Livestock production is one of the most important economic and social activities in agriculture in Afghanistan. The present study aims to survey the reproductive performance of crossbred cows to address any major constraints of their reproduction in Afghanistan. Body condition, reproductive disorders, and feeding schemes were surveyed in 144 cows of 7 dairy farms in Jalalabad city. In this survey, we found that 55.6% dairy cows had reproductive disorders, among them “anestrus” showed the highest percentage. Cows with a lower body condition score (BCS) showed a greater incidence of anestrus, with a significant difference in the occurrence of anestrus between BCS 1 and BCS 3. Further, cows fed with only straw tended to show lower BCS compared with animals fed with both straw and concentrates. In conclusion, the present study suggests that the low BCS of cows, which is possibly caused by a poor feeding scheme, is closely associated with a higher occurrence of anestrus in cows. The present study may contribute to proposing improvements in feeding schemes that may in turn increase the reproductive performance of crossbred cows in Afghanistan.

Juveniles of Nile tilapia were stocked (4.47 ± 0.26 g, eight fish per tank) and fed with test diets containing different inclusion levels of boiled Moringa oleifera leaf meal powder (0–30%: MLM 0, MLM 10, MLM 20, MLM 30), at 6% body weight for a total for six weeks. MLM 10 recorded the best average weight gain, specific growth rate, food conversion rate and protein efficiency ratio but there were no significance differences in all parameters with the MLM 30 diet which had the highest MLM inclusion. As there were no differences in fish growth and feed utilization between MLM 0 diet and MLM 10–30 diet, it would be possible to replace fish meal as a main dietary protein source by MLM up to 30% from 40% without any negative influence on the growth of juvenile Nile tilapia and is applicable as a practical rearing diet.

Processes and results of stock enhancement of tiger shrimp performed in Batan Bay in Philippines was reported as a trans-disciplinary research for enhancement of area-capability (AC). Causes of decline in catch amount of tiger shrimp were overfishing and degradation of its nursery grounds such as mangrove forest. Five fishers had participated in the intermediate culture throughout the project period. Technical issues for stock enhancement were solved and expectable recapture rate of released shrimp was more than 20%. Economic feasibility of the stock enhancement was also confirmed. Forty-five percent of the people in the area are realizing the increase of catch amount of tiger shrimp. Effectiveness of stock enhancement is obtaining understanding from common people including public administrations. After the project, the stock enhancement was paused and stakeholders want to proceed with the stock enhancement. Aklan State University is planning to support stock enhancement project as its extension activities and expect participations of researchers from foreign countries. Such activities will provide research opportunities for evaluation and theorization of AC.

The Government of Vietnam established Vietnam Good Agricultural Practice (VietGAP) in 2008 for ensuring safety of crops, managing environment, etc. and has tried to promote VietGAP intensively. As a milestone of its promotion policy, the Government issued National Standard VietGAP based on “Law on Standards and Technical Regulations” in 2017. This article describes the VietGAP promotion policy adopted by the Government previously and the results of policy implementation. It also clarified the background against which National Standard VietGAP was enacted and analyzed how National Standard VietGAP was improved in comparison with previous VietGAP. Finally it describes some future prospects about National Standard VietGAP.

Drought is one of the most serious abiotic stresses for rice cultivation, even under a water saving production system such as the Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) system and upland irrigated fields. In this study, we evaluated the performance of larger root systems in a KM07 mutant under such water management conditions. This mutant line was utilized for breeding and development of new rice germplasm adaptable to drought stress conditions in Mwea, Kenya, by crossing it with the recurrent parent of New Rice for Africa (NERICA), WAB56-104. Three mutant-type F6 lines grown under AWD and upland irrigated conditions showed different responses to drought stress. The mutant type’s greater root growth was observed in lines 2 and 3 under AWD and upland irrigation conditions, respectively. These results suggest that the highly developed root system derived from the KM07 mutant can avoid drought stress under field conditions in Kenya, and it should be utilized as breeding material for drought stress avoidance, along with water management technology.

Founded in 2011 with the purpose of developing international human resources, BRIDGE is a circle for global-minded students which is recognized officially by the Faculty of Agriculture, Niigata University. Organizing international student forums is a fundamental activity, and since 2016 we have held the forum AUF (Agricultural yoUth Forum). An important characteristic of the forum is that students carry out almost all of the organizational activities, including project management and applications for financial assistance. We hope that by sharing the know-how which we have cultivated in international student forums, all Agricultural students who read it will be motivated to hold their own distinctive international student forum. And lastly, we support and hope to begin a JISNAS student organization for international human resource development through sharing this manual as an opportunity.

In order to contribute to progress of discussions for developing human resources of International Cooperation, a technical cooperation project aiming at fostering farmers’ group leaders in One Village One Product (OVOP) movement was case-studied. It was carried out in Thailand for four years from 2007 to 2011. In the project, the marketing know-how in Japan Agricultural Cooperatives (JA) was transferred to the group leaders. As a result, about 100 farmers’ groups were so empowered by the group leaders that about 5,000 group members increased their incomes. After the project, fostering group leaders was sustained with the self-help efforts. In this paper, the JA marketing know-how, the technology transfer activities and the contributing Japanese human resources to the project implementation were studied to know the reasons of achieving the project outcome and sustainability. Consequently, it was found to be a huge contribution for the project that the JA-related experts selected the suited know-how from their accumulated experiences in Japan and transferred them. Furthermore, it was suggested that supporting measures of these domestic specialized human resources should be taken to rise the application efficiency of their know-how in international cooperation of other developing countries.