Pakistan is one of the most vulnerable countries especially in Southeast Asia experiencing floods and droughts as a result of climate change. Variation in climate adversely affects agriculture ...sector, ground water, nutrition, soil quality and soil organic matter, health conditions, and poverty. The main purpose of this study is to review the impact of climate change and adaptation strategies used at farm level in response to variation in temperature and precipitation. As per literature, Pakistani farmers adopt several adaptation strategies in response to climate change, like change in fertilizer, change in crop variety, pesticide, seed quality, water storage, farm diversification, plant shade trees, irrigation practices, off-farm activities, permanent and temporary migration, and selling of assets. Literature also showed that farmers living wetland area perceived less variation in climate than farm households living in dry area.
High-temperature stress degrades the grain quality of rice; nevertheless, the exogenous application of plant growth regulators (PGRs) might alleviate the negative effects of high temperatures. In the ...present study, we investigated the responses of rice grain quality to exogenously applied PGRs under high day temperatures (HDT) and high night temperatures (HNT) under controlled conditions. Four different combinations of ascorbic acid (Vc), alpha-tocopherol (Ve), brassinosteroids (Br), methyl jasmonates (MeJA) and triazoles (Tr) were exogenously applied to two rice cultivars (IR-64 and Huanghuazhan) prior to the high-temperature treatment. A Nothing applied Control (NAC) was included for comparison. The results demonstrated that high-temperature stress was detrimental for grain appearance and milling qualities and that both HDT and HNT reduced the grain length, grain width, grain area, head rice percentage and milled rice percentage but increased the chalkiness percentage and percent area of endosperm chalkiness in both cultivars compared with ambient temperature (AT). Significantly higher grain breakdown, set back, consistence viscosity and gelatinization temperature, and significantly lower peak, trough and final viscosities were observed under high-temperature stress compared with AT. Thus, HNT was more devastating for grain quality than HDT. The exogenous application of PGRs ameliorated the adverse effects of high temperature in both rice cultivars, and Vc+Ve+MejA+Br was the best combination for both cultivars under high temperature stress.
The ability of the food industry to practice a high degree of corporate social responsibility is related to whether national food safety can be effectively guaranteed. By taking the food enterprises ...in China's A-share listed companies from 2009-2018, this paper probes into the influence of China's macroeconomic policy uncertainty on corporate social responsibility, and depicts the differencent impact of enterprise's practice of social responsibility under government association and market association, respectively. The results firstly show that, the uncertainty of economic policy has a negative effect on the social responsibility of food enterprises, with a regression coefficient of -0.013. Secondly, nonstate-owned enterprises are more vulnerable to macroeconomic fluctuations in the practice of social responsibility. Thirdly, in the case of greater economic policy uncertainty, enterprises with stronger market connections in the food industry tend to be more conservative in their CSR. The above research results not only verify the path of transmission of economic policy uncertainty to corporate social responsibility, but also provide important ideas and references for improving the level of corporate social responsibility in the food industry and ensuring food safety.
In Pakistan, agriculture is susceptible to numerous risks, particularly in flood prone areas. Crop insurance could act as an effective tool for managing risks in Pakistan. For many years, the country ...has confronted with the losses from natural disasters without crop insurance. This study aims to examine the willingness of Pakistani farmers to pay for insurance premiums by conducting a household survey. Primary data of 600 farmers were collected in the four flood prone districts namely Charsadda, Peshawar, Mardan and Nowshera of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province of Pakistan. In a rural farm-household survey, residents of the study area were asked about their preferences for a hypothesized crop insurance program using contingent valuation (CV) method by asking their willingness to pay (WTP) for crop insurance to eradicate forthcoming disaster risks. Multiple linear regression model was utilized to check construct validity and reliability of the WTP estimates. The outcomes of the study revealed that about 30% of the participants accepted the concept of crop insurance as the mechanism for disaster risk reduction. Our findings reveal that the severity and frequency of past weather associated extremes, farm typology, socio-economic settings, and the ability of farming communities to pay should be considered while introducing crop insurance programs in the region. Moreover, disseminating awareness in farming communities regarding the futures changes in climate and the related risks of the existence of extreme weather incidences is important. The government support to subsidize insurance schemes might increase the need for crop insurance among subsistence farmers in and cushion them against adverse effects arising from such extreme weather conditions for sustenance of livelihoods.
Swift population growth and rising demand for energy in the 21st century have resulted in considerable efforts to make the electrical grid more intelligent and responsive to accommodate consumers’ ...needs better while enhancing the reliability and efficiency of modern power systems. Internet of Things (IoT) has appeared as one of the enabling technologies for smart energy grids by delivering abundant cutting-edge solutions in various domains, including critical infrastructures. As IoT-enabled devices continue to flourish, one of the major challenges is security issues, since IoT devices are connected through the Internet, thus making the smart grids vulnerable to a diverse range of cyberattacks. Given the possible cascading consequences of shutting down a power system, a cyberattack on a smart grid would have disastrous implications for the stability of all grid-connected infrastructures. Most of the gadgets in our homes, workplaces, hospitals, and on trains require electricity to run. Therefore, the entire grid is subject to cyberattacks when a single device is hacked. Such attacks on power supplies may bring entire cities to a standstill, resulting in massive economic losses. As a result, security is an important element to address before the large-scale deployment of IoT-based devices in energy systems. In this report, first, we review the architecture and infrastructure of IoT-enabled smart grids; then, we focus on major challenges and security issues regarding their implementation. Lastly, as the main outcome of this study, we highlight the advanced solutions and technologies that can help IoT-enabled smart grids be more resilient and secure in overcoming existing cyber and physical attacks. In this regard, in the future, the broad implementation of cutting-edge secure and data transmission systems based on blockchain techniques is necessary to safeguard the entire electrical grid against cyber-physical adversaries.
Silver nanoparticles (Ag. NPs) have shown a biological activity range, synthesized under different environment-friendly approaches. Ag. NPs were synthesized using aqueous crude extract (ACE) isolated ...from Plantago lanceolata. The ACE and Ag. NPs were characterized and assessed their biological and antioxidant activities. The existence of nanoparticles (NPs) was confirmed by color shift, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and UV-Vis's spectroscopy. The FT-IR analysis indicated the association of biomolecules (phenolic acid and flavonoids) to reduce silver (Ag
) ions. The SEM study demonstrated a sphere-shaped and mean size in the range of 30 ± 4 nm. The EDX spectrum revealed that the Ag. NPs were composed of 54.87% Ag with 20 nm size as identified by SEM and TEM. AFM has ended up being exceptionally useful in deciding morphological elements and the distance across of Ag. NPs in the scope of 23-30 nm. The TEM image showed aggregations of NPs and physical interaction. Ag. NPs formation also confirmed by XPS, DRS and BET studies. Ag. NPs showed efficient activity as compared to ACE, and finally, the bacterial growth was impaired by biogenic NPs. The lethal dose (LD
) of Ag. NPs against Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Proteus vulgaris, Staphylococcus aureus, and Escherichia coli were 45.66%, 139.71%, 332.87%, and 45.54%, with IC50 (08.02 ± 0.68), (55.78 ± 1.01), (12.34 ± 1.35) and (11.68 ± 1.42) respectively, suppressing the growth as compared to ACE. The antioxidant capacity, i.e., 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) of Ag. NPs were assayed. ACE and Ag. NPs achieved a peak antioxidant capacity of 62.43 ± 2.4 and 16.85 ± 0.4 μg mL
, compared to standard (69.60 ± 1.1 at 100 μg mL
) with IC
(369.5 ± 13.42 and 159.5 ± 10.52 respectively). Finally, the Ag. NPs synthesized by P. lanceolata extract have an excellent source of bioactive natural products (NP). Outstanding antioxidant, antibacterial activities have been shown by NPs and can be used in various biological techniques in future research.
Incredible accomplishments have been achieved in agricultural production in China, but many demanding challenges for ensuring food security and environmental sustainability remain. Field experiments ...were conducted from 2011-2013 at three different sites, including Honghu, Shayang, and Jingzhou in China, to determine the effects of fertilization on enhancing crop productivity and indigenous nutrient-supplying capacity (INuS) in a rice (Oryza sativa L.)-rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) rotation. Four mineral fertilizer treatments (NPK, NP, NK and PK) were applied in a randomized complete block design with three replicates. Crop yields were increased by 19-41% (rice) and 61-76% (rapeseed) during the two years of rice-rapeseed rotation under NPK fertilization compared to PK fertilization across the study sites. Yield responses to fertilization were ranked NPK > NP > NK > PK, illustrating that N deficiency was the most limiting condition in a rice-rapeseed rotation, followed by P and K deficiencies. The highest and lowest N, P and K accumulations were observed under NPK and PK fertilization, respectively. The INuS of the soil decreased to a significant extent and affected rice-rapeseed rotation productivity at each site under NP, NK, and PK fertilization when compared to NPK. Based on the study results, a balanced nutrient application using NPK fertilization is a key management strategy for enhancing rice-rapeseed productivity and environmental safety.
Melatonin is an important biologically active hormone that plays a vital role in plant growth and development. In particular, it has been investigated for its roles in abiotic stress management. The ...current experiment was carried out to investigate the protective role of melatonin in photosynthetic traits and the antioxidant defense system of maize seedling under drought stress. Maize seedlings were subjected to drought stress (40–45% FC) after two weeks of seedling emergence, followed by a foliar spray (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 µM) and soil drench of melatonin (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 µM). Our results indicated that drought stress negatively affected maize seedling and decreased plant growth and development, biomass accumulation, reduced chlorophyll, and carotenoid content, and significantly declined photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance. On the other hand, reactive oxygen species, soluble protein, and proline content increased under drought stress. However, the application of exogenous melatonin reduced the reactive oxygen species burst and enhanced the photosynthetic activity by protecting from damages through activation of various antioxidant enzymes under drought stress. Foliar application of 100 µM and soil drench of 50 µM melatonin was the most effective treatment concentrations under drought stress. Our current findings hereby confirmed the mitigating potential of melatonin application for drought stress by maintaining plant growth, improving the photosynthetic characteristics and activities of antioxidants enzymes.
Drought stress is a severe environmental constraint among the emerging problems. Plants are highly vulnerable to drought stress and a severe decrease in yield was recorded in the last few decades. ...So, it is highly desirable to understand the mechanism of drought tolerance in plants and consequently enhance the tolerance against drought stress. Phytohormones are known to play vital roles in regulating various phenomenons in plants to acclimatize to varying drought environment. Abscisic acid (ABA) is considered the main hormone which intensifies drought tolerance in plants through various morpho-physiological and molecular processes including stomata regulation, root development, and initiation of ABA-dependent pathway. In addition, jasmonic acid (JA), salicylic acid (SA) ethylene (ET), auxins (IAA), gibberellins (GAs), cytokinins (CKs), and brassinosteroids (BRs) are also very important phytohormones to congregate the challenges of drought stress. However, these hormones are usually cross talk with each other to increase the survival of plants in drought conditions. On the other hand, the transgenic approach is currently the most accepted technique to engineer the genes responsible for the synthesis of phytohormones in drought stress response. Our present review highlights the regulatory circuits of phytohormones in drought tolerance mechanism.
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