INFLUENCE OF AGRICULTURE EXTENSION SERVICES AND FARMER’S SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS ON ADOPTION OF DATE PALM (Phoenix dactylifera L.) IN DISTRICT DERA ISMAIL KHAN, PAKISTAN

This study was conducted in the major date producing areas (Dakki, Mian Wada, Mathra Abad, Jhok Ghamy Wali, Habib Abad, Bilot Sharif, Himat, Jhok Moazam, Matwala Shah, Chura and Jhok Malkanri) of the district Dera Ismail Khan, by personal interview method from a sample of 51 respondents selected from these areas for quantitative data collection. Most of the respondents have a secondary and higher secondary level of education (39.2%, 33.3%) respectively. 51% respondents has more than 200 kanals land. It was also found that this category (having more than 200 kanals) have higher secondary level of education. Majority of the respondents have no other source of income (74.5%). The grower’s percentage increased gradually and at present 37.2% respondents were attached with date palm cultivation since last 5-10 years whereas 27% were growing date palm from last 20 years. 84% respondents cultivate the “Dakki” cultivar which is one of the most profitable date cultivar but majority of the respondents (74%) got knowledge about enhanced varieties from their fellow farmers and only 22% respondents were educated by extension workers. 77.3% respondents were facing the problems of insect/pest attack but only 54.9% of the selected respondents apply the plant protection measures.  Although, all the farmers were satisfied from their date palm production, still 41.5% were expecting to get help from extension department about insects/pest and rodent control while 17% respondents expect others type of help from extension department (inputs). Key words:            Date palm, extension services, socio-economic characters, personal interview

RELIABILITY OF DISSIMILAR METAL WELDS SUBJECTED TO SULFIDE STRESS CRACKING

Serious concerns have been raised in recent years in the Oil & Gas Industry about the reliability of Dissimilar Metal Welds (DMWs) in sour service. The primary reason for these concerns is because DMW joints exhibit small-localized hard zones that are susceptible to Sulfide Stress Cracking (SSC). In the open literature some methods such as preheating have been suggested to overcome the problem of hard zone formation. The objective of this study is to assess the effect of Sulfide Stress Cracking (SSC) on the reliability (mechanical integrity) of DMWs specimens fabricated with different preheat temperatures and electrodes exposed to sour service environment. The National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE) Standard Tensile Test TM 01-77-96 Method A was used to determine the influence of SSC on DMWs in a systematic manner. Test results show considerable improvement in the Time-To- Failure as a result of the preheating methods used. However, it does not appear that the hard zones can be reliably eliminated for manual welding methods, even with the nickel-base electrode, and the optimum preheat temperature. Metallographic Examination and Scanning Electron Microscope Characterization were also used to assess the susceptibility and the failure modes

Functional Foods and Human Health: An Overview

Functional food is a whole ingredient or a part of food that used as food for specific therapeutic purposes. It is divided into two wide categories: Conventional and modified functional foods. Conventional functional Foods are composed of natural or whole-food ingredients that provide functional substances while modified functional is food or food products in which add additional ingredients for specific health purposes. Plant-based food such as fruits, vegetables, herbs, cereals, nuts and beans contain vitamins, minerals, fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants and phenolic compounds that play a functional role in the human body against chronic diseases including cancer, cardiovascular and GIT-related disease. Some other foods or food products like juices, dairy products, fortified eggs and seafood are composed of functional components. Fish contain omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA) that are played a functional role in heart health and brain development

Fatigue Life Estimates for a Notched Member in a Corrosive Environment (Corrosion)

143 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1985.It is often assumed that the effects of an aggressive environment can be included in fatigue life estimation procedures by determining the material properties in the environment of interest. An analytical and experimental program was conducted to investigate this assumption. Automotive grade aluminum alloy 5454-H32 was selected for this study in laboratory air and 3% sodium chloride solution environments. A simple model where the total fatigue life is considered to be the sum of the portion where fatigue damage is best described by the notch strain field, and the portion where nominal stress and crack length dominate fatigue damage assessment, was used to estimate fatigue lives for center notched plate specimen.Smooth cylindrical specimens were employed to determine the material properties for analyzing initiation life. The environment had a large effect on the initiation resistance of this material in long life region, whereas, at shorter lives the effect was not significant. Center cracked plates were used to determine the crack growth rates. Linear elastic fracture mechanics concepts were employed to estimate crack propagation lives. Approximately a factor of three reduction in crack propagation life was attributable to corrosive environment.Center notched plate specimen with k(,t) = 2.4 and k(,t) = 5.1 were tested in both environments to examine the model. The effect of stress ratio and frequency was also investigated. The accuracy of fatigue life predictions in relation to the experimental data were comparable in 3% sodium chloride solution environment to the result obtained in air.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD

FARMERS’ PERCEPTION OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND ADAPTATION IN KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA PAKISTAN: A CASE STUDY OF NOWSHERA DISTRICT

Climate change has a devastating effect on yields of major crops and is considered to become a threat to national food security. Therefore, this study was designed to explore farmers’ perception of climate change and investigate changes in seasonal temperature and rainfall over the last two decades. Focus Group Discussion (FGD) was employed to analyze the perceptions of farmers about climate change vulnerabilities and their adaptation strategies to cope with the changing climatic conditions. The results revealed that regarding environmental services, water availability was decreased due to low rainfall. In addition, the supply of firewood was also decreased due to a high demand on fuel and construction purposes. Furthermore, there was an increase in population density and a decrease in medicinal plants and wildlife due to deforestation. The temperature increased over the last 20 years and the length of the summer period was longer due to less rainfall while the duration of winter turned to be short. It is reported that the spring season is almost merged in the summer season, with the increase of temperature during the spring. Therefore, agriculture research should develop a variety of crops that can adapt to climatic extremes and educate farmers through seminars and campaigns to build their adaptive capacity dealing with the use of cultural practices to mitigate climate change

ASSESSMENT OF EXTENSION AGENTS’ KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS REGARDING PEST MANAGEMENT IN KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA PROVINCE -PAKISTAN

The research study was initiated in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan toinvestigate about the extension agents’ knowledge and skills regarding pestmanagement. Key objectives of the study were to know the present levels of theirpotentials and to judge their interested level of skills and potentials in pestmanagement capabilities needed by Agriculture Extension Officers (AEOs) fortheir effective job performance. Respondents were asked to report the selfperceived level of expertise possessed by them and the level required for smoothperformance regarding pest management measures in the field to sustainagriculture. The present and interested levels of potentials were measured both onLikert scale ranging from 1 to 5 such as “very low” as “1” and “very high” as “5”.There were significant differences observed in the agricultural officer’s potentialfor sustaining agriculture regarding age, professional qualification and jobexperience. Age, professional qualification and job experience have significantassociation on technical efficiency regarding protection of plants from pests forsustainable agriculture. Moreover, required level in said capability was higher inidentification of major field crops’ diseases as well as the guidance of farmers forherbicides use against weeds. Trainings of AEOs were required in identification ofdiseases and insect pests of minor crops along with their causes. Hence it isrecommended that AEOs may be trained and well prepared in the mentionedparameters of pest management measures to face challenges in the field ofagriculture and can face farming community effectively to raise their livingstandards by sustaining agriculture for their coming generation

Engagement with extension services by small-acreage sugarcane farmers in selected districts of Pakistan

Extension services perform a pivotal role in encouraging farmers to adopt better farm practices and boost agricultural yields. A multi-stage sampling technique was applied to select 336 sugarcane growers who were interviewed in face-to-face meetings. Results of study show that most growers (299) farmed small parcels of land up to 2.0 ha. Of these small growers, less than half (139) had any knowledge of the public agricultural extension services available to them. Moreover, only 44 growers reported that they knew an extension agent and 23 confirmed that they had sought information by a range of extension methods. These 23 growers achieved an average yield of 108 t ha(-1) while the remaining313 farmers achieved average yields around 60 t ha(-1). This study suggests the government of Pakistan should review the performance of public agricultural extension departments and extension agents and consider strengthening the present extension services