3,130 research outputs found
Financial Capacity and Willingness of Farmers to pay for Irrigation Services in the Post-reform Scenario in Pakistan: Two Case Studies
To eliminate the subsidy on the canal irrigation system, the Government of Pakistan has decided to reform the management, intending to make it more efficient, equitable, transparent, and able to take care of the sustainability of the worldās largest contiguous irrigation network. The water users are being entrusted with greater role in the management through the formation of Farmersā Organisations (FOs) to operate and maintain secondary canals and pay for full cost of water delivery. Ultimate payer will be the farmer. The economic viability of the reforms, therefore, much depends on farmersā ability and willingness to pay for the cost of irrigation water delivery, which is expected to rise. This paper estimates financial liabilities of the farmers in the post-reform scenario, and assesses their capacity and willingness to pay for liabilities in the provinces of Punjab and Sindh. One distributary in each of the two provinces is studied as the reference distributary, where FOs have already been formed. The cost of desired level of operation and maintenance levels are worked out using secondary data for 1997-98. With these costs, the water users in the Punjab and Sindh provinces need to pay Rs 333 and Rs 373 per ha for their water service, respectively. The estimated O&M costs form about 5.4 and 3 percent of production costs and 3.8 and 3.5 percent of the net income in the Punjab and Sindh provinces respectively. The farmersā net income from crop enterprise is higher than the cost of water. Thus, an average farmer has the potential to pay for water. Recent experience of Hakra 4-R Distributary FO suggests that the farmers are also willing to pay for water service, if they are organised properly.
Institutional reforms for agricultural water management
Irrigation managementDrainageParticipatory management
Condition-based maintenance of wind turbine blades
The blades of offshore wind farms (OWTs) are susceptible to a wide variety of diverse sources of
damage. Internal impacts are caused primarily by structure deterioration, so even though outer
consequences are the consequence of harsh marine ecosystems. We examine condition-based
maintenance (CBM) for a multiblade OWT system that is exposed to environmental shocks in this
work. In recent years, there has been a significant rise in the number of wind turbines operating
offshore that make use of CBMs. The gearbox, generator, and drive train all have their own
vibration-based monitoring systems, which form most of their foundation. For the blades, drive
train, tower, and foundation, a cost analysis of the various widely viable CBM systems as well as
their individual prices has been done. The purpose of this article is to investigate the potential
benefits that may result from using these supplementary systems in the maintenance strategy.
Along with providing a theoretical foundation, this article reviews the previous research that has
been conducted on CBM of OWT blades. Utilizing the data collected from condition monitoring,
an artificial neural network is employed to provide predictions on the remaining life. For the
purpose of assessing and forecasting the cost and efficacy of CBM, a simple tool that is based on
artificial neural networks (ANN) has been developed. A CBM technique that is well-established
and is based on data from condition monitoring is used to reduce cost of maintenance. This can be
accomplished by reducing malfunctions, cutting down on service interruption, and reducing the
number of unnecessary maintenance works. In MATLAB, an ANN is used to research both the
failure replacement cost and the preventative maintenance cost. In addition to this, a technique for
optimization is carried out to gain the optimal threshold values. There is a significant opportunity
to save costs by improving how choices are made on maintenance to make the operations more
cost-effective. In this research, a technique to optimizing CBM program for elements whose
deterioration may be characterized according to the level of damage that it has sustained is
presented. The strategy may be used for maintenance that is based on inspections as well as
maintenance that is based on online condition monitoring systems
Correlates of Choice of Contraceptive Methods in Pakistan
Since 1965, contraceptive use rate has been slowly increasing in Pakistan. In 1984-85, contraceptive ever use rate was 11.8 percent and current use rate was 9.1 percent [Government of Pakistan (1986)]. These use rates increased to 20.7 percent and 11.8 percent respectively in 1990-91 [National Institute of Population Studies (1992)]. However, use rates did not increase as expected. Pakistanās Population Welfare Programme adopted many strategies to increase the use rate of contraceptive methods but although knowledge of contraceptive methods increased to 77.9 percent [National Institute of Population Studies (1992)], use rate remained low. One of the major reasons was inadequate coverage of service delivery. Contraceptive method of choice out of the available variety of contraceptive methods ensures continuation of use and reduces the drop-out rate [Jain (1992)]. The needs and values of individuals change over time and any one method cannot be suitable to an individualās need all the time. So if more than one method is available, and acceptor can switch over to a more suitable method of choice if the first (or previous) method of choice becomes unacceptable. Also the clientās satisfaction with the method of choice is very important. Clients are best satisfied when they get the methods of their choice from a broad variety or āmixā of contraceptive methods offered on a reliable basis.
Study of Pakistan pilot project farmer-leaders to Nepal
Farmer participation / Irrigation management / Farmer managed irrigation systems / Irrigated farming / Sustainable agriculture / Institution building / Pakistan
Social mobilization and institutional development approach and strategy
Institutional development, Water users associations, Training, Capacity building, Water resource management, Irrigated farming, Farm Management, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,
Potential for Blue-Gray Water Trade-offs for Irrigation in Small Towns of Pakistan: A Case Study of Farmers' Costs and Benefits in Haroonabad
The growing demand and the competition for fresh water in various sectors suggest that the irrigated agriculture will have to release freshwater for more important and valuable uses. This implies that other options would need to be identified to meet water demands for agriculture. Meeting irrigation requirements through non-conventional water sources is one of the options for agricultural uses. Gray water use for irrigation, a pervasive practice in urban and peri-urban areas of many developing countries, could be one of the solutions. The debate on wastewater irrigation from an environmental point of view is already on, focussing more on human and environmental āsafetyā aspects. The āvalueā aspect of the wastewater irrigation remains neglected, however. The irrigation users of untreated wastewater in many parts of the world had already traded off and revealed their preference for gray over blue water decades ago, when the water supply systems in towns and cities were set up. Why they would do it despite the high environmental and health risks associated with its use needs an answer. The paper documents the costs and benefits of wastewater irrigation from usersā point of view, and assesses the potential for real blue water savings in a small town setting in the southern Punjab, Pakistan. The data presented in the paper suggest that wastewater irrigation does lead to blue water savings, and it is profitable for farmers. While its potential is not fully exploited, more focus on appropriate approaches to physical and institutional aspects of wastewater disposal planning and management could make wastewater irrigation more productive, profitable, and safe for individuals as well as for the society as a whole.
Assessing Water Charges under Changing Institutional Irrigation Management in Pakistan: A Methodological Framework
The Government of Pakistan has opted for institutional reforms for canal irrigation system of the country with a view to undertaking efficient operation and maintenance of the system and improving cost recovery. In the new reforms, the Farmersā Organisations will manage distributaries and minors and pay the cost of upstream water in full. The complex hierarchy of the system poses serious challenges for working out the cost of water delivery for various channels. The paper presents a methodological framework for assessing the recoverable O&M costs from the farmers benefiting from an irrigation network. Hakra 4-R Distributary in the Eastern Sadiqia Canal serves as an illustration. The methodology shows how the beneficiary farmers can share the costs of the system. Simple methods are provided for working out water rates on the basis of volume of water received, commanded area, and duration of the irrigation turn. Out of the three methods, the area-based and time-based water rates have comparative advantage over the volumetric water rates owing to the resource endowments of the farmers.
Isolation, Identification and Bioactivity of Natural Products from Melaleuca Cajuputi (Myrtacea)
In this study the components of aerial and subterranean parts of
Melaleuca cajuputi were isolated and identified. Chemical investigation on
the leaves resulted in the isolation of two known triterpenoids, betulinic acid
and u rsolic acid ester. The oily fractions contained two phenolic components,
a naphthalene dione, an anthracene carboxal-dehyde and a phenenthracene
analogy.
Methanol extracts of the bark, seeds, and flowers allowed for the
isolation and identification of betulinic acid, urolic acid and betuline,
respectively. Their structures were determined using m odern spectroscopic
techniques such as IR, NMR, MS and by comparison with literature.The bioassay was carried out on crude extracts of leaves,
roots, seeds, and bark against first in star mosquito larvae (Aedes albopictus) according to the procedure described in the literature.
These extracts were found to be acute or relatively toxic to the target
organisms. Extract from leaves exhibited the highest toxicity followed
by extracts from roots, seeds, and bark respectively
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