are a part of those challenges like sustainability, susceptibility, human health, and healthy life. The ambition of nanomaterials in agriculture is to reduce the amount of spread chemicals, minimize nutrient losses in fertilization and increased yield through pest and nutrient management. Nanotechnology has the prospective to improve the agriculture and food industry with novel nanotools for the controlling of rapid disease diagnostic, enhancing the capacity of plants to absorb nutrients among others. The significant interests of using nanotechnology in agriculture includes specific applications like nanofertilizers and nanopesticides to trail products and nutrients levels to increase the productivity without decontamination of soils, waters, and protection against several insect pest and microbial diseases. Nanotechnology may act as sensors for monitoring soil quality of agricultural field and thus it maintain the health of agricultural plants. This review covers the current challenges of sustainability, food security and climate change that are exploring by the researchers in the area of nanotechnology in the improvement of agriculture.

The prediction that in 2050 our planet will be populated by over 9 billion people is quite reliable. This will pose serious problems with food, water and energy supply, particularly in less-developed countries. Considering that the human pressure over natural resources has already reached critical levels, international agencies such as the World Bank and UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) are soliciting scientific research in order to identify innovative solutions to support the primary sector. Nanotechnology is a rapidly evolving field with the potential to take forward the agriculture and food industry with new tools which promise to increase food production in a sustainable manner and to protect crops from pests. Such expectations are coupled with some uncertainties about the fate of nanomaterials in the agro-environment. However, the field application of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) has not been properly investigated yet, and many aspects have only been considered theoretically or with models, which make it difficult to properly assess the usefulness of ENMs for plant fertilization and protection.

Acknowledgment; NCBI, Intechphone

কৃষি ও বাংলা ভাষা

ফক্রেঃ আমাদের ইসলাম

হাজার বছরের ঐতিহ্যে লালিত এই বাংলা। নদীমাতৃক একটি অঞ্চল। মাটির উর্বরতা, প্রাকৃতিক ঐশ্বর্য আর ঋতুবৈচিত্র্যের কারণেই খ্রিস্টপূর্ব সময়।থেকেই এ অঞ্চলের প্রচুর সম্ভাবনা ছড়িয়ে পড়ে বিশ্বময়। প্রাগৈতিহাসিক যুগ থেকে এ অঞ্চলে যখন যে গোষ্ঠীর আগমন ঘটেছে ও বসতি স্থাপিত হয়েছে তাদের প্রত্যেকেই মাটিঘেঁষা সংস্কৃতিতে আকৃষ্ট হয়েছে। জনবসতির প্রথম শর্তই হচ্ছে জীবিকা।

বলা যায়, সমতলে ধান চাষের প্রথম প্রবর্তক হচ্ছে অষ্ট্রিক গোষ্ঠী। এই গোষ্ঠীর আরেক নাম ছিল নিষাদ। এই জনগোষ্ঠীর পর এ অঞ্চলে আগমন ঘটে আলপাইন বা অনার্য জনগোষ্ঠীর। বর্তমান বাঙালি সমাজে আমাদের মধ্যে এদের বংশধরই বেশি। এরপর আসে আর্যরা। সেটি খ্রিস্ট্রীয় পঞ্চম শতকের কথা। মূলত অনার্যদের কৃষি, সংস্কৃতি ও ভাষায় আকৃষ্ট হতে থাকে তারা। আর্যদের আগে অনার্য ও তামিলরা এ দেশে প্রথম নারকেল, সুপারি ও নানারকম ফলবান বৃক্ষের চাষ ও সবুজ বাগিচা বানানোর রীতি প্রবর্তন করেন।

এর পরে বাংলায় যত বিদেশি গোষ্ঠী এসেছে, উপনিবেশ গড়েছে এরা নানা ক্ষেত্রে অবদান রাখলেও কৃষি ক্ষেত্রে তেমন অবদান রাখেনি। আরব, পারস্য, মােগল, পাঠান, ইংরেজ, ফরাসি সবাই শহুরে জীবনের সঙ্গে সংযুক্ত ছিল। তবে ব্যতিক্রম ছিল পর্তুগিজরা। তারা এ দেশে আলু, পেঁপে, আনারস, কামরাঙা, পেয়ারা, কৃষ্ণচূড়া ফুল ও তামাক আবাদ শুরু করে।

সম্রাট আকবরের সময় মূলত শুরু হয় বাংলা সন তারিখ গণনার কাজ। সেখানেও ছিল কৃষিরই প্রাধান্য। ছিল হালখাতা ও বর্ষবরণ প্রবর্তনের বিষয়-আশয়। মূলত ঋতু ও মাসভিত্তিক বাঙালি  সংস্কৃতির এক অভিযাত্রা ঘটে সে সময়ই। নতুন বিন্যস্ত বাংলা সন ফসলি সন হিসেবেও আখ্যা পায়। সে সময় থেকেই মূলত সমৃদ্ধ হতে থাকে আমাদের বাংলা সংস্কৃতি। এ কথা অস্বীকার করার উপায় নেই যে, বাঙালি সংস্কৃতির শিকড়ই হচ্ছে লােকসংস্কৃতি। আর লােকসংস্কৃতির গােড়াপত্তনই ঘটে মানুষের। জীবন-জীবিকা অর্থাৎ কৃষির ওপর ভিত্তি করে।

দেখা যায়, গম্ভীরা, গাঁথা, গীতিকা, ছড়া, জারিগান, ঝুমুর, ডাক ও খনার বচন, বাউল গান, ধাঁধা, প্রবাদ, প্রবচন, ভাওয়াইয়া, ভাটিয়ালি, রূপকথা, সারিগান প্রভৃতি লােকসংস্কৃতি উপাদানের মধ্যে রয়েছে কৃষিতথ্য। একই ভাবে গ্রামীণ সংস্কৃতির মূল প্রাণশক্তি হিসেবে ভূমিকা রেখেছে বাংলা বর্ষবরণ, গ্রাম্য মেলা ও কৃষিমেলা; যার মধ্য দিয়ে বাঙালির আদি জীবনব্যবস্থা, বিনোদন এবং মনের ভাব প্রকাশের এক বড় ক্ষেত্র তৈরি হয়। বিভিন্ন উৎসব আয়ােজনে এসেছে যাত্রাপালা, জারিগান, পালাকাব্য প্রভৃতি উপাদান। আর এসব উপাদানে স্থান পেয়েছে ফসল কাটার গান, ভূমি জোরদখলের প্রতিবাদে পালাগান, কবিগান ইত্যাদি। আর ভাওয়াইয়া-ভাটিয়ালিতে তো কৃষির প্রভাব ছিলই।

নৃবিজ্ঞানে ভাষাকে সংস্কৃতির মূল সংরক্ষণাধার বলা হয়। এ ছাড়া সংস্কৃতির অন্য উপাদানগুলো হচ্ছে খাদ্যাভ্যাস, আত্মীয় সম্পর্ক এবং অতিপ্রাকৃতের ধারণা ও বিশ্বাস। ধর্ম, গোত্র যা-ই থাক ভাষা, অভিন্ন জৈব পরিবেশ ও জীবন-জীবিকাই পৃথিবীর দক্ষিণ এশিয়ার অন্যান্য জনগোষ্ঠী থেকে বাংলাকে আলাদা করেছে। একই সমাজ ও উৎপাদনব্যবস্থায় অংশ নিয়ে হাজার বছর ধরে মাটি আর বাঁশ-খড়ের তৈরি ঘরে বাংলার জনগোষ্ঠী বসবাস করে এসেছে। ত্যিই মাটিঘেঁষা এক সংস্কৃতির দাবিদার এই বাংলা।

১৯৪৭-এ ভারত বিভক্তির অনেক আগেই পূর্ববঙ্গে অবস্থানরত বাঙালিদের জাতিসত্তা, ভাষা ও সংস্কৃতি একটি স্বতন্ত্র পরিচয়ে জাগ্রত হয়ে ওঠে। পাকিস্তান আমল শুরুর সময়ই তৎকালীন কেন্দ্রীয় সরকারের। উর্দুকে রাষ্ট্রভাষা করার পাঁয়তারার বিরুদ্ধে রুখে দাঁড়াতে থাকে বাংলার ছাত্র, শিক্ষক, সর্বস্তরের পেশাজীবী থেকে শুরু করে কৃষক পর্যন্ত। এরই চূড়ান্ত রূপ '৫২-এর ভাষা আন্দোলন। বাঙালির ভাষার অধিকার প্রতিষ্ঠার মধ্য দিয়ে স্বাধীনতার যে। বীজ বপিত হয়েছিল তারও চূড়ান্ত রূপ পায় ১৯৭১ এ।

স্বাধীন বাংলাদেশ, মোটা ভাত মোটা কাপড়ের জন্য সংগ্রামে ঝাঁপিয়ে পড়ে বাংলার খেটে খাওয়া কৃষক মজুর থেকে শুরু করে সর্বস্তরের মানুষ। আমাদের। সবচেয়ে গর্বের সেই ইতিহাস সবারই জানা। '৭১ এ ২০০ বছর পর নতুন বাংলাদেশে উদিত হয় স্বাধীন সূর্য। নিজস্ব দেশ, নিজস্ব ভূমি, নিজস্ব ভাষা সংস্কৃতির অহংকার নতুন এক দিগন্তে স্বপ্নে উজ্জীবিত করে প্রতিটি মানুষকে। এই যে বাঙালির দীর্ঘ অভিযাত্রা ও পথচলা এর মধ্যে পুরো অংশ। জুড়ে ছিল কৃষিরই প্রাধান্য। ছিল উন্নয়নের পথে এগিয়ে যাওয়ার নতুন স্বপ্ন। আমরা মায়ের ভাষার। অধিকার প্রতিষ্ঠা করেছি, স্বাধীন সার্বভৌম রাষ্ট্র । পেয়েছি তাই নিজ দেশে ফসল ফলিয়ে স্বাধীনতার সাড়ে চার দশক পেরিয়ে এসেও আমরা খাদ্যে স্বয়ংসম্পূর্ণতা অর্জন করেছি।

এটি অনেক বড় অর্জন। স্বাধীনতা উত্তর বাংলাদেশে সবচেয়ে গর্বের বিষয়। আমাদের ভাষাশহীদ দিবসও পেয়েছে আন্তর্জাতিক মাতৃভাষার মর্যাদা।সব মিলিয়েই কৃষিসংস্কৃতিতে লালিত বাঙালি তার অস্তিত্ব প্রতিষ্ঠায় সর্বদা সংগ্রাম অব্যাহত রেখেছে। এবং জয়লাভ করেছে। বাংলা ভাষা আমাদের কৃষকের ভাষা, আমাদের সংস্কৃতির মূল শিকড় হচ্ছে। বাংলা। বাঙলির এই অহংকার আজ বিশ্বব্যাপী।

Acknowledgment: Addunik Krishi Khamar

Water Hyacinth (কচুরিপানা) as a human food: A review

Photo: Water Hyacinth (Wikipedia)

The idea of using water hyacinth as human food was coined in 1960 although the idea did not get that much success. 

Water hyacinth leaf protein concentrate (WHPLC) may be used as supplementary food. It is likely to be nutritious because of the high protein content and the content of unsaturated fats, carotenes, xanthophylls, starch and minerals such as iron, calcium and phosphorus (Kateregga and Sterner, 2007). However, extraction of WHLPC in edible form has been scanty in literature. The concentrated form of proteins that are found in plant leaves are referred to as leaf protein concentrate (LPC). Due to its availability and affordability, LPC are being considered as for human and animal consumption.

According to wild edible database, water hyacinth was rated as 2 out of 5 points in edibility rating. They also reported that "Young leaves and petioles – cooked. Virtually tasteless. Said to be used as a carotene-rich table vegetable in Formosa. Javanese sometimes cook and eat the green parts and inflorescence. Flower spikes – cooked."

According to comecaven (2012), young leaves, stems, bottom, deep fry of bulb, boiled blossoms can be eaten as food. 

According to animal science and production division of Tanzania "In Vietnam, water hyacinth flowers are used as vegetables for human (Nguyen 1996). In India and China water hyacinth has been part of human food and domestic animals especially pigs and poultry for centuries."

Therefore, it can be inferred from the above review that water hyacinth can be taken as human food normally. But feasibility of using it as a source of human nutrition in a era of available and feasible food items is somewhat unacceptable. However, in the sense of creating variation in food consumption it can be included in our table food item.

Be careful before using it as food, because in some cases it is harmful for health as it may uptake heavy metals vigorously. 

Making water hyacinth soup:

Acknowledgment: Science direct, Weedy connection, Comescavenge, IRRD, Youtube

Similarities between human and plants (Part-03: Smell similarity)

Functional similarities between human and plant (P.C.: Research Gate)

Human and plant consciousness share a remarkable number of similarities, particularly in relation to the five senses which both use to navigate the complexities of the world. There has been an ever-increasing body of research developing over the years demonstrating that consciousness is indeed not limited only to animals and humans, but plants as well and more so even objects we consider inanimate like rocks and metals. After all, there is no difference in composition between any of these things at the subatomic level. Everything we can perceive and even that which we cannot are made of electrons and protons circling around a nucleus. At the sub-atomic level there is little difference between the human brain and dirt (not to diminish the incredible complexity of the brain…). 

Smell Similarity

The parasitic vine called dodder is the sniffer dog of the vegetable world. It contains almost no chlorophyll – the pigment that most plants use to make food – so to eat it must suck the sugary sap from other plants. Dodder uses olfaction to hunt down its quarry. It can distinguish potential victims from their smell, homing in on its favorites and also using scents emitted by unhealthy specimens to avoid them (Science, vol 313, p 1964).

Dodder is exceptionally sensitive to odors, but all plants have a sense of smell. In animals, sensors in the nose recognize and bind with molecules in the air. Plants also have receptors that respond to volatile chemicals. What do they smell?

Back in the 1920s, researchers with the US Department of Agriculture demonstrated that treating unripe fruit with ethylene gas would induce it to ripen. Since then, it has become apparent that all ripening fruits emit ethylene in copious amounts, can smell it, and respond by ripening. This ensures not only that a fruit ripens uniformly but also that neighboring ones ripen together, producing more ethylene and leading to a ripening cascade. Coordinated ripening is important because it attracts animals to eat the fruit and disperse the seeds. Ethylene is a plant hormone that regulates many processes, so being able to smell it has other advantages too, such as in the coordination of leaf-color changes in the autumn.

Above all, however, smell allows plants to communicate. Research in the 1980s showed that healthy trees in the vicinity of caterpillar-infested ones were resistant to the pests because their leaves contained chemicals that made them unpalatable. Other trees isolated from the infestation did not produce these chemicals, so it seemed that the attacked trees had sent an airborne pheromonal message that primed healthy trees to prepare for imminent attack. We now know that many volatile chemicals are involved.

Acknowledgment: Helix, Quora, Zazenlife.com

Similarities between human and plants (Part-02: Touch similarity)

Functional similarities between human and plant (P.C.: Research Gate)

Human and plant consciousness share a remarkable number of similarities, particularly in relation to the five senses which both use to navigate the complexities of the world. There has been an ever-increasing body of research developing over the years demonstrating that consciousness is indeed not limited only to animals and humans, but plants as well and more so even objects we consider inanimate like rocks and metals. After all, there is no difference in composition between any of these things at the subatomic level. Everything we can perceive and even that which we cannot are made of electrons and protons circling around a nucleus. At the sub-atomic level there is little difference between the human brain and dirt (not to diminish the incredible complexity of the brain…). 

Touch Similarities

Plants live in a very tactile world. Branches sway in the wind, insects crawl across leaves, and vines search out supports to hang on to. Plants are even sensitive to hot and cold, allowing them to respond to the weather by doing things like changing their growth rates and modulating their use of water. Simply touching or shaking a plant is often enough to reduce its growth, which is why vegetation in windswept locations tends to be stunted.

All plants can sense mechanical forces to some degree, but tactile sensitivity is most obvious in the carnivorous Venus flytrap. When a fly, beetle or even a small frog crawls across its specially adapted leaves, these spring together with surprising force, sandwiching the unsuspecting prey and blocking its escape. The Venus flytrap (pictured) knows when to shut because it feels its prey touching large hairs on the two lobes of the trap. But it won’t just snap shut with any stimulation – at least two hair touches must occur within about 20 seconds of each other. This helps to ensure that the prey is the ideal size and will not be able to wiggle out of the trap once it closes.

The mechanism by which the Venus flytrap feels its prey is uncannily similar to the way you feel a fly crawling on your arm. Touch receptors in your skin sense the insect and activate an electrical current that passes along nerves until it reaches your brain, which registers the fly’s presence and instigates a response. Likewise, when a fly rubs up against the Venus flytrap’s hairs, it induces a current that radiates throughout the leaves. This activates ion channels in the cell membrane and the trap springs shut, all in less than one-tenth of a second.

Although most plants do not react this fast, they feel a mechanical stimulus in the same way. What’s really fascinating is that even at the level of individual cells, plants and animals use similar proteins to feel things. These mechanoreceptors are embedded in the cell membranes and, when stimulated by mechanical pressure or distortion, they allow charged ions to cross the membrane. This creates a difference in electrical charge between the inside and the outside of the cell, which generates a current. Unlike us, plants lack a brain to translate these signals into sensations with emotional connotations. Nevertheless, their sensitivity to touch allows them to respond to their changing environments in specific and appropriate ways.

Acknowledgment: Helix, Quora, Zazenlife.com

Similarities between human and plants (Part-01: Sight similarity)

Functional similarities between human and plant (P.C.: Research Gate)

CHANGE YOUR OUTLOOK ABOUT PLANTS!

Human and plant consciousness share a remarkable number of similarities, particularly in relation to the five senses which both use to navigate the complexities of the world. There has been an ever-increasing body of research developing over the years demonstrating that consciousness is indeed not limited only to animals and humans, but plants as well and more so even objects we consider inanimate like rocks and metals. After all, there is no difference in composition between any of these things at the subatomic level. Everything we can perceive and even that which we cannot are made of electrons and protons circling around a nucleus. At the sub-atomic level there is little difference between the human brain and dirt (not to diminish the incredible complexity of the brain…). 

Sight

What do plants see? The obvious answer is that, like us, they see light. Just as we have photoreceptors in our eyes, they have their own throughout their stems and leaves. These allow them to differentiate between red and blue, and even see wavelengths that we cannot, in the far red and ultraviolet parts of the spectrum. Plants also see the direction light is coming from, can tell whether it is intense or dim and can judge how long ago the lights were turned off.

Studies have shown that plants bend to the light as if hungry for the sun’s rays, which is exactly what they are. Photosynthesis uses light energy to turn carbon dioxide and water into sugar, so plants need to detect light sources to get food. We now know they do this using phototropins – light receptors in the membranes of cells in the plant’s tip. Phototropins are sensitive to blue light. When they sense it, they initiate a cascade of signals that ends up modulating the activity of the hormone auxin. This causes cells on the shaded side of the stem to elongate, bending the plant towards the light.

Plants see red light using receptors in their leaves called phytochromes. A phytochrome is a sort of light-activated switch: when irradiated with red light, it changes its conformation so that it is primed to detect far-red light, and when irradiated by far red it changes back to the form that is sensitive to red light. This has two key functions. It allows plants to “turn off” at the end of the day – because far-red light predominates at sunset – and wake up again next day when the sun is high enough in the sky for red light to switch their phytochromes back on. It also allows them to sense when they are in the shade. Chlorophyll, the main pigment for photosynthesis, absorbs red but not far-red light, so when a plant is being crowded out by other plants it will see more far-red light than when it is growing in full sunshine. This directly influences the level of activated phytochromes, causing the plant to grow rapidly to get better exposure to the sun.

Phototropins and phytochromes are completely different from the photoreceptors found in animals’ eyes, although all consist of a protein connected to a chemical dye that absorbs the light. There is one type of photoreceptor, however, that we share. During daylight hours, cryptochromes within cells detect blue and UV light, using this signal to set an organism’s internal clock or circadian rhythms. In plants, this clock regulates many processes, including leaf movements and photosynthesis. So sight even helps plants tell the time. 

Acknowledgment: Helix, Quora, Zazenlife.com

Graphical representation of photosynthesis: Fix the process in your mind

V.C.: Ndsuvirtualcell