Magnetic seed enhancement has been practicing as a promising tool to improve germination and seedling growth of low vigor seeds stored under suboptimal conditions, but there is still ambiguity regarding the prospects for magnetism in oilseeds. Present study elucidates the potential of magnetic seed stimulation to improve sunflower germination, growth and yield. Germination and emergence tests were performed to optimize the strength of the magnetic field to sunflower seed enhancement. The seeds were directly exposed to magnetic field strengths of 50, 100 and 150 millitesla (mT) for 5, 10 and 15 min (min) and then standard germination tests were performed. Secondly, the emergence potential of untreated seeds was compared with seed exposed to hydropriming, priming with 3% moringa leaf extract (MLE), priming with magnetically treated water (MTW) for 10 min and priming with 3% MLE solution prepared in magnetically treated water (MTW + MLE). Germination, emergence, seedling growth and seed biochemical properties were used to select the best treatment for field evaluation. The results of the study revealed that magnetic seed treatment with 100 mT for 10 min and seed priming with 3% MLE solution in magnetically treated water (MTW + MLE) significantly improved emergence, crop growth rate and sunflower yield.

Climate change poses a significant challenge to food security. Several traditional approaches are available to prevent food insecurity in climate change scenarios, such as modifications in crop practices, altering field management systems, and climate-smart farming measures. Recently, precision agriculture practices are becoming a more popular way of farming that might help to overcome climate risk and reduce food insecurity. Precision agriculture is a tool for monitoring the food supply chain and managing both the amount and quality of agricultural products. Thus, this work seeks to synthesize and discuss the research related to the importance of a precision agriculture system in preventing food insecurity in the context of a developing countries such as Pakistan. The study is based on the narrative literature review.

Long-term changes in climate variability, vulnerability, a rise in average temperature, and changes in precipitation patterns threaten crop productivity, food security, and the livelihoods of people across the globe. Lower crop yields with higher dependence on food imports, global economic shocks, and climate change exacerbate more challenges to food security, specifically in developing countries. Therefore, adaptation to climate change is necessary to promote farmers’ sustainable livelihoods and mitigate carbon emissions. The adoption of Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) practices can potentially help reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions without compromising agricultural production. To confront the challenges regarding the adoption of CSA practices, this study reviews the relevant literature and suggests policy recommendations on how socioeconomic determinants and considerations affect sustainable agriculture development systems. It focuses on the optimization problem of a farmer as a social planner, in which a farmer seeks to maximize his welfare objectives now and in the future. Farmers’ choices of CSA adoption, as well as their adaptive capacity and adaptation constraints, are discussed. This study has implications for policymakers in terms of raising the frequency of adopters through innovations and policy design.

In developing or "third-world" countries, women's social inclusion is a big problem. This is because women are such an important part of society in the modern era of globalization. In the majority of patriarchal societies, women are treated as subordinates with no power. Another significant social issue in Pakistan is the social integration of women into mainstream society. Investigating women's emancipation, social inclusion, and demographic factors through microfinance is the study's aim. Using a structured questionnaire with binary and categorical replies, information was gathered from 305 respondents. Information from the respondents was collected simply through random sampling. Advanced statistical approaches were employed to evaluate and interpret the data, which were analyzed using the SPSS-24 version. Descriptive statistics were used to evaluate the demographic variables, while inferential statistics were used to analyze the other variables related to the objectives. The results of the study demonstrated a relationship between the demographic factors and those that affected their social inclusion. Through microfinance, women are given more power, which has enhanced their participation in economic activities as well as their empowerment in all spheres, including social, cultural, economic, and inclusion in public spheres through the improvement of decision-making abilities.

The deteriorating impact of militancy on education is inevitable. For two decades, the recently merged tribal districts are examples of the deterioration brought up by militancy. Framed under a mixed-method research design, this study aims to determine the impact of militancy on education, i.e., the impact of militancy on secondary-level education. The study locale was the recently merged tribal districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Simple random and purposive sampling techniques have been utilized to select samples from the population. Sample size has been determined through the Uma Sekaran sample size table, whereas in qualitative data collection, sample size was determined through the saturation point technique. A structured questionnaire and an interview was prepared to collect information from the sampled respondents. The reliability and validity of the questionnaire were tested before data collection. A total of 405 samples were taken, whereby 397 were for survey and 8 for focus group discussion. It is concluded that the situation of the locality was not feasible for good education in the locality prior to and during the case of war. Normative structure (Pakhtunwali), religious misperceptions, gendered-oriented barriers, lack of investment, and lack of focus from the government were a few notable barriers to secondary-level education in the study’s locale. The militancy intensified these barriers and led to further deterioration of school-level education. There were specific impacts of militancy on education in the study’s area, like attacks on schools, physical destruction of school buildings, migration of families, harassment of females to not go to schools and harassment of teachers, etc.