The experiment was conducted at the field and store house of Spices Research Centre, BARI, Shibganj, Bogura, Bangladesh during 2018-20 to identify post-harvest onion bulb associated fungi in storage and to find out the effective control measures to overcome the storage loss as well as to increase shelf-life of onion bulb. The field experiment was conducted for producing bulbs of BARI Piaz-1, BARI Piaz-2, BARI Piaz-3, BARI Piaz-4 and BARI Piaz-5 which were used in store house. Six treatments viz. healthy and fresh bulb, bulb treatment with Cabriotop (0.3%), with Provax 200 WP (0.25%), with Amistar Top 325 SC (0.1%) and Autostin DF (0.2%), and control were used in store house. Aspergillus niger was the isolate of storage fungi in onion bulbs. Fungicides showed little bit effect on rotten and sprouted bulbs of all varieties on onion during the whole storage periods of control. But Autostin DF (Carbendazim) at 0.2% showed more effective among the fungicides. Summer onion varieties viz. BARI Piaz-2, BARI Piaz-3 and BARI Piaz-5 showed more than 50% rotten and sprouted bulbs at 32 DAI in storage. But winter onion varieties viz. BARI Piaz-1 and BARI Piaz-4 showed 20 - 30% rotten and sprouted bulbs at 160 DAI in storage. Among the winter varieties, BARI Piaz-4 was more stable and good compared to BARI Piaz-1. Among the summer varieties, sprouted bulbs were more than rotten bulbs, but rotten bulbs were more than sprouted bulbs in winter varieties.

The effect of three different storage materials on the fungal load and proximate composition of three groundnut varieties were examined at the laboratory of the Department of Crop Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ilorin, Nigeria. The seeds of three groundnut varieties, SAMNUT 21, SAMNUT 22 and SAMNUT 23, were obtained from the Institute of Agricultural Research (IAR) Samaru Zaria and planted following standard agronomic practices for groundnut. Freshly harvested seeds at 12% moisture content level were stored under ambient condition in PICS bag, Airtight Plastic Container and Zero Fly Bag obtained from the Nigeria Stored Products Research Institute (NSPRI) Ilorin for four months duration. Isolation of fungi from the seeds before and after the storage was carried out using the Agar Plate incubation method and identification of the isolated fungi was done by comparing the morphological and microscopic characteristics of the isolates with those described in standard references. Proximate composition of the seeds in terms of moisture content, crude protein, carbohydrate, ash, ether extract and nitrogen free extract, were determined before and after storage. The fungi isolated during the study include Aspergillus flavus, A. fumigatus, A. niger, Fusarium sp., Penicillium sp., Trichoderma sp., Rhizopus sp. and Colletotrichum sp. The results shows significant difference (p<0.05) in the percentage incidence of the fungal species isolated from the three groundnut varieties before and after storage in the different storage materials. The results also shows that except for ash content in SAMNUT 21 and SAMNUT 23, there was significant difference (p<0.05) in the percentage composition of ash in SAMNUT 22 and the other nutrients in all the three groundnut varieties before and after the storage in all the storage materials. The prospect for the use of these storage materials is discussed.

A field experiment comprising four weeding regimes and four levels of insecticidal application factorially combined and fitted in a randomized complete block design was carried out to determine their effects on seed mycoflora load of soybean at harvest. The different weeding regimes and insecticide application levels showed no significant consequence on mycoflora load of harvested seeds in treated plants. However the different combinations of weeding and insecticidal application had significant effect (p<0.05) on the mean number of fungi isolated from the harvested seeds of soybean cultivar TGX 1448-2E. A combination of weeding (at least once) and insecticide application (at least twice) reduced fungal flora of the seeds significantly (p<0.05). Aspergillus niger, Curvularia lunata and Penicillium oxalicum were the most affected fungal isolates. The mean number of Fusarium oxysporum and Phomopsis sp. were not significantly different throughout the study.

Coronavirus was detected in Bangladesh first time on March 8, 2020 officially. But Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), first reported in December 2019 from Wuhan in China, had reached the stage of a pandemic. This study was conducted to know the effects of spices against Covid-19 disease, impact of Covid-19 on agro-economy of spices crop and point out of mitigating of spices problem in Bangladesh. Major production of spices was severely affected, causing raw material shortages to the spice production of Bangladesh. Major for spices crop problem were shortages caused by the migration of the workforce due to lockdown. Continuing operation on the industry floor, in the midst of social distancing, and ensuring safety of the spices production, was also a major issue. Although the entire sectors were hit by the economic disruptions, the small-scale spice producers and processors most severely affected. The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and the prolonged lockdown have made thousands of farmers, labours and traders feel the pinch of a falling spices yield and sale. Increased production cost of onion, chilli, garlic, ginger, turmeric, coriander and black cumin due to Covid-19 situation over normal situation were 10.33, 9.54, 9.04, 11.46, 9.58, 6.21 and 7.21%, respectively. Market price of onion, chilli, garlic, ginger, turmeric, coriander and black cumin were also increased 5.00, 3.90, 1.39, 3.13, 1.40, 1.25 and 2.67 times, respectively, due to the influence of Covid-19.

The present field study was conducted to test the efficacy of different colored sticky traps to attract thrips (Thrips tabaci) in onion. The treatments were blue trap at 40 trap/ha, yellow trap at 40 trap/ha, white trap at 40 trap/ha, green trap at 40 trap/ha and transparent trap at 40 trap/ha. Onion cultivar BARI Piaz-1 was used as test crop for this trial. Observation was taken from sticky trap weekly from transplanting till harvesting. Treatments were assigned in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Among the color traps used, at 35 days after installation (DAI) of trap blue color attracted the highest (8.46 thrips/sq inch area of trap) number of T. tabaci adults followed by white (5.45 thrips/ sq inch area of trap), yellow (4.32 thrips/sq inch area of trap), green (3.54 thrips/ sq inch area of trap) and transparent (3.42 thrips/sq inch area of trap) color. Blue coloured sticky trap also attracted comparatively less number of beneficial insects compared to white, yellow, green and transparent trap. Sticky blue colored trap may be used as a component of IPM program for monitoring and mass trapping of thrips in the onion field.

The field experiment was conducted at Spices Research Centre, BARI, Shibganj, Bogura, Bangladesh (geographic coordinates 25.0167° N, 89.3167° E) during Rabi season of 2019-2020 to study the population dynamics of chilli thrips and mite in relation to weather parameters. The infestation of thrips and mite started from 1^st week after sowing i.e. last week of August (35^th standard week) and remained in the crop field till to the crop maturity (4^th week of April) in the range of 0.54 to 7.40 thrips/leaf and 0.17 to 6.55 mite/leaf respectively. Thrips and mite attained first (5.60 thrips/leaf and 4.34 mite/leaf), second (5.04 thrips/leaf and 4.13 mite/leaf) and third as well as the highest peak (7.40 thrips/leaf and 6.55 mite/leaf) during 3^rd week of November, 1^st week of December and 3^rd week of April, respectively. Thrips and mite population are positively correlated with average temperature whereas negatively correlated with relative humidity and average rainfall.

Previously, papermaking wastewater is also conventionally treated using aluminum-based coagulant, whereas, recent papermaking sludge is condensed using polysilica iron coagulant. By using polysilica iron flocculant (PSI), it have succeeded in creating an aluminum-free paper sludge. Furthermore, PSI paper sludge has opened up the prospect of technological development that will enable recycling without resorting to incineration, whereas conventional paper sludge treatment has relied on incineration.

Therefore, it searched for highly effective fungi for low-temperature fermentation of PSI papermaking sludge (PSI sludge) and clarified their taxonomic position. Furthermore, it clarified the characteristics of the isolates that are highly effective for low-temperature fermentation of PSI sludge by conducting culture tests on the obtained isolates and investigating the substances produced by the isolates.