Farmers' organized behavior in irrigated agriculture in Pakistan's Punjab: A case study of six watercourse command areas in Junejwala Minor, Lower Chenab Canal System

Irrigated farming / Irrigation systems / Farmer participation / Farmers' associations / Water users' associations / Farmer-agency interactions / Watercourses / Canals / Case studies / Social aspects / Land tenure / Leadership / Conflict / Irrigation effects / Pakistan / Punjab

Does the interest tax shield align with maqasid al Shariah in finance?

The debt-equity distinction is critical in modern corporate finance. We assess the compliance of the interest tax shield with the maqasid al Shariah in finance. For our analysis, we use the ends of maqasid al Shariah as proposed by Akram Laldin & Furqani, 2013. We develop a survey questionnaire to survey an international sample of well-informed individuals in the field of Islamic economics and finance. We use mean comparison, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and structured equation modeling (SEM) to evaluate 176 responses. Our results reveal that experts consider the interest tax shield as anathema to the ends of maqasid al Shariah in Islamic finance. We find that the interest tax shield discourages equity financing and hinders the objective of overall human well-being. We recommend reframing the tax shield in favor of equity financing to promote profit and loss sharing. Keywords: Maqasid al Shariah, Islamic finance, Interest tax shield, JEL classification: K22, J88, Z12, G32, G0

Organizing water users for distributary management: preliminary results from a pilot study in the Hakra 4-R distributary of the Eastern Sadiqia Canal System of Pakistan's Punjab Province

Irrigation canalsDistributary canalsWater users' associationsSocial organizationVillages

In-vivo Kinetics of Silymarin (Milk Thistle) on Healthy Male Volunteers

Purpose: The study was aimed at evaluating the in vivo kinetics of silymarin tablets, a product with anti-hepatotoxic and free radical scavenging activities. Methods: Silimarin® (Amson Vaccines & Pharma Pvt Ltd) was used as the test product while another silymarin tablet brand, Silliver® (Abbott Laboratories Pak Ltd) was the reference product. The tablets were administered to healthy male volunteers orally at a dose of 200 mg following an overnight fast according to a randomized cross-over design. Scheduled blood samples were collected, centrifuged and the plasma assayed using a sensitive and validated reversed phase high performance liquid chromatographic (RP-HPLC) method. Various pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated based on the non-compartmental model. Results: Non-significant difference (p < 0.05) was observed in the area under the curve (AUC) of the two brands with values of 10.8 ± 0.4 µg h/ml and 11.2 ± 0.7 µg h/ml, respectively. There was, however, a significant difference (p < 0.05) in the Cmax of the two brands. Other pharmacokinetic parameters evaluated did not show any statistical difference (p < 0.05) between the two products except for mean residence time Conclusion: The test product can be used as an alternative to the brand, Silliver®-Abbot (reference), only in conditions where maximum plasma concentration (Cmax) is not an important consideration

Livestock keepers’ perception of indigenous goat breeds and their contribution to livelihoods in Pakistan

The objective of this study was to determine the objectives of goat production, related management practices and their role in the live of rural poor through Participatory Rural Appraisal at two experimental sites including Bahawalpur (Site I) and Faisalabad (Site II) in Pakistan. Three villages were randomly selected from each site for appraisals. The data were collected through discussions with the livestock keepers about the goat production systems, contribution to livelihood, role in livelihood, breeding and selection, key constraints and sale of animals. The data were analysed using Chi square test. It was found that contribution of livestock to livelihood was significantly (P0.05) between sites and between genders with the only exception for poor and all except very poor differences (P<0.001). Modes of spending money and trends were different between sites (P<0.001). The preferred traits were number of kids, feed intake and age at maturity in Teddy goats while milk yield, body size, colour, disease resistance and taste of meat in Beetal goats. Makhi Cheeni strain of Beetal goats is preferred at Site I and Black and White spotted strain of Beetal breed is preferred at Site II. Major constraints identified were problems in production and sales, disease attacks, mortality, scarcity of drinking water, predation, theft, lack of quality breeds, feed and finance. It is suggested that government should extend professional and financial services to minimize these constraints for the uplift of rural poor through goat production