Zero-tillage Technology and Farm Profits: A Case Study of Wheat Growers in the Rice Zone of Punjab

This study presents the results from a field survey of the wheat growers in the rice-wheat zone of Punjab. The late maturing basmati rice varieties and the post paddy-harvest conventional tillage practices to prepare seedbed for wheat sowing often result in delayed planting of the crop. The late sowing is a major factor responsible for low wheat yields obtained by the farmers of the area. Introduction of the new zero-tillage seed drill in the area during early 1980s made it possible to sow wheat in freshly harvested untilled paddy fields utilizing residual moister. Presently, more than eighty thousand hectares of wheat are sown with zero-tillage drill technology. The partial budget analysis showed that zero-tillage is more profitable than conventional wheat sowing methods of ‘wadwatter’ or ‘rauni’. The new technology saves tillage and irrigation costs, results in yield gains through a possible improvement in sowing time and enhanced fertilizer and water use efficiencies. The results showed that the zero-tillage adopters earn an extra income of 253 and 2278 rupees per acre of wheat over that earned from wheat sown with rauni and wadwattar methods respectively. The results of multiple regression analysis confirmed that the zero-tillage technology enhances water and fertilizer use efficiency. However, sufficient evidence was not present to prove any positive or adverse affect of the technology on the incidence of weeds in wheat crop. It is suggested that this aspect of zero-tillage technology be focused more in future research.wheat; Zero-tillage; technology; irrigated Punjab; rice-wheat zone; Pakistan

FIKIH PRIORITAS ANTARA RUKHSAH DAN ‘AZĪMAH SAAT PANDEMI

Pandemi global telah memunculkan tantangan baru dalam praktik keagamaan, termasuk dalam pelaksanaan ibadah dan peribadatan umat Muslim. Dalam konteks Fikih, terdapat dua prinsip penting yang relevan dengan situasi pandemi, yaitu "Rukhsah" (kemudahan) dan "‘Azīmah" (keteguhan). Rukhsah menunjukkan kelonggaran dalam pelaksanaan aturan-aturan syari'at untuk mempermudah kondisi tertentu, sementara ‘Azīmah menekankan pada keteguhan dan kekhusyu'an dalam menjalankan perintah agama. Artikel ini bertujuan untuk mengeksplorasi bagaimana Fikih mengatur prioritas antara rukhsah dan ‘Azīmah dalam situasi pandemi, dengan fokus pada aspek-aspek ibadah dan ritual keagamaan.Pandemi global telah memunculkan tantangan baru dalam praktik keagamaan, termasuk dalam pelaksanaan ibadah dan peribadatan umat Muslim. Dalam konteks Fikih, terdapat dua prinsip penting yang relevan dengan situasi pandemi, yaitu "Rukhsah" (kemudahan) dan "‘Azīmah" (keteguhan). Rukhsah menunjukkan kelonggaran dalam pelaksanaan aturan-aturan syari'at untuk mempermudah kondisi tertentu, sementara ‘Azīmah menekankan pada keteguhan dan kekhusyu'an dalam menjalankan perintah agama. Artikel ini bertujuan untuk mengeksplorasi bagaimana Fikih mengatur prioritas antara rukhsah dan ‘Azīmah dalam situasi pandemi, dengan fokus pada aspek-aspek ibadah dan ritual keagamaan

Estimation of soil moisture using multispectral and FTIR techniques

AbstractSoil moisture is a key capricious in hydrological process, the accessibility of moisture content in soil reins the mechanism amid the land surface and atmospheric progression. Precise soil moisture determination is influential in the weather forecast, drought monitoring, hydrological modeling, agriculture management and policy making. The aims of the study were to estimate soil moisture through remotely sensed data (FTIR & optical) and establishment of the results with field measured soil moisture data. The ground measurements were carried out in 0–15cm depth. Permutation of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and land surface temperature (LST) were taken to derive temperature vegetation dryness index (TVDI) for assessment of surface soil moisture. Correlation and regression analysis was conceded to narrate the TVDI with in situ calculated soil moisture. The spatial pattern of TVDI shows that generally low moisture distribution over study area. A significant (p<0.05) negative correlation of r=0.79 was found between TVDI and in situ soil moisture. The TVDI was also found adequate in temporal variation of surface soil moisture. The triangle method (TVDI) confers consistent appraisal of moisture situation and consequently can be used to evaluate the wet conditions. Furthermore, the appraisal of soil moisture using the triangular method (TVDI) was possible at medium spatial resolutions because the relationship of soil moisture with LST and NDVI lends an eloquent number of representative pixels for developing a triangular scatter plot

DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF VISIBLE LIGHT COMMUNICATION

Currently, the research community has shown very strong interest towards visible light communication. This work explores VLC communication through a prototype implementation. In this work the visible light is being used and IR sensors. The IR sensor have been in practice for receiving of data which is send from the keypad and is further displayed on the receiver side with the LCD. The IR sensor is interfaced at the receiving end. The data is sensed by the receiver side through the blinking of the LED at the transmitter end. The IR sensor receives the data at the same baud rate and displays it on LCD which is interfaced with the Arduino at the receiver end.  We were able to transmit small data through VLC. In future, we are planning to transmit live stream and large video files through it

Evaluasi Kesesuaian Lahan Kecamatan Tompobulu Kabupaten Bantaeng untuk Pengembangan Tanaman Lada (Piper nigrum L)

Potential land resources can be expected through land evaluation activities. This study aims to evaluate the suitability of Tompobulu Subdistrict of Bantaeng Regency for the development of pepper plant (Piper nigrum L). This research was conducted in Tompobulu Sub-district of Bantaeng Regency which started from March to July 2016. This research used qualitative method and to determine land suitability using simple limiting factor approach. Determination of observation points based on the overlapping results of the baseline maps that resulted in 6 units of observation (soil profile). Production data and management of pepper crop obtained from farmers of respondents amounted to 10 people. The result of the study shows that the climate type of the research area according to Oldeman is classified as B2 with the actual land suitability class which is quite suitable (S2) with 3,657 Ha and the marginal fit (S3) with 3,023 Ha with rainfall limiting factor, soil depth, Slope, and surface rocks whereas the suitability class is quite suitable (S2) with an area of 6,160 Ha and corresponding marginally (S3) with an area of 520 Ha with rainfall and soil depth limiting factors. The potential of pepper plant development in Tompobulu Sub-district of Bantaeng Regency is quite large indicated by the percentage of land area that is quite suitable (S2) (82.40%)

Comparative Study Regarding Efficacy of Radiofrequency Rhizotomy and the Microvascular Decompression in the Treatment of Trigeminal Neuralgia

Objective: Trigeminal neuralgia is the lancinating electric shock like pain because of neurovascular compression in trigeminal nerve distribution. We compared the efficacy of radiofrequency rhizotomy with microvascular decompression in terms of complete pain relief.Material and Methods: The randomized controlled trial study was conducted in the neurosurgery department, LGH Lahore for a period of one year June 2017 to June 2018. A total of 110 patients were included and distributed into two groups, i.e. group-I who underwent radiofrequency rhizotomy (RFR) and group-II who underwent microvascular decompression (MVD). Follow-up of all the patients was assured up to six months. All the data were analyzed using S.P.S.S Ver. 23.0.Results: There were 38 (34.6%) male and 72(65.4%) female. Mean age was 51.25 ± 8.80 years. At the end of six months, in Group-I (RFR), Nineteen (34.5%) patients were completely pain free, 25 (45.5%) patients had significant pain relief, 7 (12.7%) had mild improvement in the pain and 4 (7.3%) patients had no improvement in the pain. In group-II (MVD), 30 (54.5%) patients were completely pain free, 14 (25.5%) had significant pain relief, 9 (16.4%) had mild improvement and 2 (3.6%) had no improvement in their pain (Chi-square = 6.49, p = 0.090).Conclusion: Microvascular decompression had better results than a radiofrequency rhizotomy in patients presenting with trigeminal neuralgia regarding excellent pain relief and fewer complications

Role of Early Tracheostomy in the Management of Severe Head Injury

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare the role of early and late tracheostomy in patients presenting with severe head injuries.Material and Methods: This randomized controlled trial study was conducted in the department of neurosurgery, Lahore General Hospital Lahore from March 2018 to August 2018, after taking approval from the ethical committee. A total of one hundred and thirty patients was divided randomly into early (within three days) and late(after three days) tracheostomy groups. After tracheostomy, data regarding acute physiology, age and chronic health evaluation II (APACHE II), the total number of days since ventilation, tracheostomy, weaning, discharge from ICU and hospital, complications and mortality were noted. All the data was entered and analyzed with SPSS23.0. Quantitative variables were presented as mean and standard deviation, qualitative variables were presented as numbers and percentage. The Chi-square test was applied. A p-value of ≤0.05 was considered significant.Results: The mean age of the patients was 33.13 ± 2.53 years. There were 84 males (64.61%) and 46 females (35.38%) in the study. The duration of mechanical ventilation, ICU stay and stay in hospital for early and late tracheostomy groups were 25.68 ± 2.94 vs. 33.37 ± 3.32 days, 29.42 ± 2.97 vs. 38.54 ± 3.80 days and 37.20 ± 2.98 vs. 47.15 ± 3.84 days respectively. Four patients (3.08%) and seven patients (5.38%) suffered from mortality.Conclusion: Early tracheostomy among the patients presenting with severe head injuries was associated with a better outcome than late tracheostomy

DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF VISIBLE LIGHT COMMUNICATION

Currently, the research community has shown very strong interest towards visible light communication. This work explores VLC communication through a prototype implementation. In this work the visible light is being used and IR sensors. The IR sensor have been in practice for receiving of data which is send from the keypad and is further displayed on the receiver side with the LCD. The IR sensor is interfaced at the receiving end. The data is sensed by the receiver side through the blinking of the LED at the transmitter end. The IR sensor receives the data at the same baud rate and displays it on LCD which is interfaced with the Arduino at the receiver end.  We were able to transmit small data through VLC. In future, we are planning to transmit live stream and large video files through it