Exploring the potential and performance of maize production in Bangladesh

Maize is gaining importance in recent years as a promising crop aimed at boosting agricultural growth in Bangladesh. The present study explores the potential of maize expansion by examining its profitability and economic efficiency using a survey data of 300 farmers from three regions. Maize ranks first in terms of yield (7.98 t/ha) and return (BCR=1.63) as compared with rice and wheat. The economic efficiency of maize production is also estimated at a high 87%, although a substantial 15% [(100-87)/87)] cost reduction is still possible while maintaining current output level by eliminating technical and allocative inefficiency. Education positively contributes towards increasing efficiency while large farmers are relatively inefficient. Geography does matter. Efficiency is lower in Bogra region as compared with Dinajpur and Kushtia. Policy implications include investment in education, setting up appropriate price policies to stabilise prices and facilitation of the input markets for timely delivery of required inputs

Energy productivity and efficiency of maize accounting for the choice of growing season and environmental factors: An empirical analysis from Bangladesh

The paper evaluates sustainability of maize cultivation in Bangladesh in terms of energy use while taking into account factors affecting choice of the growing season and farmers' production environment using a sample selection framework applied to stochastic frontier models. Results reveal that the probability of growing winter maize is influenced positively by gross return, irrigation, subsistence pressure, soil suitability and temperature variability whereas extension contact influences choice negatively. Significant differences exist between winter and summer maize regarding yield, specific energy, net energy balance, energy use efficiency and technical energy efficiency although both systems are highly sustainable and efficient. The energy output from winter maize is 199,585 MJ/ha which is 53.9% higher than the summer maize output of 129,701 MJ/ha. Also, energy input use of winter maize is 110.6% higher than the summer maize. Energy inputs from mechanical power, seeds, fertilizers and organic manures significantly increase energy productivity of winter maize whereas only mechanical power influences summer maize productivity. However, temperature variation and rainfall significantly reduce energy productivity of summer maize. Policy implications include investments in soil conservation and irrigation, development of weather resistant varieties and raising maize price will boost maize cultivation in Bangladesh, a highly sustainable production technology. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd

Joint determination of the choice of growing season and economic efficiency of maize in Bangladesh

The paper jointly evaluates the determinants of the choice of maize growing season (winter vs. summer maize) and economic efficiency of individual producers in Bangladesh using a sample selection framework applied to stochastic frontier models. Model diagnostics reveal that sample selection bias is significant, thereby justifying the use of this approach. Probit results reveal that the probability to choose winter maize are influenced positively by gross return, subsistence pressure and soil suitability, whereas extension contact influences choice negatively. Stochastic cost frontier results reveal that a rise in input prices and output level increases production cost as expected. Among the variables representing the production environment, soil suitability and stability of mean temperature reduce cost, whereas precipitation increases cost. The mean level of economic efficiency is estimated at 0.91, implying that scope still exists to reduce cost further by jointly eliminating technical and allocative inefficiency. Policy implications include measures to improve soil suitability, development of temperature-resistant varieties and price policies to check input price rise while boosting maize price, which will synergistically increase adoption rate as well as profitability of winter maize cultivation in Bangladesh

Landslide Inventory in an Urban Setting in the Context of Chittagong Metropolitan Area, Bangladesh

Chittagong Metropolitan Area (CMA) is vulnerable to landslide hazards with an increasing trend in frequency and damage. Devastating landslides have hit CMA repeatedly in recent years. Under a project financed through ICIMOD of Nepal, detail survey has been conducted to prepare an inventory of landslides in CMA. Landslide events have been observed to occur at times of much higher rainfall amount compared to the monthly average. Moreover, rapid urbanization, increased population density, improper land-use, cutting of hills, indiscriminate deforestation and agricultural practices are aggravating the landslide vulnerability in CMA. A landslide inventory is helpful for landslide modelling, runoff modelling and urban land-use planning. A three step methodology, identifying past landslide events from news archive, information from local people and satellite image interpretation has been followed. An inventory of 57 landslide events has been prepared which includes landslide locations, types, dimension, activity, potential causes of landslides, triggering mechanism and slope stabilizing mechanism. This inventory is expected to be a useful resource for future landslide studies in this port city of Bangladesh

An Energy conserving routing scheme for wireless body sensor nanonetwork communication

Current developments in nanotechnology make electromagnetic communication possible at the nanoscale for applications involving body sensor networks (BSNs). This specialized branch of wireless sensor networks, drawing attention from diverse fields, such as engineering, medicine, biology, physics, and computer science, has emerged as an important research area contributing to medical treatment, social welfare, and sports. The concept is based on the interaction of integrated nanoscale machines by means of wireless communications. One key hurdle for advancing nanocommunications is the lack of an apposite networking protocol to address the upcoming needs of the nanonetworks. Recently, some key challenges have been identified, such as nanonodes with extreme energy constraints, limited computational capabilities, terahertz frequency bands with limited transmission range, and so on, in designing protocols for wireless nanosensor networks. This work proposes an improved performance scheme of nanocommunication over terahertz bands for wireless BSNs making it suitable for smart e-health applications. The scheme contains - a new energy-efficient forwarding routine for electromagnetic communication in wireless nanonetworks consisting of hybrid clusters with centralized scheduling; a model designed for channel behavior taking into account the aggregated impact of molecular absorption, spreading loss, and shadowing; and an energy model for energy harvesting and consumption. The outage probability is derived for both single and multilinks and extended to determine the outage capacity. The outage probability for a multilink is derived using a cooperative fusion technique at a predefined fusion node. Simulated using a nano-sim simulator, performance of the proposed model has been evaluated for energy efficiency, outage capacity, and outage probability. The results demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed scheme through maximized energy utilization in both single and multihop communications; multisensor fusion at the fusion node enhances the link quality of the transmission

Analisis Persebaran Daerah Asal Mahasiswauniversitas Veteran Bangun Nusantaradengan Menggunakan Sistem Informasi Geografis (Sig)

The objective of the research is to knowthe distribution area on Veteran Bangun Nusantara University\u27s students.The researcher uses descriptive in research methodology. The method use disdescriptive, which describe the spatial through maps. The data analysis techniqueused is the techniqueof analysismap, fordistribution. The result of this researchis the majority of Veteran Bangun Nusantara University\u27s students that came from Central Java province, the numberof 2012/2013 to 2014/2015 academic year are 3834 mahasiswa. While, Veteran Bangun Nusantara University\u27s students that came from non-Central Java province are 179 peserta. So, the total for all students 4031 people in Indonesia. Keywords: Map, Distribution, Unive

An Exploratory Study of User Perceptions of Payment Methods in the UK and the US

This paper presents the design and the results of a cross-cultural study of user perceptions and attitudes toward electronic payment methods. We conduct a series of semi-structured interviews involving forty participants (20 in London, UK, and 20 in Manhattan, KS, USA) to explore how individuals use the mechanisms available to them within their routine payment and banking activities. We also study their comprehension of payment processes, the perceived effort and impact of using different methods, as well as direct or indirect recollections of (suspected or actual) fraud and related interactions with banks and retailers. By comparing UK and US participants, we also elicit commonalities and differences that may help better understand, if not predict, attitudes of US customers once technologies like Chip-and-PIN are rolled out – for instance, several US participants were confused by how to use it, while UK participants found it convenient. Our results show that purchasing habits as well as the availability of rewards schemes are primary criteria influencing choices relating to payment technologies, and that inconsistencies, glitches, and other difficulties with newer technologies generate frustration sometimes leading to complete avoidance of new payment methods