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The role of information and communication technology (ICT) is imperative in the transformation of the world. ICT is directly affecting all the sectors of the whole economy. Thus, the present study is determined to investigate the effect of ICT on energy efficiency and environmental sustainability in emerging Asian economies from 1990 to 2019. The panel augmented autoregressive distributed lag-pooled mean group approach has been used for empirical investigation. Two separate models have been designed to attain the empirical consensus. ICT is measured through two proxies namely broadband subscriptions (internet) and mobile cellular subscriptions (mobile). Results show that internet and mobile upsurge the energy efficiency in the long run. However, internet and mobile have a reducing impact on carbon emissions in the long run. While FDI enhances energy efficiency and reduces carbon emissions inferring that environmental efficiency improves in the long run. The study suggests that policymakers must be aware of the impact of ICT on energy efficiency and environmental quality and regulate their manufacturers to enable the amalgamation of ICT into users’ routines.

Soil degradation with different stress conditions like accumulation of cadmium (Cd) contents in soil and drought stress has become one of the most dangerous issues that obstruct the sustainable agriculture production. Silicon nanoparticles (Si NPs) play beneficial roles in combating various biotic and abiotic stresses but their role under combined metal and drought stress is not studied. A pot study was designed to determine the effect of Si NPs on wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) growth and uptake of Cd grown in Cd contaminated soil with different water levels under ambient conditions. Four different levels of Si NPs (0, 25, 50, and 100 mg/kg) were applied in the soil before 1 week of wheat sowing and two water levels (70% and 35% soil water-holding capacity) were introduced after 50 days of seed sowing for the remaining growth period. The lowest biomass, yield, and photosynthesis were observed in the control plants while oxidative stress and the highest Cd concentrations in shoots, roots, and grains were observed in the control plants, and the drought stress further enhanced this effect on the plants. The Si NPs treatments improved the plant growth indicators and photosynthesis, and reduced the Cd concentrations in wheat tissues, especially in grains either without or with drought stress. The Si NPs reduced the oxidative stress in leaves as was indicated by the reduced production of hydrogen peroxide, electrolyte leakage, and malondialdehyde contents, and increase in superoxide dismutase and peroxidase activities. The improvement in wheat growth and a reduction in oxidative stress and Cd concentration in tissues were dependent on the levels of Si NPs and the effect was the highest with the highest level of NPs used.

Efficient energy is crucial in reducing CO2 emissions. The researchers are digging for a new efficient source of energy in the modern era. Therefore, this study explores the dynamic impacts of energy efficiency and renewable energy consumption on CO2 emissions from 1991 to 2019 for China. By using the non-linear ARDL approach, we found that a negative shock in energy efficiency has a positive impact on CO2 emissions in long run. Furthermore, renewable energy consumption with positive shock has a negative significant impact on CO2 emissions, but negative shock in renewable energy consumption leads to increase pollution emissions in long run. Besides, positive shocks to energy efficiency and renewable energy consumption have also a favorable negative effect on CO2 emissions in the short run. While a negative shock in energy efficiency has only unobservable negative impacts on CO2 emissions in the short run. Based on findings, some policy measures are suggested to attain environmental sustainability in China.

This study examines the role of financial inclusion on the environment-economic performance in the top five Asian emerging economies. The data used for empirical investigation covers the time period from 1995 to 2019. Financial inclusion is measured through bank branches, bank credit, and insurance premiums. To check long-run associations, the panel ARDL approach has been employed for empirical analysis. The empirical evidence confirms the significant associations between financial inclusion-GDP nexus and financial inclusion-CO2 nexus. The findings show that bank branches and bank credit have a significantly positive impact on economic growth and CO2 emissions in the long run. However, insurance premium has no impact on economic growth but it exerts a significant negative impact on carbon emissions in the long run. Furthermore, energy consumption is highly sensitive to economic growth and carbon emissions. The study delivers imperative points for pollution eradication and attaining sustained economic growth. There is a need for government-level efforts to align the targets of financial inclusion with economic growth and environmental policies.

Last few decades, several economic uncertainty challenges have emerged in the energy market. This study newly contributes to existing research by inspecting the asymmetric effect of economic policy uncertainty and financial development on renewable energy consumption in China. We employ a nonlinear ARDL approach by using a time-series dataset spanning from 1990 to 2019. Our symmetric model shows that economic policy uncertainty matters in the short run, as it increases renewable energy consumption while exhibiting a negative impact on renewable energy in long run in China. Our asymmetric results in the short and long run have deviated from the symmetric results. Our asymmetric results of the short and long run are similar in direction but different in magnitude. The results show that positive change in economic policy uncertainty has increased 3.216% and negative change in economic policy uncertainty has decreased 1.461% in renewable energy consumption in long run in China. Financial development does not matter in renewable energy consumption in China. Based on these outcomes, we can draw some robust economic policies in China as well as for other pollutant economies. Policymakers should be made economic policies more predictable in the modern era.

One of the strategic objectives of China is to increase renewable energy consumption by reducing non-renewable energy consumption. This motivates us to carefully investigate the asymmetric effects of financial deepening on renewable and non-renewable energy consumption for China, using annual data from 1990 to 2019. The results show that in China, a positive shock in bank deposits and broad money has a significant increasing effect on renewable energy consumption, while a negative shock in bank deposits and broad money has also a significant increasing effect on renewable energy consumption in the long-run. Moreover, positive change in bank deposits and broad money has an inverse impact on non-renewable energy consumption, while negative change has stimulating non-renewable energy consumption in long run. Thus, government and policymaker's policies aimed at promoting financial deepening in China must be persistent and sustainable to foster renewable energy consumption.

Wheat is a major food crop worldwide. The plant architecture is a complex trait mostly influenced by plant height, tiller number, and leaf morphology. Plant height plays a crucial role in lodging and thus affects yield and grain quality. In this study, a wheat population was genotyped by using Illumina iSelect 90K single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) assay and finally 22,905 high-quality SNPs were used to perform a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for plant architectural traits employing four multi-locus GWAS (ML-GWAS) and three single-locus GWAS (SL-GWAS) models. As a result, 174 and 97 significant SNPs controlling plant architectural traits were detected by ML-GWAS and SL-GWAS methods, respectively. Among these SNP makers, 43 SNPs were consistently detected, including seven across multiple environments and 36 across multiple methods. Interestingly, five SNPs (Kukri_c34553_89, RAC875_c8121_1490, wsnp_Ex_rep_c66315_64480362, Ku_c5191_340, and tplb0049a09_1302) consistently detected across multiple environments and methods, played a role in modulating both plant height and flag leaf length. Furthermore, candidate SNPs (BS00068592_51, Kukri_c4750_452 and BS00022127_51) constantly repeated in different years and methods associated with flag leaf width and number of tillers. We also detected several SNPs (Jagger_c6772_80, RAC875_c8121_1490, BS00089954_51, Excalibur_01167_1207, and Ku_c5191_340) having common associations with more than one trait across multiple environments. By further appraising these GWAS methods, the pLARmEB and FarmCPU models outperformed in SNP detection compared to the other ML-GWAS and SL-GWAS methods, respectively. Totally, 152 candidate genes were found to be likely involved in plant growth and development. These finding will be helpful for better understanding of the genetic mechanism of architectural traits in wheat.

The beet army worm, Spodoptera exigua , is a widely distributed polyphagous pest of economically important crops worldwide. The management of this pest insect continues to face many challenges. Despite synthetic chemicals posing a serious threat to the environment, these remain the conventional approach for controlling S. exigua in the field. An over-reliance on chemical control has not only led to selection for resistance to insecticides and to a reduction of natural enemies, but has also polluted various components of ecosystem. Given these increasing pressures on the ecosystem, there is a need to implement integrated pest management (IPM) approaches exploiting a wider range of tools (biotechnological approaches, microbial control, biological control, cultural control, and use of host plant resistance) for an alternative to chemical control. The IPM approach can not only reduce the hazard of chemical residues in the environment and associated health problems, but may also provide best strategies to control insect pests. This review synthesizes published information on insecticide resistance of S. exigua and explores alternative IPM approaches to control S. exigua .

Renewable energy (RE) has become a focal point of interest as an alternative source of energy to the traditional fossil fuel and other energy sources due to the fact that it is more environmentally friendly, abundant and economically feasible. Many countries aggressively promote feed-in tariff schemes and solar photovoltaic (PV) systems have become one of the fastest growing RE sources that can be integrated into the grid distribution network. This paper reviews the recent development of grid-connected PV (GPV) generation systems comprising of several sub-components such as PV modules, DC-DC converter, maximum power point tracking (MPPT) technique, and an inverter. In addition, various grid synchronization and islanding detection methods are elaborated. The future key challenges to build a smart and efficient GPV generation system were also presented.

The purpose of the paper is to investigate the applicability of theory of planned behavior (TPB) with special emphasis on measuring the direct and moderating effect of subjective norms on attitude, perceived behavioral control and buying intention in context of buying organic food. Structured questionnaires were randomly distributed among academic staffs and students of two universities in southern Punjab, Pakistan. Structural equation modeling was employed to test the proposed model fit. Results of the study showed that subjective norms significantly moderate the relationship between attitude and buying intention as well as between perceived behavior control and buying intention. Furthermore, subjective norms significantly influence attitude toward buying intention. The paper provides useful insights for the academics and marketers. Academics may further explore the role of subjective norms in order to have a better understanding of their effects on TPB components. Whereas, marketers can target the opinion leaders and reference groups to increase the demand of organic food. Majority of previous studies overlooked the role of subjective norms in determining the buying intentions with respect to organic food. The striking feature of this study is an in-depth emphasis on exploring the direct and moderating effects of subjective norms on the elements of TPB. Moreover, to the best of authors' knowledge, this is a pioneer study that comprehensively examines the linkage of components of TPB with organic food purchasing in Pakistan.