JBASV8N2A12 - Sustainable Agricultural Practices as Perceived by Farmers in Sindh Province of Pakistan

Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences - Volume 8 Number 2

Sustainable Agricultural Practices as Perceived by Farmers in Sindh Province of Pakistan

Muhammad Ismail Kumbhar, Saghir Ahmed Sheikh, Aijaz Hussain Soomro and Aijaz A. Khooharo

http://dx.doi.org/10.6000/1927-5129.2012.08.02.12

Abstract: The study was conducted in Sindh Province of Pakistan. 180 respondents were selected from six district namely Badin, Mirpurkhas, Sanghar Khairpur, Larkana and Jacobabad. From each district 30 respondents were selected by using simple random sampling techniques. This study used a descriptive research design and the target population was farmers. A representative sample of 180 farmers was proposed from six districts of Sindh, namely, 1. Larkana 2. Naushehro Feroze 3. Shaheed Benazirabad 4. Sanghar 5. Mirpurkhas 6. Badin representing the agro-ecological zones of Sindh province producing Cotton, Wheat, Rice, Vegetables, Orchards and Sugar Cane crops. Multistage plan was used to collect the data. A survey questionnaire was designed to collect data for this study. A likert type scale ranging from (1) not familiar (2) to somewhat (3) for very much. This scale was used to asses the level of perceptions of the respondents. The respondents were interviewed personally by well structured and pre-tested direct interview schedule. Questionnaire items were coded and entered into the SPSS computer program. Suitable statistical techniques such as percentage analysis, mean and standard deviation were used to analyze and interpreted the data. The results revealed that out of total growers, majority (54.44%) had medium socio-economic status, whereas 28.89 percent and 16.67 percent had low and high socio-economic status respectively. Extent of knowledge of farmers: Majority of the respondents (52%) were observed in medium category of knowledge followed by high (26.67%) and low (20.56%) levels of knowledge, respectively. It was observed that the farmers were familiar to some what, familiar with sustainable agriculture practices selection of pure seed variety, maintenance and Integrated Soil Fertility, Integrated Weed Management and efficient Use of irrigation water. However the majority of farmers were not familiar with the use of genetically modified Crop, Fish farming, Mulch Technology, EM Technology and IPNMS. However, none of the farmers were found in high category of adoption levels. The respondents suggested adoption of sustainable agriculture practices should be promoted through extension services.

Keywords: Sustainable Agriculture, Farmers Perception, Technology

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Effects of Carburizing Process Variables on Mechanical and
Chemical Properties of Carburized Mild Steel
A. Oyetunji*,1 and S.O. Adeosun*,2
1Dept of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering The Federal University of Technology, Akure Ondo State
Nigeria
2Dept of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering University of Lagos, Akoka Lagos Nigeria
Abstract: This work evaluates the suitability of using palm kernel shell, animal bone (mammalian bones from cattle) and
sea shell (oyster shell) materials as carburizers for case hardening of 0.078%C mild steel. The mild steel sample used in
this study sourced from universal steel company, Ikeja Lagos Nigeria was cut into suitable sizes using hacksaw machine
for tensile and hardness tests. The carburizing media used were milled into fine powder while Barium trioxo (iv)
carbonate (VI) (BaCO3) was used as an energizer in the carburizing process.
Three rectangular stainless steel plate boxes were fabricated to accommodate each of the steel samples and carburized.
A calculated amount of each carburizer was weighed into each of the stainless steel boxes and 20 wt % of BaC03 was
mixed with each of them. Mild steel samples were covered completely in each of the boxes with the mixture of the
carburizer and energizer placed in the furnace chamber. The carburizing temperatures varied between 700 - 1100oC
while the holding time varied between 1-5 hrs. The boxes and its contents were allowed to cool down to room
temperature in the furnace after carburization.
All samples were heated to 850oC after been soaked for 30 minutes at this temperature and oil quenched. This was to
increase the hardness of the case. Fifteen (15) of these samples were further tempered at 350oC for 2hrs to relieve the
stress built up during quenching. Hardness test, tensile strength tests and chemical analysis were carried out on the
samples. It was observed that the hardness values of the untempered samples are superior to the tempered ones at
carburizing temperatures of 7000C, 8000C and 9000C. On the other hand, the tensile strengths of the tempered samples
are higher relative to the untempered samples at carburizing temperatures of 7000C, 10000C and 11000C. The results of
the carbon analysis show that palm kernel shell and animal bone are potentially suitable to be used as a carburizing
media than the sea shell at high temperatures (above 10000C) with holding time above 1 hr.
Keywords: Carburizers, hardness, tensile, carburizing time and temperature, pack carburizing, quenching and
tempering properties.