JEAS

1. Research Article: JEAS 2014, Volume 1, Article No. 1

Estimation of Repair and Maintenance Cost of a Tractor Base on HP and Working Hours: Case Study of Sudan

Farid Eltom Abdallah, Ding Weiming Mohamed Hassan Dahab, A.E. Idris, Mohammad Alhadi

Abstract

A field survey was carried out in Gezira Scheme, Blue Nile State and North Kordofan State, to collect the data for tractor repair and maintenance costs, and annual hours of use of four selected models of Farmtract type tractors farmtrac80 (FT80), farmtrac70 (FT70), farmtrac60 (FT60) and powertrac55 (PT55). The results showed significant (P> 0.05) differences between repair and maintenance costs in different systems of tractors. The lowest cost was recorded in the electrical system of the tractor FT 80, while the highest cost was recorded for the engine. For the tractor (PT55) the lowest cost was recorded in the hydraulic system and the highest cost was recorded in transmission system. Different mathematical regression models were also developed for accumulated repair and maintenance cost prediction such as linear, polynomial, exponential, logarithmic and power. The power model was created. The derived models indicated that the accumulated repair and maintenance costs as percentage of initial purchase price was increased as the accumulated hours of use increased for the four selected tractor models and the mean model derived.

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2. Technical Report: JEAS 2014, Volume 1, Article No. 2

Pesticide Quality Control Program: A Case Study of Multan

Ehsan-ul- Haq Mahmood, Niaz Ahmed, Khadim Hussain, Muhammad Akram & Muhammad Naeem Akhtar

Abstract

Pesticide use is one of the essential measures of modern agricultural practices in protecting the crops from different pests. This has increased steadily and substantially over the years in Pakistan. Pesticide testing for quality control was started with the establishment of plant protection Directorate at Faisalabad, Punjab during 1970. Agricultural pesticide Ordinance (APO) was promulgated during 1971, for pesticide business regulation and making pesticide registration mandatory. Pesticide Quality Control Laboratory, Multan was established during1984-85 to make stronger the pesticide quality. APO was made effective through amendments and monitoring by Task Force on Agriculture during 1997. This laboratory has done a laudable job during (2002-2003 to 2012-13). During this period, this laboratory covering the areas of Multan and D.G. Khan divisions received 24617 number of pesticide samples for quality evaluation out of which 23440 (95.2%) for found fit and the remaining 4.8% (1177) were declared unfit for crop use. Viewing the trend in generic and branded unfit samples during the years 2002-2003 to 2012-13 the agencies marketing branded pesticides assured better quality than generic ones. It is recommended that pesticide sampling from the market by the authorized inspectors under quality control program should be done on intelligent basis and not to complete the assigned target in order to curb the pesticide marketing malpractices for improved pesticide supply to farmer and other user.

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3. Research Article: JEAS 2014, Volume 1, Article No. 3

Morphological Characterization and Identification of Begomoviruses in Progeny to Row Trials of Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.)

Rezwan Tariq, Asif Ali Khan, Huma Saleem, Muhammad Mubin, Muhammad Shah Nawaz-ul-Rehman

Abstract

Ninety five okra genotypes were evaluated for morphological differences and yellow vein mosaic virus (YVMV) occurrence in progeny to row trials. Principal component analysis (PCA) was executed to obtain more reliable information. A high degree of diversity was found among okra genotypes for qualitative and quantitative characters. Distance of each variable with respect to PC1 and PC2 showed the contribution of this variable in the variation of germplasm. PCA analysis showed that inter-nodal distance, plant height at maturity, days to first flowering and 100-seed weight are the most important descriptors for variation. For the identification of Begomovirus, the putative viruses were cloned in plasmid and the respective plasmids were restricted by appropriate restriction enzyme. The phylogenetic analysis established that the partial DNA -A resemble to the CLCuMuV-[PK:Fai:Okra:13]. Which is actually a cotton infecting virus and closely resemble to the BYVMV-[IN:Har:05].

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4. Review Article: JEAS 2014, Volume 1, Article No. 4

Managing for Uncertain Climate Risks: A case study of Sudan

Zablon W. Shilenje

Abstract

Effective environmental governance is crucial for adaptive capacity, growing climate resilient societies and stable economies in terms of food security, health, peace and harmony. Climate change affects more people in places with arid and semi-arid conditions because it aggravates causes of poverty, food security and an already weak governance response structure. Realization of a multifaceted early warning system maybe one of the solutions required to inform impending food security threats. The main objective of the study is to investigate the existing climate monitoring and response flow channels of climate data at different levels of government and organizations present in Sudan. This is done through literature and documentary reviews and climate data analysis. Results obtained indicate that through time the amount of vegetation is reducing. Over Sudan , the northern part loses vegetation faster than the southern part. This has implication for the agricultural production. The study argues that early warning and climate communication are essential elements for effective governance of climate risks. In the end, the study concludes that there is need for policy makers to understand the impacts of climate science in their programs and likewise the climate scientists to understand the form and content required in policy processes to achieve resilient societies.

Key words: Climatic anomalies, climatic risk, early warning system.

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5. Short Communication, JEAS 2014, Volume 1, Article No. 5

Effectiveness of sticky traps in monitoring insects

Muhammad Amjad Bashir, Abid Mahmood Alvi and Hina Naz

Abstract

Sticky traps are used as one of the effective IPM strategy for monitoring different types of the insects. They provide an easy method for estimation of pest population density and require low cost and less skilled labor and are helpful for developing an eco-friendly control strategy. In current study, effectiveness of different colors sticky traps in monitoring insect’s population was determined at field area of our institute. Sticky traps of seven different colors (red, brown, green, white, light blue, dark blue and yellow) were installed at the height of 140 cm at different locations in field which gave significant indication of population abundance and the results showed that the most attractive and efficient color in our monitoring trial was the brown color followed by light blue, dark blue, red, green, yellow and the sticky trap having low population was white.

Key words: Color attraction, insect monitoring, sticky traps.

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