American Journal of Plant Sciences, 2010, 1, 106-112
doi:10.4236/ajps.2010.12014 Published Online December 2010 (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/ajps)
Copyright © 2010 SciRes. AJPS
The Multiplicative Analytic Hierarchy Process
(MIAHP) as a Quality Criterion Determining the
Technological Value of the Egyptian Cotton
Varieties
Khaled M. Hussein*, AbdElbaset A. Hassan, Mostafa M. Kamal
Cotton Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, Gamaa street, Giza, Egypt.
Email: *kkholio@hotmail.com
Received August 10th, 2010; revised September 19th, 2010; accepted September 21st, 2010.
ABSTRACT
This study was undertaken to develop a numerical process that can be used as a quality criterion to determine the
technological value of the Egyptian cotton varieties, which in turn would denote the end-use of their fibers. However
the material used in the study comprised the 6 Egyptian cotton varieties Giza70, Giza80, Giza86, Giza88, Giza90 and Giza92.
According to the local practice in Egypt, Giza70, Giza88 and Giza92 belong to the Extra-Long Staple (ELS) category,
while Giza80, Giza86 and Giza90 are included under the Long Staple (LS) category. The regression analysis of the rela-
tionships between fiber properties and yarn skein strength (lea product) of the 2 carded ring counts 40 and 50 Ne, was
employed to drive an equation for calculating the Multiplicative Analytic Hierarchy Process (MIAHP) values. The values
of the MIAHP have been used as numerical determinations of the technological values of the Egyptian cotton varieties.
Nevertheless, the findings of this study clarified that with respect to the criteria weights, the pair-wise comparisons de-
noted that fiber length properties of Egyptian cotton ranked first where they revealed the most dominant effect on yarn
strength, while tensile properties ranked second with a relative weight close to that of fiber length. On the contrary, the
relative weight of fiber fineness (micronaire reading) was found to be marginal. With regard to the relative weight of
sub-criterion, the pair-wise comparisons indicated that the role of fiber tenacity as a determinant of yarn strength is
much superior to that of fiber elongation. Further the global weights of the sub-criterion of fiber length pointed out that
the UHML (upper half mean length) plays an important role in determining yarn strength of the Egyptian cotton com-
paring with either the UI (uniformity index) or the SFC (short fiber content). In conformity with the values of the MIAHP,
it was found that in the order of descending rank, Giza88 ranked first, followed by Giza92, Giza70, Giza86, Giza80 and
finally Giza90.
Keywords: Analytic Hierarchy Process, Cotton Fiber Quality, Technological Value
1. Introduction
Cotton is a natural fiber having galore variability in its
properties. Most of these properties play a decisive role
in determining the tensile characteristics of yarns. Yarn
strength, which is considered to be the most important
property of spun yarns, is largely influenced by the te-
nacity, length, length uniformity, short fiber content and
fineness (micronaire reading) of the constituent cotton
fibers [1]. In fact, the final overall quality of yarn is
largely influenced (up to 80%) by the characteristics of
raw cotton. However, the level to which various fiber
properties influence yarn quality is diverse, and also
changes depending on the yarn manufacturing technol-
ogy. Besides, cotton may have conflicting standards in
terms of different quality criteria. Therefore, the ranking
or grading of cotton fibers in terms of different quality
criteria will certainly not be the same and this will make
the ranking of the quality of cotton fibers more complex
[2].
The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is a multicrite-
ria decision making describing which factors are ar-
ranged in a hierarchic structure by using a multilevel
hierarchical structure of objectives or goals, criteria, sub-
criteria and alternatives. The principles and the philoso-
phy of the theory give general background information of
The Multiplicative Analytic Hierarchy Process (MIAHP) as a Quality Criterion
Determining the Technological Value of the Egyptian Cotton Varieties
Copyright © 2010 SciRes. AJPS
107
the type of measurement utilized, its properties and ap-
plications. The most creative task in making a decision is
to choose the factors that are important for that decision.
In the Analytic Hierarchy Process these factors, once
selected are arranged in a hierarchic structure descending
from an overall goal to criteria, sub criteria and alterna-
tives in successive levels [3].
Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is known to be the
most appropriate for solving complicated problems. The
AHP is a comprehensive framework that is designed to
cope with the intuitive, the rational, and the irrational
when making multi-objective, multi-criterion, and multi-
actor decisions with and without certainty of any number
of alternatives. The basic assumptions of AHP are that it
can be used in functional independence of an upper part
or cluster of the hierarchy from all its lower parts and the
criteria or items in each level [4]. Hence, the AHP is a
technique that represents a complex decision problem as
a hierarchy with different levels and each level contains
different elements with a relevant common characteristic.
Using AHP, a cardinal measure of the importance or pri-
ority of each element in a level is obtained by pair-wise
comparisons of all elements in that level. Each element
in level serves as the basis for effecting pair-wise com-
parisons of the elements in the immediate lower level of
the hierarchy. The final priorities of the elements in the
lowest level (decision alternatives) are obtained using the
principle of hierarchical composition. These lead to the
overall ranking of alternatives [5].
Working on the Egyptian cotton Kamal et al., [6],
pointed out that ranking of the Egyptian cotton varieties
by virtue of Fiber Quality Index (FQI) and Staple Ratio
(SR) indicated that, as concerns the Extra-Long Staple
(ELS) category. Giza87 ranked first where it significantly
excelled the other varieties of that category. As regards
the Long-Staple (LS) category, Giza86 variety proved to
have the best quality while Giza80 ranked last in this
category and hence it represented the worst quality
among the Egyptian varieties as a whole.
The objective of this study was to ranking or grading
the technological value of Egyptian cotton fibers by us-
ing the analytic hierarchy process.
2. Material and Methods
The Egyptian cotton varieties Giza70, Giza80, Giza86,
Giza88, and Giza90, in addition to the promising hybrid
Giza84 (Giza74 x Giza68) which is now known as Giza92,
were used as a material in the present study. The samples
of those varieties were taken from the two successive
seasons 2008 and 2009.
The lint cotton samples were spun into the two carded
ring yarn counts 40 and 50 (Ne) using the 3.6 twist mul-
tiplier.
Fiber upper half mean length (UHML), uniformity in-
dex (UI), micronaire reading (MIC), fiber strength (FS)
and fiber elongation (FE %) were all determined on the
High Volume Instrument (HVI) according to ASTM
Designation [7]. Further the Sutter Web Comb Sorter
was used to determine short fiber content by weight (SFC
%) as directed in the ASTM Designation [7]. Yarn skein
strength (lea product) was measured according to ASTM
Designation [7].
All fiber and yarn tests were made at the laboratories
of the Cotton Research Institute (CRI), Giza, Egypt un-
der controlled atmospheric conditions.
As for the statistical procedures, the correlation and
regression analysis according to, Draper and Smith, [8],
and the Multiplicative Analytic Hierarchy Process (MI-
AHP) were used to deal with the data obtained.
Since the Analytic Hierarchy Process is not commonly
or widely used and since most of the researchers are not
well acquainted with this process, hence, it seems con-
venient to report on its details according to Majumdar et
al. [2], as follows:
Methodology of the Multiplicative Analytic Hierar-
chy Process (MIAHP)
Step 1:
Develop the hierarchical structure of the problem. The
overall objective or goal of the problem is positioned at
the top of the hierarchy, and the decision alternatives are
placed at the bottom. Between the top and bottom levels
are found the relevant attributes of the decision problem
such as criteria and sub-criteria. The number of levels in
the hierarchy depends on the complexity of the problem
[9-11].
Step 2:
Generate relational data for comparing the alternatives.
This requires the decision maker to formulate pair-wise
comparison matrices of elements at each level in the hi-
erarchy relative to each activity at the next higher level.
In AHP if a problem involves M alternatives and N crite-
ria, then the decision maker has to construct N judgment
matrices of alternatives of M x M order and one judg-
ment matrix of criteria of N x N order. Finally, the deci-
sion matrix of M x N order is formed by using the rela-
tive scores of the alternatives with respect to each crite-
rion. In AHP, the relational scale of real numbers from (1
to 9) and their reciprocals are used to assign preferences
in a systematic manner. When comparing two criteria (or
alternatives) with respect to an attribute in a higher level,
the relational scale proposed by Saaty [11] is used.
The relational Satty’s scale is shown below which de-
fines and explains the fundamental relational scale for
pair-wise comparisons:
The Multiplicative Analytic Hierarchy Process (MIAHP) as a Quality Criterion
Determining the Technological Value of the Egyptian Cotton Varieties
Copyright © 2010 SciRes. AJPS
108
Intensity of importance
on an absolute scale Definition Explanation
1 Equal importance Two activities contribute equally to the objective.
3 Moderate importance of one over anotherExperience and judgment slightly favour one activity over another.
5 Essential or strong
importance
Experience and judgment strongly favour one activity over
another.
7 Very strong importance An activity is strongly favoured and its dominance is demonstrated
in practice.
9 Extreme importance The evidence favoring one activity over another is of the highest
possible order of affirmation.
2,4,6,8 Intermediate values between
two adjacent judgment When compromise is needed.
Reciprocals If activity p has one of the above numbers assigned to it when compared with activity q, then q has the
reciprocal value when compared with p.
Step 3:
In this step, the relative importance of different criteria
with respect to the goal of the problem and the alterna-
tive scores with respect to each of the criteria is deter-
mined.
For N criteria, the size of the comparison matrix (C1)
will be N × N, and the entry cij will denote the relative
importance of criterion i with respect to the criterion j.
n the matrix, cij = 1 if when i = j and
ji
ij
1
cc.








112 1N
21 12N
1
1
N1 N21
c...c
c...c
c
... ......
cc ...
The importance (relative weight) of the i th criteria
(Wi) is determined by calculating the geometric mean
(GM) of the i th row, and then normalizing the geomet-
ric means of the rows of the above matrix as follows:
N
j=1
cij



GMi1N and N
i=1
GMi
GMi
Wi
Then, matrix C3 and C4 are calculated such that: C3 =
C1 × C2 and C4 = C3/C2, where C2 = [W1 W2 …. WN]T.
The principal eigen vector (λmax) of the original pair-
wise comparison matrix (C1) is calculated from the aver-
age of matrix C4.
To check the consistency in a pair-wise comparison
judgment, the consistency index (CI) and consistency
ratio (CR) are calculated from the following equations
λmax - N
CI = N -1 and CI
CR = RCI
If the value of CR is 0.1 or less, then the judgment is
consistent and acceptable. Otherwise the decision maker
has to make some changes in the entry of the pair-wise
comparison matrix.
RCI is the random consistency index; its value could
be obtained from the table below,
RCI values for different numbers of alternative (M)
M123 4 5 6 7 8 9
RCI000.580.901.12 1.24 1.32 1.411.45
[9].
Similarly, N numbers of pair-wise comparison matri-
ces (one for each criterion) of M × M order are formed,
where each alternative is pitted against all of its com-
petitors, and pair-wise comparison is made with respect
to each of the decision criterion. The eigen vector of each
of these ‘N’ matrices represents the alternative perform-
ance scores in the corresponding criterion and from a
column of the final decision matrix.
The decision matrix appears as follows:
Criterion
C1 C
2 C
3 … CN
W1 W
2 W
3 … WN
A1a11 a
12 a
13 … a1N
A2a21 a
22 a
23 … a2N
A3a31 a
32 a
33 … a3N
…… … … … …
Alternative
AMaM1 a
M2 a
M3 … a
MN
The Multiplicative Analytic Hierarchy Process (MIAHP) as a Quality Criterion
Determining the Technological Value of the Egyptian Cotton Varieties
Copyright © 2010 SciRes. AJPS
109
Here
M
i=1
aij= 1 .
Step 4:
The final priority of all the alternatives is determined
considering the alternative scores (aij) in each criteria
and the weight of the corresponding criteria (Wj) using
the following equation:
N
Ahp
j=1
MI = maxaij. Wj for i = 1, 2, 3, …, M.
(Multiplicative AHP),
[2].
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Fiber Quality Properties of Egyptian Cotton
Varieties
The data recorded in Table 1 reveal that the Egyptian
cotton varieties involved in this study differ widely with
respect to their fiber properties. However, it is worth-
while to mention that according to the local practice in
Egypt, Giza70, Giza88 and Giza92 belong to the Extra-
Long Staple (ELS) category while Giza80, Giza86 and
Giza90 are regarded as Long Staple types (LS). As would
be expected, the ELS varieties excelled the LS ones con-
cerning fiber length (UHML), fiber strength (FS) and
uniformity index (UI). By contrast, the LS varieties sur-
passed the ELS as regards fiber elongation (FE), micron-
aire reading (MIC) and short fiber content (SFC), as
shown in Table 2. Nevertheless, all the aforementioned
fiber properties were used to derive the values of the
Multiplicative Analytic Hierarchy Process (MIAHP), which
was developed and introduced by Saaty [9-11]. The
popularity of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) lies
in the fact that it can handle the objective as well as sub-
jective factors and the criteria weights and the alternative
scores are elicited through the formation of a pair-wise
comparison matrix which is the heart of the AHP [11]
and [2]. However, the following is a figure(Figure 1)
which clarifies hierarchy formulation for the Multiplica-
tive Analytic Hierarchy Process (MIAHP).
Cotton fiber criteria are classified under three headings,
namely tensile properties, fineness properties and length
properties. Tensile properties are divided into two sub-
criteria, i.e. FS (fiber strength) and FE (fiber elongation).
Similarly, UHML (upper half mean length), UI (uniform-
ity index) and SFC (short fiber content) are the relevant
sub-criteria of length properties. Fiber fineness (FF) is
solely represented by the micronaire value (MIC) [1] and
[2]. Further, at the lowest level of the hierarchy, there are
6 cotton fiber alternatives or varieties which would be
ranked according to their technological value.
Table 1. Range and mean of cotton fiber properties of the studied Egyptian cotton varieties.
Fiber property Minimum Maximum Mean
Upper Half Mean Length (UHML) (mm) 27.1 36.6 32.1
Fiber Strength (FS) (g / tex ) 26.0 52.3 41.8
Uniformity Index (UI) (%) 68.0 89.1 84.9
Fiber Elongation (FE) (%) 6.0 8.5 7.0
Micronaire Value (units) 3.0 4.9 4.1
Short Fiber Content (SFC) ( % ) 2.2 28.6 14.5
Table 2. Averages of fiber properties of the studied Egyptian cotton varieties and the derived values of MIAHP and their
descending ranking.
Varieties UHML (mm) FS (g/tex) UI (%) FE (%) MIC (units) SFC (%) MIAHP Ranking in conformity with MIAHP value
Extra Long Staple varieties (E. L. S.)
Giza 70 34.4 45.7 86.9 6.6 4.1 15.1 15.8753
Giza 88 34.7 47.4 86.5 6.5 3.8 11.2 16.5571
Giza 92 33.0 46.6 85.9 6.5 3.8 10.9 16.2322
Average 34.1 46.5 86.5 6.5 3.9 12.4 16.221––
Long Staple varieties (L. S.)
Giza 80 30.0 34.9 82.2 7.8 4.3 15.8 13.3035
Giza 86 32.3 43.9 85.9 7.0 4.4 14.4 15.2094
Giza 90 28.1 32.6 82.1 7.7 4.0 19.6 12.5366
Average 30.1 37.1 83.4 7.5 4.2 16.6 13.683––
Grand Mean 32.1 41.8 84.9 7.0 4.1 14.5 14.769
UHML: Upper Half Mean Length; FS: Fiber Strength; UI: Uniformity Index; FE: Fiber Elongation; MIC: Micronaire Value; SFC: Short Fiber Content; MIAHP:
Multiplicative Analytic Hierarchy Process
The Multiplicative Analytic Hierarchy Process (MIAHP) as a Quality Criterion
Determining the Technological Value of the Egyptian Cotton Varieties
Copyright © 2010 SciRes. AJPS
110
Figure 1.
3.2. Determination of Criteria Weights
The comparisons between the three criteria (tensile
properties, fineness properties and length properties) with
respect to their relation to the technological value of the
Egyptian cotton fibers (the goal) are shown in the pair-
wise comparison matrix which is made according to
Saaty’s scale (Table 3).
The normalized geometric mean values (NGM) or
weight vector denote that fiber length properties of
Egyptian cotton rank first where they reveal the most
dominant effect on yarn strength with a relative weight of
about 0.489 (NGM). Fiber tensile properties rank second
with a relative weight of 0.450, which doesn’t differ
markedly from that of fiber length properties. On the
contrary, fiber fineness relative weight is found to be
marginal, i.e. 0.059.
For the measurement of consistency of judgment, the
original matrix is multiplied by the weight vector (NGM)
to obtain the product as follows:
11 70.4501.356
11 90.4891.475
0.140.11 10.0590.178







1.356 1.4750.178
max3 3.007
0.450 0.489 0.059

 



3.007-3
Consistency Index CI==0.003
3-1


onsistency Ratio CR
Consistency Index CI
Random Consistency Index(RCI)
0.003 0.006 0.1
0.58

(acceptable).
3.3. The Relative Weights of Sub-Criteria with
Respect to the Corresponding Criteria
The pair-wise comparisons between the sub-criteria of
tensile properties (FS, FE) and length properties (UHML,
UI, SFC) and the derived weight vectors (global weight)
are shown in Table 3. The global weights of sub-criteria
are calculated by multiplying the relative weight of a
sub-criterion (FS, FE, UHML, UI and SFC) with respect
to the corresponding criterion (tensile properties and length
properties) and the relative weight of that criterion with
respect to the goal or objective (technological value of
Egyptian cotton fibers). For instance, the global weight
of fiber strength (FS) is 0.875 × 0.450= 0.394, and of
elongation (FE) is 0.125 × 0.450= 0.056. Accordingly, it
is quite apparent that the role of fiber tenacity as a deter-
minant of yarn strength is much superior to that of fiber
elongation. On the other hand, the global weights of the
upper half mean length (UHML), uniformity index (UI)
and short fiber content (SFC) were found to be 0.380,
0.054 and 0.054 respectively (Table 3). Thus, it is quite
evident that the UHML plays an exceptionally important
role in determining yarn strength of the Egyptian cotton
in comparison with either UI or SFC. With respect to
fiber fineness (FF) i.e. micronaire value, it is obvious that
its role, as previously mentioned is marginal.
3.4. The Technological Value of the Egyptian
Cotton Varieties
The values of the Multiplicative Analytic Hierarchy
Process (MIAHP) of the Egyptian cotton varieties are
demonstrated in Table 2. Those values have been re-
garded to be a quality criterion denoting the technologi-
cal value of the Egyptian cotton. However, the values of
MIAHP were correlated with yarn strength which is in fact
the major yarn quality consideration. The values of cor-
relation coefficients were found to be 0.93 and 0.94 for
Technological
value of cotton
Tensile
properties
Fineness
properties
Length
properties
(FF)Fiber
Fineness (MIC)
(UHML) Upper
Half Mean Length
(SFC) Short
Fiber Content
(UI) Uniformity
Index
(FS) Fiber
Strength
(FE) Fiber
Elongation
Giza70
1
Giza80
2
Giza86
3
Giza88
4
Giza90
5
Giza92
6
The Multiplicative Analytic Hierarchy Process (MIAHP) as a Quality Criterion
Determining the Technological Value of the Egyptian Cotton Varieties
Copyright © 2010 SciRes. AJPS
111
Table 3. Pair-wise comparison matrices of criteria and sub-criteria.
Pair-wise comparison matrix of criteria with respect to goal or objective.
Criteria Tensile Length Fineness Normalized Geometric Mean NGM
Tensile 1 1 7 0.450
Length 1 1 9 0.489
Fineness 0.14 0.11 1 0.059
Consistency Ratio (CR) = 0.006
Pair-wise comparison matrix of sub-criteria with respect to tensile properties
Sub-criteria Fiber Strength (FS) Fiber Elongation (FE) NGM Global weight
Fiber Strength (FS) 1 7 0.875 0.394
Fiber Elongation (FE) 0.14 1 0.125 0.056
Consistency Ratio (CR) = 0
Pair-wise comparison matrix of sub-criteria with respect to length properties
Sub-criteria Upper Half Mean
Length (UHML) Uniformity Index (UI) Short Fiber Content
(SFC) NGM Global weight
Upper Half Mean
Length (UHML) 1 7 7 0.777 0.380
Uniformity Index (UI) 0.14 1 1 0.111 0.054
Short Fiber Content
(SFC) 0.14 1 1 0.111 0.054
Consistency Ratio (CR) = 0
the 40 Ne and 50 Ne carded ring yarn counts respectively.
Those highly significant positive correlations would un-
doubtedly justify the conception of adopting the use of
the MIAHP as an indication of the technological value of
the Egyptian cotton varieties. Numerically, the values of
the MIAHP as determinants of the technological value of
the Egyptian cotton varieties, were calculated from the
following equation:
0.3940.380 0.054
AHP 0.056 0.0590.054
FS* UHML* UI
CMI= FE* FF* SFC
It seems worthy to note that the presentation of that
equation in the previously mentioned formulation was
based on the regression analysis between fiber properties
and carded ring skein strength at 2 counts, i.e. 40 Ne and
50 Ne. Fiber properties taken into consideration are fiber
strength (FS), upper half mean length (UHML), uniform-
ity index (UI), fiber elongation (FE), fiber fineness (FF)
and short fiber content (SFC). The numerator of the
equation comprises fiber properties having positive sign
regression coefficients with yarn strength, i.e. fiber
strength (FS), upper half mean length (UHML) and uni-
formity index (UI). By contrast, the denumerator includes
fiber properties having negative sign regression coeffi-
cients with yarn strength, i.e. fiber elongation (FE), fiber
fineness (FF) and short fiber content (SFC).
Nevertheless, from Table 2, it is shown that, in con-
formity with the values of the Multiplicative Analytic
Hierarchy Process (MIAHP) of the Egyptian cotton varie-
ties, and in the order of descending rank, Giza88 ranked
first followed by Giza92, Giza70, Giza86, Giza80 and finally
Giza90. Accordingly, it is quite apparent that regarding
the technological value of the Egyptian cotton varieties,
the Extra-Long Staple (ELS) varieties Giza88, Giza92 and
Giza70, obviously excelled the Long-Staple (LS) types
Giza86, Giza80 and Giza90. This finding is wholly ex-
pected, since it is well known that the Egyptian ELS cot-
ton varieties are of higher and better fiber quality char-
acteristics compared with the LS varieties. However,
considering all the Egyptian cotton varieties as a whole it
could be stated that Giza88 is the top quality variety
among the Egyptian cottons whereas Giza90 ranks last in
this respect.
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112
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