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- ItemEffects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Food Security and Agriculture in Iran: A Survey(Basel : MDPI AG, 2021) Rad, Abdullah Kaviani; Shamshiri, Redmond R.; Azarm, Hassan; Balasundram, Siva K.; Sultan, MuhammadThe consequences of COVID-19 on the economy and agriculture have raised many concerns about global food security, especially in developing countries. Given that food security is a critical component that is affected by global crises, beside the limited studies carried out on the macro-impacts of COVID-19 on food security in Iran, this paper is an attempt to address the dynamic impacts of COVID-19 on food security along with economic and environmental challenges in Iran. For this purpose, a survey was conducted with the hypothesis that COVID-19 has not affected food security in Iran. To address this fundamental hypothesis, we applied the systematic review method to obtain the evidence. Various evidences, including indices and statistics, were collected from national databases, scientific reports, field observations, and interviews. Preliminary results revealed that COVID-19 exerts its effects on the economy, agriculture, and food security of Iran through six major mechanisms, corresponding to a 30% decrease in the purchasing power parity in 2020 beside a significant increase in food prices compared to 2019. On the other hand, the expanding environmental constraints in Iran reduce the capacity of the agricultural sector to play a crucial role in the economy and ensure food security, and in this regard, COVID-19 forces the national programs and budget to combat rising ecological limitations. Accordingly, our study rejects the hypothesis that COVID-19 has not affected food security in Iran.
- ItemFree Discharge of Subsurface Drainage Effluent: An Alternate Design of the Surface Drain System in Pakistan(Basel : MDPI AG, 2021) Imran, Muhammad Ali; Xu, Jinlan; Sultan, Muhammad; Shamshiri, Redmond R.; Ahmed, Naveed; Javed, Qaiser; Asfahan, Hafiz Muhammad; Latif, Yasir; Usman, Muhammad; Ahmad, RiazIn Pakistan, many subsurface (SS) drainage projects were launched by the Salinity Control and Reclamation Project (SCARP) to deal with twin problems (waterlogging and salinity). In some cases, sump pumps were installed for the disposal of SS effluent into surface drainage channels. Presently, sump pumps have become dysfunctional due to social and financial constraints. This study evaluates the alternate design of the Paharang drainage system that could permit the discharge of the SS drainage system in the response of gravity. The proposed design was completed after many successive trials in terms of lowering the bed level and decreasing the channel bed slope. Interconnected MS-Excel worksheets were developed to design the L-section and X-section. Design continuity of the drainage system was achieved by ensuring the bed and water levels of the receiving drain were lower than the outfalling drain. The drain cross-section was set within the present row with a few changes on the service roadside. The channel side slope was taken as 1:1.5 and the spoil bank inner and outer slopes were kept as 1:2 for the entire design. The earthwork was calculated in terms of excavation for lowering the bed level and increasing the drain section to place the excavated materials in a specific manner. The study showed that modification in the design of the Paharang drainage system is technically admissible and allows for the continuous discharge of SS drainage effluent from the area.