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Composting is the decomposition of organic matter in an aerobic environment. The windrow turner machine is used to turn the compost piles for efficient composting. It effectively addresses important issues such as managing crop leftovers and disposing of animal waste. This paper evaluates a comparison between mechanized (pile 1) and conventional (pile 2) compost-turning processes and the need for windrow turner machines to manage waste effectively and turn it into nutrient-dense material. This approach not only delivers a practical solution, it also points out the potential for a significant increase in soil fertility and agricultural sustainability. Five samples were taken from each pile at 10 feet intervals for chemical analysis. A total 13,768 kg of the compost yield was collected from pile one and 11,512 kg from pile 2. The study's findings show that the machine turned a greater cation exchange capacity (CEC) value than the compost manually turned. Pile 1 was turned using a compost windrow turner machine, and pile 2 was turned manually. The CEC values in pile 1 varied from 21.23 meq/100 g dry weight to 68.87 meq/100 g dry weight after eight weeks, while the CEC values in pile 2 increased from 21.23 meq/100 g dry weight to 33.28 meq/100 g dry weight. The value of electrical conductivity (EC) in pile 1 increased from 1.98 ds/m to 11.34 ds/m, whereas in pile 2 it climbed from 1.98 ds/m to 7.86 ds/m after 8 weeks. The C/N ratio of pile 1 dropped to approximately 15 and the concentration of micronutrients increased during the composting process, which indicate mature composted material. The outcomes of this research contribute that mechanical composting emerges as a highly suitable method for efficiently managing the composting process, ensuring uniform decomposition, enhanced aeration, and the production of high-quality compost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimation of reference évapotranspiration (ETO) is vibrantly required for estimating crop water requirement and budgeting irrigation scheduling. The beneficial use of water is of great importance due to shortage issues especially in developing countries like Pakistan. The Food and agricultural organization (FAO) developed a Peneman-Montieth (PM) method which can be globally considered as a standard method for estimation of ETOj but it requires numerous climatic data. Consequently, there is a need to find out the next best suitable method after PM method. The Multi-layer perceptron (MLP), Gene expression programing (GEP) and Radial basis function (RBF) were utilized to calculate ETO values. Monthly meteorological data of six different stations located in arid, semi-arid and humid regions of Pakistan covered from 1980 to 2015. Seventeen input combinations comprise of various climatic variables were developed to evaluate the impact on ETO. Of the available meteorological data, 70% was employed in training while remaining 30% used in testing process. The yielded values of the developed models were compared with the ETO estimated by PM method. The outcome of the study was also applied on some other climatic regions located in USA, New Zealand and China for numerous duration only three climatic parameters, namely, maximum temperature, mean relative humidity and wind velocity had a large positive effect on increasing the accuracy of estimating ETO. By comparing the eight performing indices, MLP among all the powerful predictive modeling techniques can also be considered as the superior alternative to the conventional methods in estimation of ET0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impacts of land surface changes on the hydrological responses for Dongwan Basin, China, have been examined with the soil and water assessment tool (SWAT), which is calibrated and validated for the pre-change period 1961-1985, and then used to reconstruct the runoff without considering land surface changes from 1986-2011. The results indicate that both land surface change and climate decrease runoff 45.08% and 54.92% respectively. Modeling results improve the understanding the similar hydro-meteorological condition method. We found seven pair period for 1-year interval and six set of paired period for an interval of 3-years. The impacts of land surface changes varied in paired years, matched the results of the pre-change period and post-change period, and land use change analysis. The similar hydrometeorological conditions could be applied combining with traditional methods in hydrological research at different time scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precipitation variability and land surface changes are the two primary factors that affect basin hydrology, and thus estimation of their impact is of great importance for sustainable development at a catchment scale. In this study, we investigated the long-term changes in precipitation and runoff, from 1961 to 2011, in the Yihe River basin by Mann-Kendall test. A new method of trend pattern was put forward and used to identify the trends of precipitation and runoff, which indicated that the basin had a decreasing trend in annual runoff. The change point occurred in the year 1985 dividing the long-term series into two periods. Precipitation elasticity and linear regression methods were used to quantify the impact of precipitation and land surface change on runoff and provided consistent results of the percentage change in an annual runoff for the postchange period. Use of these methods reveals that the reduction in annual runoff is mainly due to precipitation variability of 56.38–67.68% and land surface change of 43.62–32.32%, as estimated by precipitation elasticity and linear regression methods, respectively. Due to the rapid growth of urbanization, the land surface change increased from 1990 to 2010. The result of this study can provide a reference for the management of regional water resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]