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The present study computes multidimensional poverty and compares it with unidimensional estimates of poverty for the district of Mandi Bahuddin in the Punjab province of Pakistan for the years 2010...

The agriculture sector is confronting numerous types of risk. Like other crops’ farmers, rice growers are also facing multifarious challenges, including production and environmental risk. On the on...

Climate change has now become a universal truth. Its impact on agriculture is a growing concern in the world today. Being third most vulnerable country to climate change, agrarian economy of Pakist...

The performance of asphalt pavement is highly affected by climate factors, such as temperature and precipitation. Different temperature and moisture conditions change the paving material properties, which consequently influence pavement performance. Considerable research has been conducted to study the effect of climate factors on pavement performance; however, there are no focused studies that have investigated the performance of asphalt pavements in cold regions. In this research, the effect of different design factors on asphalt pavement performance in cold regions is investigated utilising data extracted from the Long-Term Pavement Performance database. Only control sections with no historical maintenance or rehabilitation records were considered. The International Roughness Index (IRI) was adopted as the pavement performance measure. The IRI value is expected to increase gradually over time due to pavement deterioration. Initial screening of the data showed that most of the pavement sections ...

It is well known that dilute sulfuric acid pretreatment of the lignicellulosisc biomass is an effective approach used for the production of the ethanol. However, there are less studies on the biogas production from the pretreated lignocellulosics and hardly data available on the codigestion of cattle manure with the pretreated lignocellulosisc material. The aim of this study was to evaluate biomethane production potential of codigestion of cattle manure with dilute acid pretreated lignocellulosic biomass. Sugarcane bagasse and rice husk was pretreated with dilute sulfuric acid or phosphoric acid at 121°C for 20 minutes and subsequently subjected to anaerobic digestion alone or codigested with cattle manure.The results showed that codigestion of 1% phosphoric acid pretreated rice husk with cattle manure led to the highest methane production of 115 Nmlg−1VS while monodigestion of cattle manure and phosphoric acid pretreated rice husk produced 98 and 87 Nmlg−1VS, respectively. An inhibition was obser...

Agriculture is the backbone of Pakistan's economy. It employs 45% of the labor force, contributes 21.4% to the gross domestic product and provides food to more than 180 million people of the country. The required plethoric resources to produce food correspondingly protect the population against food insecurity. This study explores the distribution of land resources, their ranking and relationships with food security in all districts of Punjab province of Pakistan. The Gini Coefficient and multiple linear regression were employed. The results showed positive relationships between the Gini of operational land holdings and the proportion of land ownership titles with the proportion of food-insecure population and food availability while the rest exhibited negative relationships as theoretically and statistically justified, which is contrary to earlier studies. It is strongly recommended that policy-makers must redefine the threshold level of land ownership holdings/operational holdings to produce in abundanc...

The definition on poverty has progressed into a multidimensional concept focusing more on socio-economic dimensions than being a mere measure of financial deprivation. Corresponding to this advancement, this study investigated the incidence of multidimensional poverty (MDP) in the Rawalpindi region of Pakistan, taking into account three dimensions, i.e. education, health and housing. Findings revealed an inconsistent declining trend of MDP over time. This inconsistency was mainly attributed to observed fluctuations in deprivation levels of education, health and housing in the region. Over time, education deprivation showed a significant net increase. Notably, the magnitude of MDP in rural areas was higher than in urban areas.

This comparative study investigated variations in food patterns across the seasons in rural Pakistan through assessing the changes in food variety, dietary diversity and calorie intake. It analyzed the situation using the primary information of 97 and 114 households surveyed in summer and winter respectively. Findings revealed a significant difference of households' food variety, dietary diversity and calorie intake across the seasons. In the winter, households' food basket was more diverse, showing 30%, 13%, and 8% rise in food variety, dietary diversity, and caloric intake, respectively, due mainly to the changes in food choices in winter. Rural households preferred to consume items from nutritious food groups (i.e., dried fruits and nuts, oilseeds, and locally preserved foods) during the severe cold weather. However, they did not substitute significantly the items from basic food groups (i.e., cereals, vegetables and legumes, tubers, and dairy products), with those belonging to nutritious groups. Based on findings, it is concluded that food variety, dietary diversity and calorie intake fluctuate across the seasons, therefore surveys of dietary patterns and calorie intake in one particular season may not be reliable, and food security status of households may not be generalized on the basis of one season survey.