Internet of Things (IoT)-based automation of agricultural events can change the agriculture sector from being static and manual to dynamic and smart, leading to enhanced production with reduced human efforts. Precision Agriculture (PA) along with Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) are the main drivers of automation in the agriculture domain. PA uses specific sensors and software to ensure that the crops receive exactly what they need to optimize productivity and sustainability. PA includes retrieving real data about the conditions of soil, crops and weather from the sensors deployed in the fields. High-resolution images of crops are obtained from satellite or air-borne platforms (manned or unmanned), which are further processed to extract information used to provide future decisions. In this paper, a review of near and remote sensor networks in the agriculture domain is presented along with several considerations and challenges. This survey includes wireless communication technologies, sensors, and wireless nodes used to assess the environmental behaviour, the platforms used to obtain spectral images of crops, the common vegetation indices used to analyse spectral images and applications of WSN in agriculture. As a proof of concept, we present a case study showing how WSN-based PA system can be implemented. We propose an IoT-based smart solution for crop health monitoring, which is comprised of two modules. The first module is a wireless sensor network-based system to monitor real-time crop health status. The second module uses a low altitude remote sensing platform to obtain multi-spectral imagery, which is further processed to classify healthy and unhealthy crops. We also highlight the results obtained using a case study and list the challenges and future directions based on our work.

Purpose Drawing on data from a unique, large-scale survey, the purpose of this paper is to examine the links between e-HRM and perceived labour productivity both directly and through the mediating role of HR service quality amongst commercial-bank workplaces in Pakistan, many of which have introduced e-HRM. Design/methodology/approach The authors use partial least squares structural equation modelling to examine the direct links between e-HRM and productivity as well as the mediated links between e-HRM, perceived HR service quality and productivity. Findings The authors show that e-HRM practices have a statistically significant, positive effect on managers’ perceptions of labour productivity. The authors also reveal that e-HRM practices influence the quality of HR service, and that the quality of HR services fully mediates the relationship between e-HRM practices and managers’ perceptions of labour productivity. Practical implications The results highlight the importance of designing and implementing e-HRM systems so that they support organisation workflow and enable workers to carry out a range of HR and non-HR activities more efficiently. In particular, this study suggests that managers should focus on how e-HRM impacts on HR service quality in a holistic way, as this is the “route” via which e-HRM can improve labour productivity. Originality/value Existing research has demonstrated a link between e-HRM and the quality of HR services; however, these studies downplay the potential impact of e-HRM on labour productivity, a key organisational outcome and one that e-HRM aims to improve. This study contributes to the HRM literature by identifying how e-HRM can improve labour productivity by enhancing the perceived HR service quality. This study, therefore, provides the basis for future theory developments in this area.

Purpose The purposes of the study are to investigate the role of brand experience in the generation of consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) in Islamic banking and to identify the important components of brand equity, in light of Aaker (1991) and Keller (1993), who combined effect on brand loyalty to effectively manage CBBE in Islamic banking. Design/methodology/approach Paper and pencil technique was used to collect data from the consumers of Islamic banking products. In total, 365 respondents were finally considered for data analysis. Convenient sampling technique was used to collect data. Correlation, multiple regression and hierarchical regression techniques were used with the aid of SPSS and AMOS to analyse the data. Findings The results show that perceived quality, brand image, brand experience, brand loyalty and brand awareness are positively associated and have a significant influence on overall brand equity. Based on the results, the study concludes that perceived quality is an important variable in the management of CBBE in Islamic banking to improve overall brand equity. Hence, it is concluded that perceived quality, brand experience and brand image are the most important focusing areas from CBBE in the management of Islamic banks’ brand equity and cannot be undervalued. Practical implications The research findings illustrate the importance of brand experience and effects of overall brand equity dimensions in the process of building strong brand equity of Islamic banks. Therefore, this research has implications not only for experiential marketing but also for human resource managers and brand managers. The scope of the present study is limited only to the consumers of Islamic banks products of Malaysia and Pakistan. Originality/value Brand management literature focused on the components of brand equity model and its importance in creating overall brand equity. Previous studies are yet to investigate the combined effect of brand equity components (perceived quality, brand awareness, brand image and brand loyalty) to manage overall brand equity. Therefore, the present research fills the gap by investigating the combination of best brand equity components that are very effective to manage brand loyalty and overall brand equity. Second, this study investigates the impact of brand experience on CBBE components in Islamic banking which has not been tested before in Islamic banking.

Curcuma longa is an important dietary plant which possess several pharmacological activities, including antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflamatory, anticancer and anti clotting etc. The aim of the present study was to determine the phenolic profile of Curcuma longa and in vitro antioxidant and antidiabetic activities. In HPLC chromatogram of Curcuma longa rhizome extract 15 phenolic compounds were identified namely Digalloyl-hexoside, Caffeic acid hexoside, Curdione, Coumaric, Caffeic acid, Sinapic acid, Qurecetin-3-D-galactoside, Casuarinin, Bisdemethoxycurcumin, Curcuminol, Demethoxycurcumin, and Isorhamnetin, Valoneic acid bilactone, Curcumin, Curcumin-O-glucuronide respectively. The ethanolic extract displayed an IC50 value of 37.1±0.3 µg/ml against alpha glucosidase. The IC50 value of DPPH radical scavenging activity was 27.2 ± 1.1 μg/mL. It is concluded that ethanolic extract of Curcuma long is rich source of curcumin and contain several important phenolics. The in vitro antioxidant and alpha glucosidase inhibitory effect of the plant justifies its popular use in traditional medicine.

Crop classification in early phenological stages has been a difficult task due to spectrum similarity of different crops. For this purpose, low altitude platforms such as drones have great potential to provide high resolution optical imagery where Machine Learning (ML) applied to classify different types of crops. In this research work, crop classification is performed at different phenological stages using optical images which are obtained from drone. For this purpose, gray level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) based features are extracted from underlying gray scale images collected by the drone. To classify the different types of crops, different ML algorithms including Random Forest (RF), Naive Bayes (NB), Neural Network (NN) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) are applied. The results showed that the ML algorithms performed much better on GLCM features as compared to gray scale images with a margin of 13.65% in overall accuracy.