Agricultural diversification efforts towards sustainable agriculture generates environmental and economic benefits. Climate change and agricultural production are characterized by a complex cause-effect relationship. In the present study, the primary dataset is collected through an interview-based survey from 410 farmers in 3 districts located in different agro-ecological zones of Punjab, Pakistan. Detailed analysis is conducted by employing the Gaussian treatment effects approach. Results of the study show that the farmers who adopted agricultural diversification to mitigate the impact of climate change were less and insignificantly benefited e.g., on an average of RS 95,260 (US $635) per annum whereas non-adopted farmers lost their farm income on an average of RS 115,750 (US $772) per annum if they had practiced the agricultural diversification. Moreover, determinants of agricultural diversification such as demographic and institutional indicators were significant and larger effects to adopt as compared to social indicators. This study suggests that policies should be designed in the regional context particularly related to the improvement in demographic characteristics and institutional factors such as providing subsidies, training, and awareness to the farmers, particularly to those who practice agricultural diversification. These measures will help to raise the farmers’ adaptive capacity for the adoption of agricultural diversification, and it will enable them to generate tangible benefits by increasing income through adopting sustainable agricultural livelihood.

Climate-change-related impacts on the agriculture sector have been intensifying in the Asian region particularly for developing countries. In order to encourage innovative adaptation practices, it is critical to understand the farmers’ perspectives on the possibility of adopting climate-smart agriculture (CSA) measures and the obstacles they face. However, limited studies have considered how farmers respond to climate change impacts, and concerning to this, the opportunities in the relevance of resilience via adaptive capacity (AC) were addressed. This study investigates the adoption of climate-smart agriculture in Punjab, Pakistan by using a survey of 420 farmers, with a view to understanding the farmers’ practices, adaptive capacity to respond, and willingness for the adoption of climate-smart agriculture measures to mitigate the climate change impact. Driving factors of the farm households’ intended to the adoption of climate-smart agriculture were examined using a logistic model. The results of the study showed that the drivers of adaptive capacity such as the human, physical, natural, financial and social capacity of the farm households were significantly determinant to the possibility of adopting climate-smart agriculture measures. Further, we also identified lack of institutional support and a lack of information were the major obstacles for adopting these innovative measures. This study suggested that climate-policy should be designed in a regional context specifically focusing on the institutional services and access to the resources. It is the best way to increase the acceptance for the adoption of these innovative measures by increasing the farmers’ adaptive capacity endowment.

In this study, different bed materials in media filter systems were examined. For this purpose a laboratory experiment was established to determine the solids removal efficiency, total outlet flow volume and outlet flow velocity of pumice that has numerous open spaces, vesicles and irregular cavity, sand–gravel and combination of pumice and sand–gravel. In the experiment, two different filter column diameters (150 and 200 mm) and two different inlet flow pressures (100 and 150 kPa) were used. The results show that the total outlet flow volumes increased logarithmically as the filtration test period progressed, while the outlet flow velocities and the outlet concentrations of suspended solids decreased logarithmically for all filter types. Pumice media filters provided higher total outlet flow volumes and lower solid removal efficiency in comparison with sand–gravel media filters. However, the highest average solid removal efficiency was determined by pumice plus a sand–gravel media filter at 90.5%. The average outlet flow velocity value for this filter type was 34.2 m³ h⁻¹ m⁻², which was higher than the other filter types at the same experimental conditions. Pumice plus sand–gravel media filters increased the filtration period according to the sand–gravel media filters as well.