Comparison of Crop Water Requirements of Maize Varieties under Irrigated Condition in Semi-Arid Environment

A field study was conducted to find the crop water requirements of four maize varieties under irrigated condition on clay loam soil at the research farm of The University of Agriculture Peshawar, Pakistan during July–October, 2012. Objective of the study was to compare the crop water requirements of maize using two traditional varieties i.e. Azam (V1) and Jalal (V2) and two hybrid 3025W (V3) and 30K08(V4)) replicated four times in a randomized complete block design. Soil moisture was determined by gravimetric method, actual evapotranspiration (ETa) was worked out by field water balance taking into account soil moisture, rainfall, and irrigation water applied. ETa of traditional maize variety V1 was found lower and higher for hybrid maize variety V4. Seasonal ETa of selected maize varieties V2, V3 and V4were 3, 24 and 34 % higher as compared to V1. ETa of V1 varied between 2.7 to 4.8 mm d-1, for V2 between 2.6 to 5.2 mm d-1, for V3 between 3.3 to 6.2 mm d-1 and for V4 between 3.4 to 6.5 mm d-1. The seasonal ETa of selected varieties V1, V2, V3 and V4 was found 411, 422, 512 and 550 mm, respectively. Results showed that ETa of hybrid varieties was higher as compared to traditional varieties. ETa was found statistically significant (P ? 0.05) for the selected maize varieties. Keywords: Actual evapotranspiration, crop water requirement

Advertising Message Processing Amongst Urban Children: With Reference To TV Advertising in Pakistan.

The current study extends the knowledge of cognitive processing of advertising messages by urban children in Pakistan. Data were collected from 230 children in age bracket 7 - 12 years, drawn by using the cluster sampling approach. Structured questionnaire using three point rating scale was used. Data analysis showed that children’s capability to understand, decode and process advertising messages is directed not only by their own cognitive capabilities at different age levels but also through societal and personal backgrounds. Some communal and social customs related to tolerability and aptness of human behavior also manipulate the processing of advertising messages by children of either sex. Some other factors including the model liking, role played, story, and jingle will not only influence liking or disliking of some specific advertisements and therefore its decoding. At this age group, it was not appropriate to use advanced psychometric techniques for study, so, a simple three a point scale was used for data collection. Further research may explore other insights by using development in measuring tools and techniques. How advertising messages are decoded by children and which are important sources of persuading and influencing is a topic not explored much in Pakistan. Therefore, the study would add some insights for good understanding the children’s capabilities to process and ultimately scheming valuable communication approaches.Advertising, Cognitive Processing, Communication, Pakistan, Children

Effects of television advertising on children: with special reference to pakistani urban children

The purpose of study is to deliberate upon the impacts of television advertising on children & to identify those critical impacts which lead to behavioral and eating disorder in children. Impacts of TV advertising were identified as unnecessary purchasing, low nutritional food and materialism. A questionnaire using five point likert scale was administered to 425 parents of children aged between 9-14 years, and studying in schools. Samples were drawn through convenience sampling approach from four cities of Pakistan namely Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Bahawalpur & Multan. Data were analyzed by using SPSS software. Pearson correlation was used to measure the relationships of the variables on one-to-one basis indicating the most correlated variable was Unnecessary Purchasing which had Pearson correlation value of 0.312 and significance value of 0.000. It was followed by a Materialism which had Pearson correlation value of 0.260 and significance value of 0.000. Then comes Low Nutritional Food being Pearson correlation value of 0.258 and significance value of 0.000. Testing of hypothesis found that television advertising increases the consumption of food that is unhealthy, having low nutritional values and high in Sugar, Fat and Salt (SFS) in children with F=30.146 & P=0.000. Subsequently, it was found that Television advertising leads to increase in unnecessary purchasing in children with F= 45.747 & P=0.000 and materialism in children with F=30.545 & P=0.000. So, it is summed up that TV advertising is affecting children by increasing their food consumption pattern, preference for low-nutrient, high in sugar, fat & salt (SFS) foods and beverages, change in attitude that is aggressive and violent in nature and inclination towards unnecessary purchasing

Effects of television advertising on children: with special reference to pakistani urban children

The purpose of study is to deliberate upon the impacts of television advertising on children & to identify those critical impacts which lead to behavioral and eating disorder in children. Impacts of TV advertising were identified as unnecessary purchasing, low nutritional food and materialism. A questionnaire using five point likert scale was administered to 425 parents of children aged between 9-14 years, and studying in schools. Samples were drawn through convenience sampling approach from four cities of Pakistan namely Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Bahawalpur & Multan. Data were analyzed by using SPSS software. Pearson correlation was used to measure the relationships of the variables on one-to-one basis indicating the most correlated variable was Unnecessary Purchasing which had Pearson correlation value of 0.312 and significance value of 0.000. It was followed by a Materialism which had Pearson correlation value of 0.260 and significance value of 0.000. Then comes Low Nutritional Food being Pearson correlation value of 0.258 and significance value of 0.000. Testing of hypothesis found that television advertising increases the consumption of food that is unhealthy, having low nutritional values and high in Sugar, Fat and Salt (SFS) in children with F=30.146 & P=0.000. Subsequently, it was found that Television advertising leads to increase in unnecessary purchasing in children with F= 45.747 & P=0.000 and materialism in children with F=30.545 & P=0.000. So, it is summed up that TV advertising is affecting children by increasing their food consumption pattern, preference for low-nutrient, high in sugar, fat & salt (SFS) foods and beverages, change in attitude that is aggressive and violent in nature and inclination towards unnecessary purchasing.TV Advertising, Low Nutritional Food, Violence, Unnecessary Purchasing, Materialism

Do effective risk management affect organizational performance

Due to globalization and intense competition, risks are increasing and risk management is becoming an integral part for the success of almost every organization, especially for the software development sector because of their high-risk projects, as the risks are associated with every development step of projects undertaken. The main purpose of this study is to report on the current practices of risk management in Pakistani software development sector. Based on the data, collected from 25 organizations working in software development sector, the results indicates that risk management practices are not widely used by the organization(s), moreover most of the organizations do not have documented risk management policy properly. Therefore, these organizations cannot deal with the risks systematically and sometimes face negative consequences for the non-systematic approaches. However, few companies have implemented certain risk management techniques and are enjoying high performance

Examining Market Orientation and its Impact on New-Product Success in Pakistan

The implementation of the concept Market Orientation creates comparative advantage for the organizations to achieve the success of its products in the market (goods or services). This study effectively contributes to the growing literature on the influence of market orientation practices on organization's new product success. The aim of study is to find out the impact of responsive market orientation, proactive market orientation, innovation orientation, market turbulence, technological turbulence, product quality, product price, supportive culture and after sale services on new product success in Pakistan. It identifies that the market orientation practices are significantly associated with new product success that include after sale services, market turbulence, and supportive culture

Examining success factors: Entrepreneurial approaches in mountainous regions of Pakistan

Amongst the challenges faced by developing countries, one of the major challenges is the development of successful enterprises that not only helps its people but also contributes significantly in economic development of the country. This paper gauges the factors that contribute to the success of entrepreneurial activities. The focus is on the mountainous region, which faces many challenges. Ultimately, a framework of success has been proposed for consideration of policy makers. To measure the contribution of these factors a survey instrument has been used on a sample of 100 entrepreneurs in different sectors (mountainous region of Pakistan). The findings show the local perspective that entrepreneurs feel that these factors contribute significantly towards success. The eight factors used are advancement drive, achievement oriented, commitment, decision-making ability, managing risk, tenacity, networking, and optimism. Pakistan having a geographical importance in the region has the potential of growth and development, the unexplored natural resource, a trade route with China and potential trade route with Central Asian countries, diversified culture and tourism gives it an edge over other countries. The lack of effective policies and governance is the biggest problem Pakistan faces

Do Brand Extensions Affect Consumer Attitude: An Empirical Experience-With Reference To Pakistani Consumers

This study examines consumer attitude and empirically test the factors that differentiate between successful and unsuccessful brand extensions, on the basis of parent brand attributes and characteristics, in reference to variables such as brand similarity, brand reputation, multiple brand extension, parent brand characteristics and brand concept consistency using actual extensions of two brands i.e. Olpers Cream (extension of Olpers Milk) and Lipton tea bag (extension of Lipton tea). A sample of 430 consumers of Bahawalpur District (Pakistan) was selected for the survey. Stratified proportionate sampling (in proportion to the population of each Union Council) was used for drawing these samples. The study suggests a more prominent role of parent brand attributes and characteristics than brand extension that had been acknowledged in the literature. Further, the study documents the importance of an extensions fit with the parent brands image while at the same time suggesting that similarity between the brand extension and its core brand has positive effect on extension evaluation. It also shows that as perceived appropriateness between the extension and the core brand decreases, attitude toward the core brand on brand-extension evaluation decreases

Effective advertising and its influence on consumer buying behavior

Advertising is a form of communication intended to convince an audience (viewers, readers or listeners) to purchase or take some action upon products, information, or services etc. This paper investigates the relationship between independent variables which are environmental response and emotional response with attitudinal and behavioral aspect of consumer buying behavior, by tapping the responses of 200 respondents using telecommunication services from Rawalpindi, Islamabad, and Lahore (cities of Pakistan). The major findings of the study demonstrate an overall normal association between the variables but in-depth analysis found that emotional response of consumer purchase behavior is the variable that results into strong association with the consumer buying behavior. It is true that people purchase those brands with which they are emotionally attached. This study reports new evidences in the field of consumer buying behavior of consumers pertaining to the local markets of these cities of Pakistan