Resumo Os roedores podem causar danos significativos às culturas de trigo e amendoim nos países em desenvolvimento, bem como aos produtos armazenados e infraestrutura, afetando a segurança alimentar e a renda dos pequenos agricultores. O trigo (Triticum aestivum) e o amendoim (Arachis hypogea) são culturas comerciais importantes para os agricultores locais no Paquistão. Experimentos de campo foram realizados para avaliar a extensão dos danos de roedores às culturas de trigo e amendoim ao longo de seus estágios de crescimento (ou seja, germinação, floração/formação e maturidade) nas zonas agroecológicas de Pothwar Plateau, Paquistão. Usamos um método de quadrat para registrar o número de plantas de cultura danificadas. Com base nos dados de armadilhagem foram capturadas quatro espécies de roedores de sistemas de cultivo de trigo-amendoim que foram responsáveis por causar danos, ou seja, o rato-bandico-pequeno (Bandicota bengalensis) foi a espécie principal, seguido pelo rato-toupeira-de-cauda-curta (Nesokia indica), o gerbilo-da-índia (Tatera indica) e o rato-do-mato (Golunda ellioti). Em ambas as culturas, o dano máximo foi registrado na maturidade da cultura (10,7 e 14,4%, respectivamente). O menor dano relatado ao trigo e ao amendoim foi no estágio de germinação (3,5% e 6,0%, respectivamente). O menor dano relatado na germinação pode ser devido à disponibilidade de vegetação não cultivada nas bordas do campo, que pode ser um fator potencial que influencia o dano. Nossos resultados mostraram claramente a quantidade considerável de danos causados por roedores ao trigo-amendoim na maturidade em todas as zonas agroecológicas de Pothwar e indicaram que a composição de pequenos mamíferos estava mais relacionada ao estágio de maturidade/estação das culturas quando a disponibilidade de alimentos e as condições climáticas eram favoráveis e com segurança sob abrigo de cultivo. Estudos mais detalhados são necessários para entender completamente a ecologia populacional e reprodutiva das espécies de pragas de roedores relevantes em relação aos padrões de danos para otimizar o manejo, além das medidas estruturais individuais.

Abstract Rodents can cause significant damage to wheat-groundnut crops in developing countries, as well as to stored produce and infrastructure, affecting food security and income of small-holder farmers. Wheat (Triticum aestivum) and groundnuts (Arachis hypogea) are important cash crops for local farmers in Pakistan. Field experiments were performed to assess the extent of rodent damage to wheat-groundnut crops throughout their growth stages (i.e, germination, flowering/peg formation and maturity) in the agro-ecological zones of Pothwar Plateau, Pakistan. We used a quadrat method to record the number of damaged crop plants. On the basis of the trapping data four rodent species were captured from wheat-groundnut cropping systems which were responsible for causing damage, i.e., lesser bandicoot rat (Bandicota bengalensis) was the main species, followed by the short-tailed mole rat (Nesokia indica), the Indian gerbil (Tatera indica) and the bush rat (Golunda ellioti). In both crops, the maximum damage was recorded at crop maturity (10.7 and 14.4%, respectively). The lowest reported damage to wheat and groundnuts was at the germination stage (3.5% and 6.0%, respectively). The lower damage reported at germination could be due to availability of non-crop vegetation at field borders that may be a potential factor influencing damage. Our findings clearly show the considerable amount of damage caused by rodents to wheat-groundnut at maturity across all the agro-ecological zones of Pothwar and indicated that the small mammal composition was more related to maturity stage/season of crops, when the availability of food and climatic condition were favorable and having security under crop shelter. More detailed studies are needed to fully understand the population and breeding ecology of the relevant rodent pest species in relation to damage patterns to optimize management beyond individual structural measures.

Abstract Non-linear thermal radiation effects on non-aligned stagnation point flow of Maxwell fluid have been carried out in the present investigation. It is observed that the non-linear radiation augments the temperature and heat transfer rate. This physical phenomenon is translated into a system of partial differential equations (PDEs). After useful transformation, these non-linear constitutive equations are transformed into a system of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) and interpreted numerically by means of parallel shooting technique. Effects of pertinent parameters on flow and heat transfer are elaborated through tables and graphs. It is observed that radiation and surface heating enhance the rate of heat transfer, however Prandtl number has inverse relation with thermal boundary layer thickness. It has been observed that for increasing Prandtl number, heat transfer rate enhances. The detailed discussion of heat transfer rate is also presented in this study. Flow pattern is judged through streamlines graphs. It is also observed that oblique stagnation point flow behaves like orthogonal stagnation point flow, when free stream velocity is very large as compared to stretching velocity.

Abstract: The paper provides the analysis of unsteady two-dimensional mixed convection stagnation point flow over a vertical stretching cylinder with sinusoidal wall temperature. The governing partial differential equations are converted into dimensionless form by using suitable transformations. For the numerical solution of dimensionless partial differential equations, an implicit finite difference scheme namely Keller Box method is applied. The comparison is made to show the accuracy of our results with literature for some special cases. Graphs of velocity and temperature profiles are plotted for assisting and opposing flow cases at fixed value of time. The assisting buoyant flow augment the momentum boundary layer while opposing buoyant flow show opposite behavior. The thermal boundary layer thickness grows with the passage of time. Skin friction and Nusselt number are plotted for unsteadiness parameter and amplitude of surface temperature oscillations against time. It is apparent that as the values of surface temperature oscillations drops, the amplitude of oscillations in skin friction and Nusselt number also drops. Furthermore, isotherms are drawn to exhibit the influence of the amplitude of oscillations on curvature parameter with time.