Determining the Occupational Health and Safety of Workers in The Food Manufacturing Sector of Pakistan

Background: For organizations, conducting work in a safe environment has become mandatory under the provisions and guidelines provided by international and local laws. Occupational health and safety (OHS) standards have become a requisite in almost every industry these days; however, many organizations in developing countries are negligent at adhering to the safety measures, and there is also an absence of proper monitoring. Objective: Our objective was to determine the occupational health and safety standards that are prevailing in the food manufacturing sector of Pakistan. For this, we approached several food manufacturing companies and conducted interviews with quality assurance managers and health and safety executives to evaluate and analyze the workplace conditions to understand their OHS practices. Methods: We conducted 7 interviews with quality assurance managers in the food manufacturing and services companies of Pakistan. The interview guide was used for eliciting responses and a coding method was used to arrive at the themes of the data gathered. Results: The interviews conducted with quality assurance managers and those working to ensure that safety measures are practiced in their company, showed that the export-oriented food manufacturing companies in Pakistan are following OHS standards, as it has become a necessity, with numerous benefits such as ensuring worker safety, maintaining company reputation. However, the extent to which these measures are implemented and strictly followed varies, as there are certain issues that arise when companies try to follow and implement OHS practices The problems vary from company to company however, most of them relate to worker adaptability, costs, and training needs.  OHS situation in local firms is concerning. Most of them do not have HSE officers, not the concept of toolbox talk, no preventive and safety measures.  These poor practices make the situation unsafe, which lead to fatalities Conclusion: By establishing a national framework for policies and legislations as per the conventions of ILO for a better workplace environment along with proper law enforcement improvement in occupational health and safety domain can be achieved.      

Integrated Nitrogen Management With and Without Beneficial Microbes in Spring Maize and its Carry over Effect on Subsequent Mung Bean

The effectiveness of beneficial microbes in improving soil fertility and crop productivity may vary with soil organic matter and nitrogen contents. For this purpose, field trials were conducted at the Agronomy Research Farms of the University of Agriculture Peshawar to evaluate the effect of beneficial microbes, organic and inorganic N ratios and N levels in spring maize and mung bean cropping system in semi-arid alkaline calcareous soil condition of Peshawar during 2014 and 2015. Maize was sown in spring followed by mung bean in summer. The experiment was consisted of three factors i.e., beneficial microbes (BM) (with BM and without BM), organic and inorganic N sources (R) (0:100, 25:75, 50:50, 75:25 and 100:0), desired nitrogen (N) levels (100, 150 and 200 kg N ha-1) and control. The experiment was carried out in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with 3 replications. Plot size was 4.2 m x 4 m having six rows in maize and 12 rows in subsequent mung bean. Row to row distance for maize and mung bean was 70 and 35 cm respectively. Mung bean was sown without application of the cited treatments for carry over only. Based on the average results of the two years, BM significantly enhanced plant height (220 cm), SPAD value (62.53), days to tasselling (63.3 d), silking (66.9 d), maturity (101 d), leaf rea (437 cm2), LAI (3.47), ears m-2 (7.0), grains ear-1 (576), thousand grains weight (269 g), biological yield (16543 kg ha-1), grain yield (5438 kg ha-1), harvest index (32.9 %), soil organic matter (1.04 %), stover N (0.77 %), grain N (1.64 %), grain protein (10.23 %), stover N uptake (76.3 kg ha-1), grains N uptake (89.8 kg ha-1), total N uptake (127 kg ha-1) and N use efficiency (24.5 kg grains kg-1 N supply). Higher soil mineral N (47.7 mg kg-1) was observed without application of BM. Application of organic and inorganic N in 50:50 R significantly improved plant height (222 cm), SPAD value (63.68), days to tasselling (63.1 d), days to silking (66.9 d), days to maturity (100 d), leaf area (456 cm2), LAI (3.61), ear m-2 (7.0), grains ear-1 (554), thousand grains weight (266.3 g), biological yield (16792 kg ha-1), grain yield (5732 kg ha-1), harvest index (34.1 %), stover N (0.81 %), grain N (1.68 %), grain protein content (10.5 %), stover N uptake (81.06 kg ha-1), grains N uptake (97.17 kg ha-1), total N uptake (131.9 kg ha-1) and N use efficiency (25.9 kg grains kg-1 N supply). Higher soil organic matter (1.21 %) was observed with application of full dose of N applied from organic source. Soil mineral N (50.2 mg kg-1) and soil total N (0.085%) were observed with application of organic and inorganic N in 75:25 R. Application of N @150 kg ha-1 significantly increased SPAD value (61.9), leaf area (445 cm2), LAI (3.59), ears m-2 (6.9), grains ear- 1 (548), thousand grains weight (266.2 g), grain yield (5228 kg ha-1), harvest index (32.7 %), grain N (1.63 %), grain protein (10.19 %) and grains N uptake (85.82 kg hav 1). Higher plant height (220 cm), days to tasselling (63.9 d), silking (67.3 d), and maturity (102 d), biological yield (16589 kg ha-1), soil organic matter (1.21 %), soil total N (0.082%), stover N (0.89 %), stover N uptake (93.13 kg ha-1) and total N uptake (144.03 kg ha-1) were observed with application of 200 kg N ha-1. Similarly, N use efficiency (26.13 kg grains kg-1 N supply) were recorded with application of N @ 100 kg ha-1. In mung bean, higher pods m-2 (214), grains pod-1 (11), thousand grains weight (50.8 g), grain yield (918 kg ha-1), biological yield (5896 kg ha-1) and harvest index (17.12 %) were observed with the residual effect of BM. However, more pods m-2 (231), grains pod-1 (11.2), thousand grains weight (50.8 g), grain yield (927 kg ha-1) and biological yield (6141 kg ha-1) were obtained with the residual effect of organic and inorganic N in 75:25 and 50:50 R while higher harvest index (17.7 %) was observed with organic and inorganic N in 50:50 R. Higher grains pod-1 (10.8), thousand grains weight (51.24 g), grain yield (917 kg ha-1) and biological yield (5935 kg ha-1) were observed with the residual effect of 150 kg N ha-1 while higher harvest index (17.12%) was observed with residual effect of 100 kg N ha-1. On the basis of above results, it was concluded that BM in combination with N @ 150 kg N ha-1 in organic and inorganic ratio of 50:50 performed better and are, therefore, recommended for higher productivity in spring maize-mung bean cropping system in the agro-climatic conditions of Peshawar Pakistan.