The date palm, especially the variety Deglet Nour, produces some dates of high quality. The crop is increasingly attacked by insects while ripening on the palm and damaged by autumnal rains. Various forms of covers have been tried commercially. In this study we considered common materials used worldwide and tested under laboratory conditions. These products require the satisfaction of several properties at the same time. On this basis, the product’s requirements can be identified and converted into a physical element, that is, quality index “QI”, which measures the overall satisfaction of the bagging product. Its value ranges from 0 to l. Hence, “QI” can be used to detect the lack of effectiveness of one of the properties, and thus it should serve as an important measure in quality assurance. It includes the following eight parameters with their ranges: overall migration of toxicological specific substances; solar absorption coefficient; air permeability; resistance to water penetration; breaking load; tear strength; thickness; and weight. The results show that the highest quality index reached is 0.5. It is concluded that the “QI” can evaluate and classify the existing date bunch bags and it can effectively identify the property that should be improved.
This paper deals with an evaluation of farmer's satisfaction of agrotextile as a date bunch cover using global quality index. Referring to literature studies, desirability function remains an appropriate method that allows a level of flexibility over graphical tool in defining and evaluating quality. The application of desirability function is discussed and investigated. Using a statistical survey based on Tunisian farmers, it was concluded that ideal bagging product depends on date bunch requirements, weight and goal of each individual agrotextile cover's property. Based on a comparative analysis, the desirability function remains sufficient to objectively classify different bags for protection of date palm. Useful index values have been found and can be used by farmers or industries to accurately predict the quality of date bunch cover and to select the best supplier to launch the needed order. In this work, the fabrics that have been considered are woven, knitted and nonwoven fabrics. Nonwoven products are used for the first time in the palm field and have been evaluated in this paper. The results show that nonwoven products were closer to the desired performance compared to knitted and woven fabrics.
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