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Current agricultural growth in most of the developing countries including Pakistan is stagnant due to huge gaps between actual and potential crop productivity. Better access to agricultural advisory and financial services may play an important role in enhancing crop productivity. Using a dataset of 240 farmers collected through face-to-face interviews in 48 villages of district Sargodha in Punjab, Pakistan, this study analyzes farmers’ access to and use of farm advisory and financial services, its impact on wheat productivity and barriers to their access. The results of the study revealed that farmers rely more on informal sources for agricultural advisory and credit services than public or private sources. However, the quality of private advisory and credit services was reported better than other sources due to its easy availability and processing. Small land holdings, lack of education and high interest rates were some of the key barriers that restrict farmers’ access to both services. Further, the study also found that majority of the farmers (accessors) use agricultural credit for non-farm activities for several reasons. Moreover, the study found significant differences in the wheat productivity for farmers who had simultaneous access to both services compared to those who have access to at least one or none of the services. The study findings showed that access to agricultural advisory services improves wheat productivity. However, productivity gains of using agricultural credit are mainly associated with its proper utilization for agricultural purposes. The study suggests enhancing the outreach and quality of public advisory services through hiring and training extension staff. Furthermore, misuse of agricultural credit and barriers that restrict farmers’ access to advisory and credit services need to be eliminated through implementing effective policies and monitoring provided services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of wastewater for rearing domestic animals is a common phenomenon in most of the developing countries like Pakistan that face a serious shortage of freshwater resources. However, most of the literature has only focused on the indirect effects of wastewater use on animal health or productivity, and literature on the direct effects of wastewater use is rare. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the direct and indirect effects of wastewater usage on the prevalence of animal diseases and animal health in Pakistan. The study is based on a household-level survey of 360 domestic water buffalo herds collected from 12 districts of Punjab Province, Pakistan. We tested the prevalence of the animal's diseases, animal's health, and wastewater-use preference with various econometric tools, such as the Poisson, negative binomial, and logistic regressions. The findings of the study show that the majority of the farmers use wastewater for buffalo bathing due to the shortage of freshwater resources. Results explore the prevalence of diseases such as clinical mastitis, tick infestation, and foot and mouth disease at the farm level significantly associated with buffalo bathing in the wastewater. Moreover, bathing in wastewater pre- and post-milking also plays a role in the occurrence of diseases. Particularly, if the buffalo's access to wastewater for bathing is within 60 min after milking, the probability of the animals being exposed to mastitis is higher. Furthermore, on investigation, a number of factors are found, such as the distance to the water source, power shortage, groundwater availability, and the education of farmers that influence farmers' behavior of letting their animals take a bath in wastewater. Moreover, the use of different preventive measures improves the animal's health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pakistan is among the countries highly exposed and vulnerable to climate change. The country has experienced many severe floods, droughts and storms over the last decades. However, little research has focused on the investigation of vulnerability and adaptation to climate-related risks in Pakistan. Against this backdrop, this article investigates the farm level risk perceptions and different aspects of vulnerability to climate change including sensitivity and adaptive capacity at farm level in Pakistan. We interviewed a total of 450 farming households through structured questionnaires in three districts of Punjab province of Pakistan. This study identified a number of climate-related risks perceived by farm households such as extreme temperature events, insect attacks, animal diseases and crop pests. Limited water availability, high levels of poverty and a weak role of local government in providing proper infrastructure were the factors that make farmers more sensitive to climate-related risks. Uncertainty or reduction in crop and livestock yields; changed cropping calendars and water shortage were the major adverse impacts of climate-related risks reported by farmers in the study districts. Better crop production was reported as the only positive effect. Further, this study identified a number of farm level adaptation methods employed by farm households that include changes in crop variety, crop types, planting dates and input mix, depending upon the nature of the climate-related risks. Lack of resources, limited information, lack of finances and institutional support were some constraints that limit the adaptive capacity of farm households. This study also reveals a positive role of cooperation and negative role of conflict in the adaptation process. The study suggests to address the constraints to adaptation and to improve farm level cooperation through extended outreach and distribution of institutional services, particularly climate-specific farm advisory services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public institutions could play an important role in building agricultural resilience to climate change by providing information and technology support to farmers. This study takes the case of Pakistan to investigate the perspective and capacities of public institutions as well as to identify gaps in current institutional arrangements in dealing and managing climate change in the agriculture sector. For this purpose, 53 office bearers from thirteen public institutions in Punjab province of Pakistan were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire to collect data on climate knowledge, training, coordination, and resource availability. The study uses an index-based approach to calculate Institutional Capacity Indices (ICI) based on selected seven indicators. The results of the index analysis show that institutions have the least financial capacity, followed by lacking physical and human resources. Whereas results show high index value for perception and knowledge, indicating a good understanding of climate change at the institutional level. The overall ICI index value indicates a medium level capacity of institutions in dealing with climate change. Moreover, the study shows that gaps in management, non-availability of financial and physical resources, and lack of training are the key bottlenecks for limited adaptation support from public institutions. This study highlights the importance of reducing gaps so that institutions could play their role in building the resilience of the agriculture sector to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]