Decision support model to select crop pattern for sustainable agricultural practices using fuzzy MCDM

The crop pattern has a significant impact on the feasibility of sustainable agricultural practices. Selected crop pattern influences environmental and economic condition and affects sustainability profoundly in agricultural practices. Hence, a careful intervention is required in the selection of an optimal crop pattern for sustainable agricultural practices. Selection of a particular set of crop pattern depends on many criteria that may vary from place to place thus pose challenges in deciding an optimum crop pattern. The present research focuses on the crop selection pattern in Indian environment that considers comprehensive criteria related to sustainable farming practices. Based on the in-depth review of the literature and experts opinion, comprehensive criteria related to sustainable farming practices for Ravi season crop are identified. Total twelve criteria covering socioeconomic conditions, soil and water conditions, environmental and climatic conditions are earmarked and taken into account for eight most commonly grown crops in Ravi season and later on modeled to determine the crop pattern for most needed sustainability. A fuzzy-based multi-criteria decision-making model has been developed considering the Indian farming system. The scarce resources availability to Indian farmers poses many challenges to practice farming with most needed sustainability. The present research will be useful in the area of Indian farming practices in particular and global farming practices in general. It will also help stakeholders in their cost effective decision making for better crop productivity leading to sustainable farming practices. Additionally, the state policy makers will be able to formulate effective state driven sustainable farming policy to enhance its stake in gross domestic product to become self-reliance.     

Contamination levels of selected organochlorine and organophosphate pesticides in the Selangor River, Malaysia between 2002 and 2003

In Malaysia, rivers are the main source of public water supplies. This study was conducted from 2002 to 2003 to determine the levels of selected organochlorine and organophosphate pesticides in the Selangor River in Malaysia. Surface water samples have been collected seasonally from nine sites along the river. A liquid-liquid extraction followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry technique was used to determine the trace levels of these pesticide residues. The organochlorine pesticides detected were lindane, heptachlor, endosulfan, dieldrin, endosulfan sulfate, o,p'-DDT, p,p'-DDT, o,p'-DDE and p,p'-DDE whereas for organophosphate pesticides, they were chlorpyrifos and diazinon. At the river upstream where a dam is located for public water supply, incidents of pesticide levels exceeding the European Economic Community Directive of water quality standards have occurred. Furthermore, the wetland ecosystems located at the downstream of the river which houses the fireflies community is being threatened by occasional pesticide levels above EPA limits for freshwater aquatic organisms. The occurrence of these residual pesticides in the Selangor River can be attributed to the intense agriculture and urban activity.     

Removal of heavy metals through adsorption using sand

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Speciation of arsenic and chromium metal ions by reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography

The speciation of arsenic [As(III) and As(V)] and chromium [Cr(III) and Cr(VI)] was carried out by high performance liquid chromatography. The column used was Econosil C18 (250 x 4.6 mm i.d., particle size 10 microm). The mobile phases consisted of water-acetonitrile (80:20, v/v) for arsenic and 10 mM ammonium acetate buffer (6.0 pH)-acetonitrile (10:90, v/v) for chromium speciation separately and respectively. The detection was carried out by UV-Vis at 410 nm and atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS) respectively and separately. The values of alpha and Rs of As(III) and As(V) species were 1.4 and 1.5 respectively while the values of alpha and Rs for Cr(III) and Cr(VI) were 1.35 and 0.2 respectively. The effect of the acetonitrile percentages was also carried out on the speciation of arsenic only. The relative standard deviation and limit of detection were in the range of 0.01-0.02 and 0.4-1.0 microg/ml respectively.     

Hand-arm vibration disorder among grass-cutter workers in Malaysia

Introduction. Prolonged exposure to hand-transmitted vibration from grass-cutting machines has been associated with increasing occurrences of symptoms and signs of occupational diseases related to hand–arm vibration syndrome (HAVS). Methods. A cross-sectional study was carried out using an adopted HAVS questionnaire on hand–arm vibration exposure and symptoms distributed to 168 male workers from the grass and turf maintenance industry who use hand-held grass-cutting machines as part of their work. The prevalence ratio and symptom correlation to HAVS between high and low–moderate exposure risk groups were evaluated. Results. There were positive HAVS symptoms relationships between the low–moderate exposure group and the high exposure group among hand-held grass-cutting workers. The prevalence ratio was considered high because there were indicators that fingers turned white and felt numb, 3.63, 95% CI [1.41, 9.39] and 4.24, 95% CI [2.18, 8.27], respectively. Less than 14.3% of workers stated that they were aware of the occupational hand–arm vibration, and it seemed to be related to the finger blanching and numbness. Conclusion. The results suggest that HAVS is under-diagnosed in Malaysia, especially in the agricultural sectors. More information related to safety and health awareness programmes for HAVS exposure is required among hand-held grass-cutting workers.     

Assessment of cytotoxicity and toxicity for phosphonium-based deep eutectic solvents

In this work, the cytotoxicity and toxicity of phosphonium-based deep eutectic solvents (DESs) with three hydrogen bond donors, namely glycerine, ethylene glycol, and triethylene glycol were investigated. The cytotoxicity effect was tested using brine shrimp (Artemia salina). The toxicity was investigated using the two Gram positive bacteria Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus, and two Gram negative bacteria Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The cytotoxicity of tested DESs was much higher than that of their individual components, indicating their toxicological behavior was different. It was also found that there was toxic effect on the studied bacteria, indicating their potential application as anti-bacterial agents. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time the cytotoxicity and toxicity of phosphonium-based DESs were studied.     

Polymeric Nanocomposite-Based Herbicide of Carboxymethyl Cellulose Coated-Zinc/Aluminium Layered Double Hydroxide-Quinclorac: A Controlled Release Purpose for Agrochemicals

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - In this work, the use of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) is highlighted in enhancing the controlled release behaviour of zinc/aluminium layered double...     

Use of waste gypsum to replace natural gypsum as set retarders in portland cement

The present study is focused on clarifying the influence of waste gypsum (WG) in replacing natural gypsum (NG) in the production of ordinary Portland cement (OPC). WG taken from slip casting moulds in a ceramic factory was formed from the hydration of plaster of paris. Clinker and 3–5 wt% of WG was ground in a laboratory ball mill to produce cement waste gypsum (CMWG). The same procedure was repeated with NG to substitute WG to prepare cement natural gypsum (CMNG). The properties of NG and WG were investigated via X-ray Diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC)/thermogravimetric (TG) to evaluate the properties of CMNG and CMWG. The mechanical properties of cement were tested in terms of setting time, flexural and compressive strength. The XRD result of NG revealed the presence of dihydrate while WG contained dihydrate and hemihydrate. The content of dihydrate and hemihydrates were obtained via DSC/TG, and the results showed that WG and NG contained 12.45% and 1.61% of hemihydrate, respectively. Furthermore, CMWG was found to set faster than CMNG, an average of 15.29% and 13.67% faster for the initial and final setting times, respectively. This was due to the presence of hemihydrate in WG. However, the values obtained for flexural and compressive strength were relatively the same for CMNG and CMWG. Therefore, this result provides evidence that WG can be used as an alternative material to NG in the production of OPC.