Productivity Of System Research Articles

Functional composition of plant communities mediates biomass effects on ecosystem service recovery across an experimental dryland restoration network

Abstract Land degradation can result in a loss of critical ecosystem services that we often seek to restore through re‐establishment of desired plant communities. Trait‐based approaches have the potential to target specific ecosystem services based on associations between the functional composition of plant communities and ecosystem properties that serve as indicators of those services. The effect of functional composition on ecosystem recovery may depend on the amount of restored plant biomass, itself a supporting service frequently targeted in restoration efforts. Yet, interactions between functional composition and biomass are not formally integrated into trait‐based analytical frameworks. We tested the hypothesis that functional composition of plant communities both drives, and interacts with, biomass production to influence indicators of soil functioning and weed suppression across a network of degraded dryland restoration experiments. This networked approach allowed us to identify generalized effects of functional composition on ecosystem recovery across a range of dryland climate conditions. Climate had a substantial effect on ecosystem indicators, with weed cover and soil surface stability increasing in more arid climates, water infiltration increasing with precipitation, and aggregate structure increasing with less freezing. After accounting for climate effects across study sites, we found significant effects of community‐weighted mean (CWM) trait values on biomass, particularly a positive effect of leaf carbon‐to‐nitrogen ratio, and of CWM‐biomass interactions on other ecosystem indicators. Cover of exotic species was reduced in restored communities with a combination of low leaf dry matter content and high biomass, soil water infiltration increased with lower specific root length and high biomass, and soil aggregate stability increased with higher root dry matter content and high biomass, among other effects. Functional diversity had no significant effects on any ecosystem indicators. Synthesis: The influence of community functional composition on ecosystem properties increases with community biomass, particularly in disturbed or low productivity systems. This suggests that active management should not only focus on trait values that optimize individual ecosystem indicators but also how those functional strategies are complementary or counter to those that increase biomass. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog

Psychological improvement in Employee Productivity by Maintaining Attendance System using Machine Learning Behavior.

For a very long time, researchers, educationists, practitioners, and psychologists have tried to conduct extensive research on employee productivity at the workplace. It was firmly believed that positive traits of the employees positively affect the performance of employees at the workplace and, at the same time, increase the productivity of the organization. A few organizations have changed their organizational policies to improve employee performance by identifying individuals' positive traits. Positive psychology (PS), unlike traditional psychology, focuses on the positive traits of the individuals rather than on their negative aspects. Hence, this paper intends to analyze the important role of PS in improving employee productivity as well as analyze the psychological improvement in Employee Productivity by Maintaining Attendance Systems, Implementing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR activities), Entrepreneurial Intentions (EI), and Machine Learning Behavior (MLB). This study paper investigates the role of attendance systems, CSR, EI, and MLB in enhancing the employees' productivity in a positive manner, which will eventually increase organizational productivity. This study proposes a research framework and hypothesis that explains the relationship between employee productivity and organizational attendance system, CSR, EI, and MLB. For this study, a questionnaire was prepared and distributed among the employees working in the selected organizations. These data verify the validity of the proposed hypothesis and research framework. Statistical approaches were employed to analyze the results of the proposed hypothesis. Results of the study found that by maintaining an attendance system, implementing CSR, EI, and MLB, employee performance can be improved positively, thereby increasing organizational productivity.

No-till farming: prospects, challenges – productivity, soil health, and ecosystem services

Globally, declining soil quality due to soil degradation is of great concern, and directly affects crop production, soil health and sustainability of natural resources. In conventional farming practices, the loss of fertile topsoil via runoff and erosion from arable land is a big concern. In addition, changes in land use and management practices result in loss of soil organic carbon (SOC) stock by −10–59%. The change from conventional till (CT) with residue burning/removal to no-till (NT) farming with residue retention/conservation agriculture (CA) practices have been recognised as important soil management practices for sustaining soil health and reversing land degradation. Worldwide, NT/CA practices are now being adopted on about 180 million ha (i.e. ∼14% of arable land). CA practices promote soil health by increasing organic carbon, and soil aggregation, thus improving infiltration and minimising erosion losses. In addition, CA has the potential to increase SOC sequestration, reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and help to mitigate global climate change. Among sustainable food production systems, CA is often advocated with a view to increase food production while conserving natural resources and SOC. This special issue ‘No-till farming: prospects, challenges – productivity, soil health, and ecosystem services’ addresses and critically reviews these important issues and aims to foster awareness of NT farming. The collection of 15 papers lucidly covers various facets of NT farming. A summary and salient findings of these papers are provided in this Editorial. NT farming is a promising practice, which not only improves soil physical, chemical and biological health but also enhances carbon sequestration, crop productivity and mitigates GHG emissions through appropriate crop residue and nutrient management strategies. The adage says ‘one size won’t fit all’ or ‘a single recipe will not solve all problem/challenges’, so we need to adopt site-specific NT systems for higher benefits and productivity and sustaining soil health.

Magical Realism for Water Governance Under Power Asymmetries in the Aracataca River Basin, Colombia

The Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta is a wetland complex characterized by its high productivity and different systems of biodiversity use associated with water. The Ciénaga receives fresh water from rivers descending from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Changes in the water dynamics of these rivers since the early twentieth century have been causing serious social and ecological changes in the region. The Aracataca river is one of these rivers that showed a drastic change in its water availability. In this research we study the relation between cooperation and hydrological dynamics that shapes the water governance system in this basin. The study combines quantitative data obtained from the hydrological description and qualitative information derived from interviews and a role-playing game workshop, which was analyzed from a social-ecological perspective. The analysis shows that the historical management of water, characterized by conflicts between individual and collective interests, power asymmetries, and the heterogeneity between actors, has established a problematic scenario. Our analysis at river basin scale showed difficulties in water governance regardless of water annual variability, thus requiring structural changes that allow the development of coordinated processes toward collective action. This research identifies elements that can enrich the management discourses of the Aracataca river basin and the Ciénaga as a whole, highlighting the importance of understanding environmental issues as problems of common pool resources.

VisualRPI: Visualizing Research Productivity and Impact

Research productivity and impact (RPI) is commonly measured through citation analysis, such as the h-index. Despite the popularity and objectivity of this type of method, it is still difficult to effectively compare a number of related researchers in terms of various citation-related statistics at the same time, such as average cites per year/paper, the number of papers/citations, h-index, etc. In this work, we develop a method that employs information visualization technology, and examine its applicability for the assessment of researchers’ RPI. Specifically, our prototype, a visualizing research productivity and impact (VisualRPI) system, is introduced, which is composed of clustering and visualization components. The clustering component hierarchically clusters similar research statistics into the same groups, and the visualization component is used to display the RPI in a clear manner. A case example using information for 85 information systems researchers is used to demonstrate the usefulness of VisualRPI. The results show that this method easily measures the RPI for various performance indicators, such as cites/paper and h-index.

Wheat Production in Drought-Prone Agro-Ecologies in Ethiopia: Diagnostic Assessment of Farmers’ Practices and Sustainable Coping Mechanisms and the Role of Improved Cultivars

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is traditionally cultivated under drought-affected and low-input agro-ecologies in sub-Saharan Africa, including Ethiopia. Wheat productivity in these agro-systems is considerably low (<2.4 t/ha) due to climate change-induced drought and heat stress, a lack of modern production technologies, including climate-smart varieties, and an array of biotic and abiotic factors. The objective of this study was to determine the potential of wheat production in drought-prone agro-ecologies and to assess farmers’ practices and sustainable coping mechanisms and the role of improved cultivars in Ethiopia. A participatory rural appraisal (PRA) study was conducted involving 170 randomly selected wheat farmers in the drier areas of Arsi Zone of the Oromia Regional State. Results showed that wheat and tef (Eragrostis tef Zucc.) and barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) were the most widely grown cereal crops in the study areas as the primary food source and cash income. Yield losses varying from 63.1 to 73.8% were reported by farmers due to drought stress occurring mainly during grain filling stage. The majority of the respondent farmers (>50%) planted wheat in early July using the broadcasting method. Their land was of medium fertility, and the application of inorganic fertilizer was suboptimal. Due to crop failures by intense drought conditions in the study areas, above 50% of the respondent farmers had not expressed coping strategies against drought stress except resorting to government food aid. However, about 22% of the respondent farmers reported improved agronomic practices, such as the cultivation of early maturing wheat varieties and soil and water conservation methods as sustainable solutions to mitigate against drought. Therefore, current and future wheat breeding in Ethiopia should target drought and heat stress tolerance and adaptive crop traits as ideal coping strategies under low input agriculture systems for sustainable wheat production and productivity.

The Influence of Sex and Kanban Usage on the Productivity of Selected STEM Senior High School Students

Kanban is a productivity system used to help manage workflow at different stages of knowledge work in the office. This paper aims to explore Kanban’s impact on the productivity among selected STEM Senior High School Students of De La Salle University Integrated School. It also examines the effects of sex and grade level on the usage of Kanban and productivity. An online survey questionnaire will be administered to a purposive sample of 70 SHS students. Data from the online survey will be subjected to data analysis using the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet program. Results show that females updated their Kanban more frequently as compared to males. The majority stated that Kanban helps them visualize their ongoing tasks. Consequently, it was seen that although female students had a higher frequency, male students had a higher perception of productivity. From this, it can be implied that higher frequency does not necessarily mean higher perceptions of productivity. In terms of frequency and GWA, from the data, there was no seen relationship between the two variables as the frequency did not affect the GWA. With that, it is recommended to examine the difference in productivity between the face-to-face and online classes to see whether the pandemic has influenced the productivity of students.

Growing more Rice with less water: the System of Rice Intensification and water productivity in Vietnam*

We study the effects of a large‐scale System of Rice Intensification (SRI) program on the water productivity of rice in Vietnam by exploiting provincial and time variations in SRI uptake and irrigation water supply over the period 2000–2012. Our findings document that the world's second‐largest rice exporter could produce 4 million tonnes more rice with the same water supply in the reasonably achievable case of 20 per cent SRI uptake across its provinces. In addition, we find that SRI also increases the output of other crops, due at least partly to its possible water savings and soil nutrition preservation in rice production. Moreover, we show that SRI is more likely to be adopted in provinces with a stronger quality of provincial institutions and a weaker agricultural capital base. Numerous selectivity and randomisation tests affirm that the water productivity effect of SRI is robust to selection in SRI uptake at the province and district levels and addressing potential unobservable and omitted variable problems.

A study for the Assessment of Nutritional Deficiency Status of the School Going Girls

Nutrient deficiencies are prevalent worldwide. Nutritional status refers to a person's overall health, which is impacted by nutrient intake and use in the body. Children between the ages of 6 and 12 are commonly regarded to be of school age, and this might be a second chance to make up on growth. Children's nutritional condition reflects not only the family's financial position and community's social well-being but also the health-care system's productivity and the effect on the surroundings. The present study reveals that the school going girls are suffering from different nutritional deficiencies like- anaemia, underweight, overweight, obesity, stunting, iodine deficiency etc. These deficiencies are emerging health problems and become the major epidemic cause of serious health problems in India. Children's diets in India, like those in many other wealthy nations, are often imbalanced, with an overabundance of calories and protein and insufficient amounts of numerous minerals and vitamins.

Co-implementation of precision nutrient management in long-term conservation agriculture-based systems: A step towards sustainable energy-water-food nexus

The conventionally managed cereal-based cropping systems in the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) of South Asia are energy intensive that overwhelm the farm profits and the environmental footprint. This research addresses a complex nexus between yield-energy-water-GHG footprints-economics of conservation agriculture (CA)-based intensified maize-wheat-mungbean rotation. This study evaluated the effect of long-term CA (2012–2020) with optimum nutrient management (2017–20) on energy budgeting, productivity, water and C-footprints, Water productivity (WP), and economics of the CA-based maize-wheat-mungbean system. CA-based permanent bed- and zero tillage flatbed with preceding crop residue retention were compared with the conventional till with preceding crop residue incorporation. These treatments were factored over three-nutrient management alternatives, i.e., GreenSeeker®-guided-N, site-specific nutrient management (SSNM), and recommended fertilizers' dose (Ad-hoc), were compared with farmers' fertilizers practices (FFP). Permanent bed and zero tillage treatments registered higher systems' productivity (18.2 and 12.0%), net returns (44.7 and 34.7%) and water productivity (35.6% and 22.1%), and C-sequestration (54.8 and 62.3%), respectively, over conventional till. Permanent bed- and zero tillage treatments increased the systems' net energy (NE), energy use efficiency (EUE), energy productivity (EP), and energy intensity (EI) by 22.6 and 14.0; 10.1 and 5.6; 9.7 and 5.4; 28.3 and 24.0%, respectively, over conventional till. Conventional till recorded higher net CO2-eq emission (26.5 and 27.2%), C-footprint (20.8 and 14.5%), and water footprint (27.3 and 18.0%) than permanent bed- and zero tillage treatments. SSNM increased the system's productivity, water productivity, and energy use efficiency, while reducing the system's water- and C-footprints and net CO2-eq emission. Thus, adopting permanent beds as a crop establishment method with SSNM could be a feasible alternative to attain higher productivity, profitability, and resource use efficiency in the maize-wheat-mungbean system in northwest India.

Phytoplankton community composition, carbon sequestration, and associated regulatory mechanisms in a floodplain lake system

Phytoplankton contribute approximately 50% to the global photosynthetic carbon (C) fixation. However, our understanding of the corresponding C sequestration capacity and driving mechanisms associated with each individual phytoplankton taxonomic group is limited. Particularly in the hydrologically dynamic system with highly complex surface hydrological processes (floodplain lake systems). Through investigating seasonal monitoring data in a typical floodplain lake system and estimation of primary productivity of each phytoplankton taxonomic group individually using novel equations, this study proposed a phytoplankton C fixation model. Results showed that dominant phytoplankton communities had a higher gross carbon sequestration potential (CSP) (9.50 ± 5.06 Gg C each stage) and gross primary productivity (GPP) (65.46 ± 25.32 mg C m−2 d−1), but a lower net CSP (−1.04 ± 0.79 Gg C each stage) and net primary productivity (NPP) (−5.62 ± 4.93 mg C m−3 d−1) than rare phytoplankton communities in a floodplain lake system. Phytoplanktonic GPP was high (317.94 ± 73.28 mg C m−2 d−1) during the rainy season and low (63.02 ± 9.65 mg C m−2 d−1) during the dry season. However, their NPP reached the highest during the rising-water stage and the lowest during the receding-water stage. Findings also revealed that during the rainy season, high water levels (p = 0.56**) and temperatures (p = 0.37*) as well as strong solar radiation (p = 0.36*) will increase photosynthesis and accelerate metabolism and respiration of dominant phytoplankton communities, then affect primary productivity and CSP. Additionally, water level fluctuations drive changes in nutrients (p = −0.57*) and metals (p = −0.68*) concentrations, resulting in excessive nutrients and metals slowing down phytoplankton growth and reducing GPP. Compared with the static water lake system, the floodplain lake system with a lower net CSP became a heterotrophic C source.

Integrated Forest Management Systems: Evaluation of forest soil properties for Environmental Quality and Agricultural Productivity

Soil physical and chemical properties do affect forests (plant) growth and soil management systems. Some key and important physical and chemical properties of soil are mineral content, texture, cation exchange capacity, bulk density, structure, porosity, organic matter content, carbon-to-ni- trogen ratio, color, depth, fertility, and pH. Sustainable forest management and soil quality parameters may include such terrestrial functions as carbon sequestration, land use management, erosion control, plant productivity and a soil’s capacity to produce biomass. Sustainable forest management consistently requires enhancement of both the chemical and physical properties of forest soil quality. Land use and change in land use as well as forest management systems, are main indicators that may determine which soil properties induce changes in any forest site. Forest management and crop yield are key issues of environmental/productivity quality in addressing carbon mitigation and absorption in plant species and agricultural productivity. Five distinct forest soils under major physical properties and chemical properties were evaluated at the forest ecology laboratory. The results were determined while considering regional forest management regimes. Correlation analysis in Deqing forest soil showed that higher correlation of NMC at 25-50cm depth, BD at 0-25cm as well as 25-50cm while EC was high on 0-40 and 0.60 At the Guangzhou site, acidic levels (pH 0-25cm) indicated minor correlation and soil salinity (EC 25-50cm) also showed minor correlation. The trend was same the at the Changtan forest site where soil salinity showed only minor significant relationship (0-25cm). A percentage assessment of SOC (g/kg) among the forest sites by plot observation showed that Deqing forest site, Changtan and Nanling were well distributed which confers best forest management regimes that yield to good forest soil chemical and physical properties. This study gave scientific insight and boast plant functional nutrient interaction as well as stability towards better agricultural productivity and forest management systems. This is in agreement that good management and less disturbance in forest soils are major component of physical and chemical properties interaction, thereby for effective integrated forest and agricultural management systems.

Influence of UAS Flight Altitude and Speed on Aboveground Biomass Prediction

The management of low-density savannah and woodland forests for carbon storage presents a mechanism to offset the expense of ecologically informed forest management strategies. However, existing carbon monitoring systems draw on vast amounts of either field observations or aerial light detection and ranging (LiDAR) collections, making them financially prohibitive in low productivity systems where forest management focuses on promoting resilience to disturbance and multiple uses. This study evaluates how UAS altitude and flight speed influence area-based aboveground forest biomass model predictions. The imagery was acquired across a range of UAS altitudes and flight speeds that influence the efficiency of data collection. Data were processed using common structures from motion photogrammetry algorithms and then modeled using Random Forest. These results are compared to LiDAR observations collected from fixed-wing manned aircraft and modeled using the same routine. Results show a strong positive relationship between flight altitude and plot-based aboveground biomass modeling accuracy. UAS predictions increasingly outperformed (2–24% increased variance explained) commercial airborne LiDAR strategies as acquisition altitude increased from 80–120 m. The reduced cost of UAS data collection and processing and improved biomass modeling accuracy over airborne LiDAR approaches could make carbon monitoring viable in low productivity forest systems.

Phenylpropanoid biosynthetic gene expression and nutrient uptake kinetics for enhanced rosmarinic acid production in suspension cultured cells of Halodule pinifolia

This study investigated the effect of precursors (phenylalanine and tyrosine) and elicitors (methyl jasmonate and yeast) on enhanced rosmarinic acid (RA) biosynthesis, their transcript levels (HpPAL, HpC4H, Hp4CL, HpTAT and HpHPPR) and nutrient uptake kinetics from cell cultures of Halodule pinifolia (Miki) Hartog under in-vitro conditions. Different concentrations of precursors and elicitors were used, among which methyl jasmonate (20 μM) induced higher accumulation of RA (123.16 ± 3.30 mg g−1 DW) followed by phenylalanine (57.086 ± 1.01 mg g−1 DW), tyrosine (28.723 ± 1.55 mg g−1 DW) and yeast elicitor (1.95 mg g−1 DW). Further, the transcript levels of phenylpropanoid biosynthetic genes HpPAL, HpC4H and Hp4CL from MeJA treated cells were found to increase transiently, while TAT and HPPR did not express. It clearly conveyed that H. pinifola culture has undergone phenylpropanoid pathway for RA biosynthesis as compared to the control. Nutrient uptake kinetics determined the consumption of major nutrients such as phosphate, nitrate, sucrose and variations in pH during RA biosynthesis and the optimum pH was found to be pH -7.4, where the concentration of RA accumulated higher during the aforementioned pH. Therefore, the study concludes that methyl jasmonate acts as a potent elicitor for RA accumulation and the enhanced RA biosynthesis in the treated cells might be due to the activation of phenylproponoid genes HpPAL, HpC4H and Hp4CL. Furthermore, the work should be made to influence and optimize the H. pinifolia culture system for better productivity of rosmarinic acid for the food, cosmetic, pharmacy and neutraceutical applications.

Effects of Organic Amendments on Soil Aggregate Stability, Carbon Sequestration, and Energy Use Efficiency in Wetland Paddy Cultivation

A study was conducted to assess the effects of organic amendments on soil aggregates, carbon (C) sequestration, and energy use efficiency (EUE) during five consecutive Boro and Transplanted Aman rice seasons in Bangladesh during 2018–2020. Five treatments (viz., control (only inorganic fertilizers), cow dung (CD), vermicompost (VC), rice straw (RS), and poultry manure (PM)) were used. The organic materials were applied at 2 t C ha−1 season−1 to all the plots, except in the control treatment. Inorganic fertilizers were applied in all treatments in both seasons following integrated nutrient management (INM). The data reveal that PM was found to be more efficient at increasing the water-stable soil aggregates (WSA), followed by the RS, CD, and VC. The WSA in smaller-sized soil aggregates were found to be higher than those in larger-sized soil aggregates. VC was found to be the most effective in terms of C sequestration (29%), followed by PM (26%), CD (22%), and RS (20%). The highest EUE was attributed to the control treatment (9.77), followed by the CD (8.67), VC (8.04), RS (2.10), and PM (1.18), which showed energy wastage in the organic treatments. The system productivity (SP) followed the opposite trend of the EUE. The INM is a better approach to improve the soil health, the C sequestration, and the SP, but it appeared as an energy-inefficient strategy, which suggests that a balanced application of organic and inorganic nutrients is needed in order to achieve yield sustainability and EUE.

Revealing prediction of perched cum off-centered wick solar still performance using network based on optimizer algorithm

A sincere effort has been made to engineer a perched cum off-centered wick solar still (PCWSS) in the present work. The daily average efficiency with hourly prediction distillate yield of the PCWSS has used those artificial neural networks (ANNs) tool with Harris Hawk’s Optimizes (HHOs) technique. HHO performance with ANN simulated as an optimal parameter to grab preyed. An experimental performance predicting the system's productivity is associated by dual supplementary mockups as vectors gadget, tradition ANN. HHO-ANN approach results are compared with the experimental observations (one year) of the solar still. Radial Basis Function (RBF) and Feed Forward (FF) have been used ANN structures to estimate hourly distillate yield and efficiency of the system is 59.78%. Evaluating the R2, RMSE, MRE, MAE, EC, OI, CRM analysis of prediction models was based on numerical error conditions. Optimized the analysis of PCWSS with a model as HHO-ANN used optimal parameter values has prediction accuracy associated with ANN and the competence for HHO. Annual analysis based on the HHO - ANN structures predicted the hourly distillate yield with mean error varying from 8.13% and 6.1%. The error for the monthly average prediction of distillate yield is from 0.95% to 1.12%, respectively. HHO – ANN has been used with the best accuracy in predicting the PCWSS invention associated with tangible experimental outcomes.

The impact of the digital economy paradigm on the productivity and monetary system of Oman

Purpose Digitalisation has become closely related to various economic sectors in terms of economic impact and discovery of new technologies. In this regard, this study aims to examine the relationship between the digital economy, as measured by four proxies (infrastructure, empowerment of society, technological economic growth and digitalisation development), and the productivity and monetary system of Oman from 1985 to 2019. Design/methodology/approach The autoregressive distributed lag methodology and diagnostic tests were used to increase the robustness of findings. Findings The analysis showed significant positive long-run relationships between infrastructure (measured as the number of fixed telephone subscriptions), technological economic growth (measured as medium- and high-tech exports as a percentage of manufactured exports) and the monetary system. There was also a significant negative short-run relationship between digitalisation development, measured as the number of individuals (percentage of the population) using the internet, and the monetary system. Furthermore, there were significant positive short- and long-run relationships between digitalisation development and productivity. Only short-run relationships were identified between empowerment of society, measured as the number of mobile cellular subscriptions, and productivity. Originality/value The conclusions support the paradigm of diffusion of innovation theory, which aims to understand the use of modern technologies to obtain the maximum economic benefit, and show both the dark and bright sides of technology. Furthermore, the effect of the digitalisation economy paradigm on productivity should be determined by increasing logistical services. This will support the growth of foreign and domestic investments and promote cooperation between the public and private sectors, thereby achieving digitalisation in Oman and enabling reflection on the country’s monetary policy development and economic growth.

Evaluation of rice (<i>Oryza sativa</i> L.)-based cropping systems for productivity and profitability in the vertisols of Telangana, India

Evaluation of rice (<i>Oryza sativa</i> L.)-based cropping systems for productivity and profitability in the vertisols of Telangana, India

On-farm Evaluation of Balanced Fertilization in Rice-groundnut Cropping System for Productivity, Nutrient Use Efficiency and Profitability

Background: Increasing cost of fertilizers warrants the necessity of finding methods for increasing the use efficiency of nitrogen in a cropping system. Data from on-farm research on evaluation of use efficiency of applied nutrients using check plot or omission plot technique has been lacking. Methods: A researcher designed and farmer managed experiment was conducted in Angul district under Mid Central Table Land Zone of Odisha to study the on-farm crop response to plant nutrients by involving 12 farmers during 2015-16 and another 12 farmers during 2016-17 in rice (Oryza sativa L.)- groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) cropping system with seven treatments, viz. control (no fertilizer application), recommended N alone (N-0-0-0), NP (N-P-0-0), NK (N-0-K-0), NPK (N-P-K-0), NPK+ZnSO4/CaSO4 (N-P-K- ZnSO4 in rice and N-P-K- CaSO4 in groundnut) and farmers’ practice (FP). Result: The highest system rice equivalent yield (REY) (12.63 t/ha) was recorded with the recommended doses of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (N-P-K @ 80, 17.5 and 33 kg/ha)+25 kg ZnSO4/ha to rice and recommended doses of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (N-P-K @ 40, 17.5 and 33 kg/ha)+250 kg CaSO4/ha to groundnut followed by recommended NPK alone to both the crops without ZnSO4/CaSO4 (12.18 t/ha). Partial factor productivity (PFP) of N in rice-groundnut system can be increased to 42% over sole N application through application of recommended quantity of NPK. The agronomic efficiency (AE) of N increased by 122, 87 and 186% in rice groundnut cropping system by applying recommended doses of N with P, K and PK over N alone, respectively. Application of recommended quantity of NPK+ZnSO4 to rice and NPK+CaSO4 to succeeding groundnut crop recorded highest system net return of Rs. 92690/ha followed by application of recommended NPK only to both the crops (Rs.89950/ha). Application of balanced fertilizer improved the status of organic carbon and available N, P and K at the end of the cropping season in both the years compared to control.

Management Information System for Milling Section at Sugar Factory

Abstract: One of the most important goals in any organization is increasing work force productivity Information systems, Systems are the responsibility of their data and their processing of information within the organization and managers to provide information on important economic decisions making. Hutatma Sahakari Sakhar Karakhana. Ltd. is well known sugar industry having 5000 tccpd to 6000 tccpd capability along with new constructed new ethanol plant and using different facility in this factory such as leveller, fibrizor, kicker, TRPS rolling mill, elevator, boiler, pan and centrifuge. Management Information System (MIS) in increasing human resource productivity. Savings in labor, increased consumer surplus, improved customer service quality, improved organizational efficiency, quicker response to customers, deeper knowledge and understanding of customers. The purpose of this Project is to surveying the effect of management information system of productivity and its elements such as work speed, work cost, work accuracy (efficiency) and supervision and control status improvement, planning status improvement and make decision status improvement (effectiveness) of overall machine, man and material to improve performance of all over machinery, information systems.