Wastewater Use in Cauliflower Production and Farmer’s Health: An Economic Analysis

The present study aims to estimate the economic values of negative externalities of wastewater use in cauliflower production. Cost-benefit analysis is employed to estimate the farmer’s health externalities in the production sector. The data are collected from 200 farmers (100 from each group, wastewater and freshwater) in the year 2006 from two peri-urban villages of Faisalabad city. Ignoring the value of negative externalities, wastewater use is profitable in vegetable production but when the economic value of negative externalities are factored in the analysis, the results strongly discourage its use. The cost of health externalities due to wastewater use in cauliflower production (only for a three-month crop) is Rs 3.2 million from the 741 acres planted. In Faisalabad, 5,283 acres of vegetables are cultivated using wastewater, and the value of total negative health externalities amounts to Rs 90.7 million in a year. A huge economic loss due to wastewater use may attract the attention of policy agents to intervene. Among different available options, installation of a water treatment plant appears to be most viable to minimise the external effect of wastewater use in peri-urban agriculture.Cauliflower, Wastewater, Freshwater, Externalities, Health Damages, Cost-benefit Analysis

Wastewater Use in Cauliflower Production and Farmer’s Health: An Economic Analysis

The present study aims to estimate the economic values of negative externalities of wastewater use in cauliflower production. Cost-benefit analysis is employed to estimate the farmer’s health externalities in the production sector. The data are collected from 200 farmers (100 from each group, wastewater and freshwater) in the year 2006 from two peri-urban villages of Faisalabad city. Ignoring the value of negative externalities, wastewater use is profitable in vegetable production but when the economic value of negative externalities are factored in the analysis, the results strongly discourage its use. The cost of health externalities due to wastewater use in cauliflower production (only for a three-month crop) is Rs 3.2 million from the 741 acres planted. In Faisalabad, 5,283 acres of vegetables are cultivated using wastewater, and the value of total negative health externalities amounts to Rs 90.7 million in a year. A huge economic loss due to wastewater use may attract the attention of policy agents to intervene. Among different available options, installation of a water treatment plant appears to be most viable to minimise the external effect of wastewater use in peri-urban agriculture

Scenario-Based Simulation on Dynamics of Land-Use-Land-Cover Change in Punjab Province, Pakistan

The dramatic changes in land use are associated with various influencing factors such as socioeconomic, climatic, geophysical and proximity factors. Hence, understanding the driving mechanisms of land use changes is crucial to determine the pattern of future changes in land use. The aim of this study is to project the future land use and land cover changes from 2010 to 2030 in Punjab province under three scenarios: Business-as-Usual scenario (BAU), Rapid Economic Growth scenario (REG) and Coordinated Environmental Sustainability scenario (CES). This article used the previously developed Dynamics of Land System (DLS) model to simulate the land use changes in response to the driving mechanisms. The results indicate that cultivated land and built-up areas would expand while areas of water and grassland would face contraction under all three scenarios. Nevertheless, future land demand varies in different scenarios. Under the CES scenario; forest area would expand in the future while large reduction in unused land would be observed. Under the REG scenario, augmented expansion of built-up areas and drastic decrease in forest areas would be the main features of land use changes. Our findings in the scenario analysis of land use changes can provide a reference case for sustainable land use planning and management in Punjab province

Scenario-Based Simulation on Dynamics of Land-Use-Land-Cover Change in Punjab Province, Pakistan

The dramatic changes in land use are associated with various influencing factors such as socioeconomic, climatic, geophysical and proximity factors. Hence, understanding the driving mechanisms of land use changes is crucial to determine the pattern of future changes in land use. The aim of this study is to project the future land use and land cover changes from 2010 to 2030 in Punjab province under three scenarios: Business-as-Usual scenario (BAU), Rapid Economic Growth scenario (REG) and Coordinated Environmental Sustainability scenario (CES). This article used the previously developed Dynamics of Land System (DLS) model to simulate the land use changes in response to the driving mechanisms. The results indicate that cultivated land and built-up areas would expand while areas of water and grassland would face contraction under all three scenarios. Nevertheless, future land demand varies in different scenarios. Under the CES scenario; forest area would expand in the future while large reduction in unused land would be observed. Under the REG scenario, augmented expansion of built-up areas and drastic decrease in forest areas would be the main features of land use changes. Our findings in the scenario analysis of land use changes can provide a reference case for sustainable land use planning and management in Punjab province

Assessment of ecosystem services value in response to prevailing and future land use/cover changes in Lahore, Pakistan

Land use/cover changes (LUCCs) significantly affect ecosystem services (ESs) and their corresponding monetary value. ESs can be evaluated to analyze the ecological and environmental changes caused by LUCCs. This research aims to estimate variations in the ecosystem services value (ESV) due to LUCCs in Lahore of Pakistan, and to offer information and recommendations to policy-makers concerned with the economic improvement of metropolis areas. We first investigated the historical LUCCs from 1990 to 2019, and then simulated the future land use/cover in 2030 and 2050 based on the CA-Markov model under three scenarios, including business-as-usual (BAU), rapid economic growth (REG), and coordinated environmental sustainability (CES). Subsequently, we evaluated the ESV from 1990 to 2050 and evaluated the historical and potential future ESV changes induced by LUCCs during 1990–2019 and 2019–2050, respectively. The results showed that, land use/cover exhibited an increase in built-up land and decreases in vegetation, water body, and unused land both in the past and future. The net ESV decreased from 58.26 million USD in 1990 to 50.31 million USD in 2019. In 2050, the decrease in ESV is most rapid under the REG scenario (decrease ESV of 7.13 million USD and decrease percentage of 14.18%), followed by the BAU (decrease ESV of 5.61 million USD and decrease percentage of 11.15%) and CES (decrease ESV of 5.18 million USD and decrease percentage of 10.30%) scenarios. For each ecosystem service type, the ESV of waste treatment decreased by 18.37% from 1990 to 2019, followed by soil formation and conservation (17.52%), biodiversity and maintenance (13.23%), climate regulation (11.80%), food production (11.69%), hydrological regulation (11.11%), and aesthetic value (3.07%). These outcomes indicate that continuous land use/cover planning should focus on regenerating aquatic areas and vegetation restoration

Roles of Personal, Household, Physical, and Institutional Factors on Farmers’ Efficiency of Hybrid Maize Production: Implications for Food Security

This study explored the multifaceted factors influencing the efficiency of hybrid maize production and investigated the possible implications for food security. The study adopted a comprehensive approach, examining personal, household, physical, and institutional factors that affect farmers’ productivity. Findings revealed the technical, allocative, and economic efficiencies through a combination of field surveys, data analysis, and econometric modeling. The mean technical, allocative, and economic efficiency scores for the sampled farms were 0.89, 0.66, and 0.59, respectively. Moreover, the result of Tobit regression analysis showed high significance of all three efficiencies. The significant factors associated with technical efficiency were farm size, age of farm household, maize farming experience, maize farming area, distance from the farm to the main market, number of visits by extension workers, credit access, and Okara district. In addition, the number of visits by extension workers, districts (Sahiwal and Okara), age of farmers, maize farming experience, and regional disparity (Sahiwal district) had substantial influences on allocative and economic inefficiencies in the hybrid maize-growing farms. Policymakers and agricultural stakeholders can develop focused strategies to improve farmers’ productivity and overall food security by identifying the key factors associated with hybrid maize production. Tailored interventions that address knowledge gaps, improve resource allocation, and provide improved institutional support can help make food systems more sustainable and resilient