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

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

The rice-wheat cropping zone of Punjab is the main producer of high-valued and fine quality basmati rice in Pakistan. The rice produced in this area is famous for its grain length and aromatic characteristics. Being an important export item, rice contributes significantly to the national foreign exchange earnings. Wheat is the other major crop of the rice-wheat system and being the staple food is central to national agricultural policies. Rice is grown on a vast area in this zone during Kharif mostly followed by wheat in the Rabi season. Studies have shown that a large gap exists between the potential and yields actually realised by the wheat growers of the area [Byerlee, et al. (1984); Hobbs (1985) and Sheikh, et al. (2000)]. Farmers’ practices regarding land preparation for paddy, wheat planting time, and other conflicts endogenous to the rice-wheat based cropping system were identified as the major factors limiting wheat yield in the area. The flooded and puddled soils that are well suited for paddy production as compared to well-drained conditions required for wheat is such an example of the system conflicts. The farmers in the rice-wheat zone of the Punjab predominantly grow basmati varieties, which are late maturing as compared to coarse varieties of rice. Therefore, paddy harvest is generally delayed at most of the farms in this zone. The late paddy harvest coupled with poor soil structure and loose plant residues create problems for preparation of a good seedbed and planting of wheat often gets late [Byerlee, et al. (1984)]. The farmers also had to resort to the broadcast method for wheat sowing which results in poor and patchy plant stands.

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

Exploiting a Wearable Extra-Finger for Haptic Applications

This extended abstract presents the design of a wearable device for haptic stimulation of hand palms and phalanges. Most of the wearable haptic devices for hand palms are based on a parallel structure, that guarantees good precision and stiffness but presents workspace limitations and encumbrance problems. In this work, we improve the design of a wearable extra-finger, previously designed to augment human hands and to provide assistance for people affected by hand and upper-limb diseases to apply as a haptic device. To employ this device for haptics applications, we provided it an additional adduction/abduction degree of freedom and we modified the fingertip/end-effector to include a micro force sensor

Discourse and Power Relations: A Critical Discourse Analysis of a Pakistani Talk Show

The paper aims at studying the ways power and inequality are enacted in a Pakistani talk show aired on Capital TV on 14th August 2019. The research primarily focused on analyzing turn-taking patterns of the discussion held between the host of the program and three guests. The analysis revealed the unequal distribution of turns implying the unequal distribution of power between the host and guests as well as between the guests. The host of the program through her discourse asserted power as she was the one to control the topic of discussion throughout the program. Her power can be attributed to the power of media. Besides, one of the guest speakers, Jawwad asserted his power through his knowledge. The female speaker did not have enough representation and was not given enough chance to share her views, therefore, it can be concluded that gender was another element that played an important part in forming the power relations in the discussion that was observed.Keywords: Critical Discourse Analysis, Discourse Power Relations, Media Discourse and Talk Shows, Turn-takin

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