Disaster risk management in agriculture: tragedies of the smallholders

Agriculture sector is exposed to a variety of risks and uncertainties which can lead to sizeable losses in crop yields and alter farm incomes. Risk management is, therefore, an essential element of the overall farm management process. Farmers have number of options in managing farm risks; however, smallholders, due to their small operations and limited financial capabilities, find it difficult to adopt sophisticated risk management strategies to overcome yield and income instabilities at farm level. This study is, therefore, designed to investigate the enabling environment for small farmers to manage climatic risks at farm level. A total of 330 sampled respondents from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan are randomly selected for the study using multistage sampling technique. Analysis of variance technique is employed to compare the risk management adoption decision of small, medium and large farmers. A post hoc analysis is also performed to highlight the difference in means and the magnitude of differences. The results indicate that smallholders have significantly lower access to credit (both formal and informal), formal information sources along with significantly higher perceptions of pest and diseases. Smallholders are also at the tail end in the adoption of precautionary savings and agricultural credit to manage climatic risk at farm level. The study urges for risk management policies particularly in favor of the small farmers and intervention in the existing information and credit provision programs to facilitate smallholders in managing farm risks.     

Petrography,provenance, diaganesis and depositional environment of Murree Formation in Jhelum Valley,Sub Himalayas,Azad Jammu and Kashmir,Pakistan

The clastic sediments of the Murree Formation of Miocene age are exposed in Jhelum valley areas of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Pakistan. Field observations revealed the cyclic deposition in the Murree Formation. The sandstone, siltstone, and shale constitute a single cycle within the formation. This single unit is divided into five different lithofacies which constitute the Bouma sequence in the Murree Formation. The Murree Formation shows faulted contacts with Panjal Formation and Nagri Formation in the study area. The modal mineralogy data obtained from the petrography of sandstone indicates that sandstone is litharenite and lithic greywacke. The mineralogical and textural data suggests that sandstone is compositionally mature and poorly to moderately sorted. The dominantly angular to sub angular quartz grains show nearness of the source area. Fractured and sutured quartz grain reveals tectonodiagentic changes that occurred in Murree Formation. The sandstone experienced diagenetic changes. The pressure solution and cementation reduced the primary porosity of sandstone. However, alteration of feldspar and fractures in grains have produced secondary porosity. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) of the shale samples indicates that shale of the Murree Formation is argillaceous and dominated by illite clay mineral. The illite crystallinity values indicate very low grade metamorphism of Murree Formation in core of Hazara Kashmir Syntaxis. The petrographic data suggests that the provenance of sandstone is recycled orogen. Quartz is of igneous and metamorphic origin. Feldspar (albite and microcline) composition suggests its derivation from acidic igneous rocks. The rock fragments of volcanics, slate, phyllite, and schist suggest igneous and metamorphic provenance. The petrographic data suggests that at the time of deposition of Murree Formation, igneous and low grade metamorphic rocks were exposed. However, presence of some clasts of carbonates indicates that sedimentary rocks were also exposed in the source region. The quartz content and clay minerals in the shale revealed that source region was igneous and metamorphic rocks. Cyclic deposition, lithofacies, and various sedimentary structures like cross bedding, ripple marks, and calcite concretions suggest that deposition of Murree Formation occurred in fluviatile environment by meandering river system having decreasing turbidity current.     

Robust approach for optimal positioning and ranking potential rainwater harvesting structure (RWH): a case study of Iraq

Rainwater harvesting (RWH) structure is considered as the best solution to conserve water for arid regions. The selection of RWH location is based on several key determinants such as hydrology, environment, topography, and socio-economic. This study proposed a robust methodology to identify and select the location of RWH using geographical information systems (GIS) and remote sensing (RS) with multi-criteria decision techniques in areas where data are scarce. Several thematic maps were extracted such as vegetation cover, soil group, slope, land use, and digital elevation (DEM). The RWH sites were ranked based on four major indexes: evaporation, cost-benefit, sediment, and hydrological index. Sensitivity analysis shows that the variance inverse (VI) and rank order method (ROM) considered all indices that effect ranking as compared to the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and fuzzy-AHP. Sensitivity analysis also proved that the proposed method is suitable to be used for RWH site selection in arid regions.     

Assessment of sea water inundation along Daboo creek area in Indus Delta Region,Pakistan

Indus Deltaic Region (IDR) in Pakistan is an erosion vulnerable coast due to the high deep water wave energy. Livelihood of millions of people depends on the fisheries and mangrove forests in IDR. IDR consists of many creeks where Daboo is a major creek located at southeast of the largest city of Pakistan, Karachi. Unfortunately, there has been no detailed study to analyze the damages of sea water intrusion at a large temporal and spatial scale. Therefore, this study is designed to estimate the effects of sea water inundation based on changing sea water surface salinity and sea surface temperature (SST). Sea surface salinity and SST data from two different surveys in Daboo creek during 1986 and 2010 are analyzed to estimate the damages and extent of sea water intrusion. Mean salinity has increased 33.33% whereas mean SST decreased 13.79% from 1987 to 2010. Spatio-temporal analysis of creek area using LANDSAT 5 Thematic mapper (TM) data for the years 1987 and 2010 shows significant amount of erosion at macro scale. Creek area has increased approximately 9.93% (260.86 m² per year) which is roughly equal to 60 extensive sized shrimp farms. Further Land Use Land Cover (LULC) analyses for years 2001 and 2014 using LANDSAT 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) has indicated 42.3% decrease in cultivated land. Wet mud flats have spread out at the inner mouth of creek with enormous increase of 123.3%. Significant sea water intrusion has increased the area of barren land by 37.9%. This also resulted in overall decrease of 6.7% in area covered by mangroves. Therefore, this study recorded a significant evidence of sea water intrusion in IDR that has caused serious damages to community living in the area, economical losses. Additionally, it has also changed the environment by reducing creek biological productivity as reported by earlier studies over other regions of the world.     

Geochemistry and mineralogical composition of the airborne particles of sand dunes and dust storms settled in Iraq and their environmental impacts

Five dust storms that occurred in 2008 (15 March, 11 April, 28 April, 25, May and 26 June) in addition to the many sand dunes disseminated in the Western Desert of Iraq are sampled. The worse dust storm that occurred in Iraq in 11 April, 2008 covered 75% of the Iraq area and deposited 6.9?million tons approximately as a total weight of fallout during just 8?h, declining temperature 6°C. During the episodes of dust storms, visibility decreased enormously, no more than 30?m. Many people were taken to hospitals after sustaining breathing problems. Some of them died. Clay fraction is the dominant part in the dust storms forming 70% besides a little silt (20.6%) and sand (9.4%), then classified as mature arkose of clay to sandy clay, whereas sand dunes are formed from 72.7% sand, 25.1% silt and 2.19% clay, then classified as mature arkose of silty sand. Sand dunes have much maturity. Mineralogical composition of dust storms and sand dunes are Quartz (49.2%, 67.1%), feldspar (4.9%, 20.9%), calcite (38%, 5%), gypsum (4.8%, 0.4%), dolomite (0.8%, 1%) and heavy minerals (3.2%, 6.6%), respectively. Heavy mineral suites in the dust storms are represented by zircon, pyroxene, hornblende, chlorite and magnetite; whereas the sand dunes are represented by zircon, tourmaline, garnet and pyroxene, concentrated within sand fraction. Heavy minerals according to satellite images revealed the dry land of Sahara Desert in North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula as well as Syria and Jordan were a major source of the dust storms that have occurred in Asia, including Iraq.     

A Paleogeographic and Depositional Model for the Neogene Fluvial Succession,Pishin Belt,Northwest Pakistan: Effect of Post Collisional Tectonics on Sedimentation in a Peripheral Foreland Setting

Detailed facies analysis of the Neogene successions of the Pishin Belt (Katawaz Basin) has enabled documentation of successive depositional systems and paleogeographic settings of the basin formed by the collision of the northwestern continental margin of the Indian Plate and the Afghan Block. During the Early Miocene, subaerial sedimentation started after the final closure of the Katawaz Remnant Ocean. Based on detailed field data, twelve facies were recognized in Neogene successions exposed in the Pishin Belt. These facies were further organized into four facies associations i.e. channels, crevasse splay, natural levee and floodplain facies associations. Facies associations and variations provided ample evidence to recognize a number of fluvial architectural components in the succession e.g., low‐sinuosity sandy braided river, mixed‐load meandering, high‐sinuosity meandering channels, single‐story sandstone and/or conglomerate channels, lateral accretion surfaces (point bars) and alluvial fans. Neogene sedimentation in the Pishin Belt was mainly controlled by active tectonism and thrusting in response to the oblique collision of the Indian Plate with the Afghan Block of the Eurasian Plate along the Chaman‐Nushki Fault. Post Miocene deformation of these formations successively caused them to contribute as an additional source terrain for the younger formations.     

Mineralogy, geochemistry, and reserve estimation of the Euphrates limestone for Portland cement industry at Al-Najaf area, South Iraq

This study deals with the mineralogical and geochemistry of the Euphrates Formation (Lower Miocene) in Bahr Al-Najaf area in order to assess the lithofacies of the Euphrates Formation for Portland cement manufacturing. Petrographic and mineralogical studies were carried out on 210 core samples, collected from 21 boreholes, and showed that calcite is the dominant mineral with few amounts of quartz, gypsum, feldspar, and a rare amount of dolomite. Clay mineral suites (palygorskite, kaolinite, montmorillonite, and illite) formed about 5% from the total mineral composition. Palygorskite precipitated directly in alkali shallow water rich with Si and Mg ions. Chemical weathering of feldspar under acidic conditions participated in formation of Kaolinite. Geochemistry showed that there is no high variation in chemical constituents with depth, and the average of CaO (51.5), MgO (0.83), SO₃ (0.54), SiO₂ (4.3), Fe₂O₃ (0.45), Al₂O₃ (0.93), L.O.I (40.7), Na₂O₃ (0.08), K₂O (0.14), and Cl^- (0.1) qualified the lithofacies of Euphrates Formation to be raw materials suitable for manufacturing the Portland cement. Triangle Block method is applied to estimate the reserve on square area (2?×?2 km²) which is computed to be 63 million tons of medium-tough limestone as potential probable reserve.     

Exploring Placer Gold Deposits through Integrated Geophysical and Geochemical Techniques at the Confluence of the Indus and Kabul Rivers, NW Pakistan

Analysis of the anomalous magnetic mineral intensities and geochemistry for placer gold deposits are presented for those of the Attock area at the confluence of the Indus and Kabul rivers in northwestern Pakistan. Two grids covering an area of 10x18 m2 and 8x10 m2 were analyzed using a G-858 Cesium Vapor Magnetometer. The anomalous zones obtained were plotted on contour maps, 2D and 3D magnetic intensity maps. Based on the magnetic anomalies, grid-1 of the study area was sampled at three different anomalous zones for geochemical analysis. These zones contain gold concentrations, ranging from 2.11 ppm to 6.109 ppm with an average of 4.01 ppm. Increase in gold concentration in the subsurface within the anomalous zones indicates that magnetometer survey followed by a geochemical analysis can potentially narrow down the gold-bearing anomalous zones.     

Influence of rainfall infiltration on the stability of unsaturated coal gangue accumulated slope

The slope instability is associated with increasing rate of rainfall infiltration which cause shear strength reduction and suction loss and the slope tend to fa...