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The quality of groundwater in the study watershed has worsened because of industrial effluents and residential wastes from the urbanized cities; therefore, there is an important need to explore the aquifer vulnerability to pollution for sustainable groundwater management in the Irrigated Indus Basin (IIB). This study proposed a novel methodology to quantify groundwater vulnerability using two fully independent methodologies: the first by reintroducing an improved recharge factor (R) map and the second by incorporating three different weight and rating schemes into a traditional DRASTIC framework to improve the performance of the DRASTIC approach. In the current study, we composed a recharge map from Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) output (namely SWAT recharge map) with a drainage density map to retrieve an improved composite recharge map (SWAT-CRM). SWAT-CRM along with other thematic layers was combined using weightage overlay analysis to prepare the maps of groundwater vulnerability index (VI). The weight scale (w) and rating scale (r) were assigned based on a survey of available literature, and we then amended them using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and a probability frequency ratio (PFR) technique. Results depicted that the region under high groundwater vulnerability was found to be 5-22% using traditional recharge maps, while those are 9-23% using improved SWAT-CRM. The area under the curve (AUC) revealed that groundwater vulnerability zones predicted with SWAT-CRM outperformed the DRASTIC model applied with the traditional recharge map. Groundwater electrical conductivity (EC) was2500 mS/cm in the high groundwater vulnerability zones, while it was1000 mS/cm in the low groundwater vulnerability zones. The outcomes of this study can be used to improve the sustainability of the groundwater resources in IIB through proper land-use management practices.

Water content plays a significant role in seed development, especially during the seed sowing level, which ensures the germination of a good seed. A water seed drill (WSD) was tested in the farmer’s field Koont, Rawalpindi, for the last five wheat seasons (2015-16 to 2019-20). WSD provides the optimum amount of water needed in the same furrow for the soil right after seed placement. In this study, a WSD conserves soil moisture for better plant germination and wheat growth in rainfed areas. The data recorded showed that the application of WSD enhanced soil moisture 50 to 67% in the existing soil available water. The Germination rate and counted tillers of wheat plants were improved up to 38% and 45%, respectively, compared to conventional wheat sowing. WSD had a significant effect on wheat yield with a maximum of 41% increment in output than conventional sowing. The WSD operational and output cost were 2.57 and 2.15 times more than Conventional seed drill sowing, respectively. The WSD helped advance wheat sowing, ensuring the crop’s timely sowing in the absence of rainfall, especially in rainfed regions, and promoted drill sowing.

Composting is the most adaptable and fruitful method for managing biodegradable solid wastes; it is a crucial agricultural practice that contributes to recycling farm and agricultural wastes. Composting is profitable for various plant, animal, and synthetic wastes, from residential bins to large corporations. Composting and agricultural waste management (AWM) practices flourish in developing countries, especially Pakistan. Composting has advantages over other AWM practices, such as landfilling agricultural waste, which increases the potential for pollution of groundwater by leachate, while composting reduces water contamination. Furthermore, waste is burned, open-dumped on land surfaces, and disposed of into bodies of water, leading to environmental and global warming concerns. Among AWM practices, composting is an environment-friendly and cost-effective practice for agricultural waste disposal. This review investigates improved AWM via various conventional and emerging composting processes and stages: composting, underlying mechanisms, and factors that influence composting of discrete crop residue, municipal solid waste (MSW), and biomedical waste (BMW). Additionally, this review describes and compares conventional and emerging composting. In the conclusion, current trends and future composting possibilities are summarized and reviewed. Recent developments in composting for AWM are highlighted in this critical review; various recommendations are developed to aid its technological growth, recognize its advantages, and increase research interest in composting processes.

Anaerobic co-digestion (AD) of different organic wastes is a promising technique to enhance clean energy (bioenergy) and manure (slurry) production, reducing stress on the environment. This is an experimental study aimed to investigate 2-stage co-digestion of pretreated organic wastes mixed with fresh animal manure (BD) and digester’s operation conditions (digester temperature and pH) to enhance biomethane production. To increase lignocellulose digestibility and biomethane (BM) production, fruit + vegetable waste (FVW) and corn stalks + wheat straw (CR) in ratio (1:1), respectively, were pretreated with inoculum taken from an anaerobic digester of poultry manure at 35 °C. This AD experiment was performed in a fixed dome biodigester with volumetric capacity of 2.3 m3. Biomethane potential (BMP) tests were conducted for biomass treatments and inoculum used (T1, T2, Ti) at 35 °C. In this study, the temperature of biodigester material was measured in mesophilic (30–40°C) and thermophilic (40–50°C) ranges and pH of fresh feed and slurry feed digesters was in optimum methane production range (7.01–7.52). The total daily methane productions from T1 and T2 were 125.13 ml/g VS and 104.89 ml/g VS in mesophilic range (30–40°C) while these values were 148.41 ml/g VS and 132.74 ml/g VS in mesophilic range (40–50°C), respectively. The 2nd stage digestion of slurry from fresh feed digester added 39–45% and 35–38% more methane production in T1 and T2 respectively. On calibration with BMP tests, experimental data have shown the synergetic effect on methane production and its thermal characteristics promoted by co-digestion of pretreated organic waste and BD. The economic and feasibility analysis proved the biomass co-digestion project viable and adoptable with positive (5.39 $) net return value (NRV), 2.92 years payback time (PBT), and 1.34 benefit cost ratio (BCR).

In the present study, iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe