Nickel (Ni) is a toxic metal that not only pollutes the environment but also causes harmful impacts on plant growth and human health. Therefore, it is crucial to assess the relationship between the phytoavailability of Ni in soil and its accumulation in edible and non-edible parts of vegetables. A pot experiment was conducted to investigate Ni uptake in three different leafy vegetables, spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.), lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.), and fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.), grown in soil artificially contaminated with Ni at three different treatment levels (100 mg kg−1, 200 mg kg−1, and 300 mg kg−1). The potential dietary toxicity of these vegetables in humans was examined by using an in vitro digestion model. The lowest and highest chlorophyll contents were detected in lettuce at 300 mg kg−1 of Ni concentration and in control plants of spinach. Their values were 34.16 ± 3.01 (SPAD unit) and 53 ± 3.7673 (SPAD unit), respectively. Among the three vegetables, lettuce and spinach at 300 mg kg−1 exhibited the highest accumulation of Ni, with 43 mg kg−1 in edible parts and 182 mg kg−1 in non-edible parts. Furthermore, health risk index (HRI) values were found to be > 1 for lettuce and fenugreek at Ni concentrations of 200 and 300 mg kg−1 for both children and adults. The average bioaccessibility of Ni in lettuce, fenugreek, and spinach during the gastrointestinal phase was 32–23

Aims: To evaluate the effect of K2SO42- application on growth of soybean cultivars besides chemical parameters under salt stress. Study Design: Laid out the experiment in Complete Randomized Design in triplicates. Analyzed the data statistically by using the statistical software Statistix 8.1. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in Soil Salinity and Bio-saline Research green house and in the laboratory of Land Resources Research Institute at National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad (under PARC), Pakistan for three months. Methodology: To study germination parameters under salt stress, NaCl was used @ 0, 100, 120 and 140 mmol L-1. At seedling stage, interactive effect among salt stress (0 and 4.5 dSm-1), potassium sulphate (KS) application @ 10 mmol L-1 and soybean (Cvs. NIBGE-301 and NIGBE-158) was recorded for growth and ion relations. Results: Germination, biomass, bio vigor, mass vigor and sap vigor of the seedlings and ion relations were affected highly significantly (p≤ 0.01). Under interactive effect of KS and salt stress at vegetative stage, Na+/K+ in the plants declined with KS application. Sulphur and phosphorus concentration in the plants changed under the same conditions. Conclusion: Induced salt stress revealed germination, seed bio vigor, seeding mass vigor, and seedling sap vigor seedling and other vegetative parameters of soybean cultivars. Potassium sulphate application revealed genotypes differential response to ion relations and growth under salt stress. NIBGE-301 was more tolerant to salt stress and more responsive to potassium sulphate application than NIGBE-158.

Beneficial endophytic bacteria are well known for plant growth enhancement, induced plant defense responses and antioxidant activities that confer resistance against various biotic and abiotic stresses by utilization of 1-aminocyclopropane1-carboxylate deaminase activity. A plant growth promoting endophytic (PGPE) bacteria Enterobacter cloacae 2WC2 strain was investigated for its role in drought stress amelioration and plant growth promotion via ACC deaminase activity and enhanced levels of antioxidant enzymes in stressed plants. Invitro screening revealed drought tolerance of E. cloacae at various stress levels (10-40 % PEG 6000) and showed resistance against 15 different antibiotics. Furthermore, its positive results for indole acetic acid (IAA), ammonia production, catalase, and phosphate solubilization revealed its growth promoting attributes. Exopolysaccharide production and ACC deaminase activity (0.95 ?M/mg protein/h exposed its potential as competing candidate in drought stressed conditions. In a pot experiment, two maize genotypes TP 30 and TPSSWD either inoculated with or without E. cloacae were grown to investigate its effectiveness under drought stress. Experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design under factorial arrangement with three water regimes 100% FC (control), 75% FC (mild stress) and 40% FC (severe stress). Drought stress significantly reduce maize growth, however inoculation with E. cloacae 2WC2 elevated the morphological variables, relative water content and antioxidant activity, at all stress levels. Results showed that maize variety TP 30 was found to be more drought tolerant as compared to variety TPSSWD. Current findings suggest inoculation of plants by ACC deaminase producing endophytic bacteria, could be harnessed as an effective approach for sustainable crop production in drought stressed conditions.

Groundnut kernel contains 50 % edible oil, 20 % carbohydrates, 25-30 % protein, and 5 % fiber and ash making it a rich human diet (Fageria and Baligar, 1997).Furthermore, it provides minerals including calcium, phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium as well as rich source of vitamins B, E, and K.It is also rich in thiamine and niacin compared with

A hydroponic experiment was conducted to evaluate and compare the efficiency of Ca and K ions and different maize genotypes with imposed salinity. Two levels of K+ and Ca++ (5 and 10 mM) each were tested on two maize genotypes (Pioneer-3335 and Syngenta-8441) under 100 mM NaCl stress. Saline treatment adversely affected the plant physiological parameters and disturbed the ionic balance and resulted in poor plant growth. However, Syngenta-8441 was more prone to salt stress as compared to Pioneer-3335. Both of the inorganic ions showed significant effects on physiological and ionic components of both genotypes. Among the inorganic ions K was found to be more efficient than Ca in improving the plant growth. Improved physiological and ionic traits were observed more significant with 10 mM K ion treatment followed by 5 mM K. Among Ca treatments higher level of Ca (10 mM) showed more significant results as compared to 5mM Ca++. This study revealed that Ca++ and K+ both are compulsory for maintaining the crop growth because of their mutual effects under salt stress. However, the alleviative efficiency of K is far better than Calcium but its (Ca++) role could not be neglected, while regarding genotypic differential response imposes the fact that Pioneer-3335 is more tolerant to salinity menace as compared to Syngenta- 8441 but both of the genotypes were significant in their recovery from stress to applied Ca++ and K+.

Saline soils contain multiple types of soluble salts. Role of alkaline salts (AS) may be different than neutral salts (NS) for crop growth. Usually these types of salinity frequently co-exist. Neutral salts generally induce osmotic stress and ion-induced injury to growing crop plants. Behavior of AS may be different due to high pH. This study was conducted to see the response of wheat growth and Na+/ K+ ratio under AS and NS application as nutrient solution study. Germinated disinfected seeds of wheat (Cv. Pak-13) and raised in sand. Ten days seedlings were transferred to pots containing standard nutrients solution, with the application of 30 and 60 mM of NS (NaCl, Na2SO4) and AS (NaHCO3 and Na2CO3) separately in 1:1 ratio using complete randomize design in triplicates. The seedling growth period in salt solution comprised 33 days. Biomass and the selected inorganic ions were affected significantly (p< 0.01) under salt stress. The magnitude of loss of bio mass was 11 percent higher in AS than that of NS application. Phosphorus and sulphur concentration were lower 10 and 7 percent with AS than NS respectively besides high Na+/K+ ratio and pH. Further such studies on salt tolerant crop varieties can be carried out to differentiate response under different types of salts.

A field study was conducted to investigate the effect of different N fertilizer sources (urea, nitrophos, ammonium sulphate and calcium ammonium nitrate) on the productivity of wheat (var. Inqlab) in naturally salt-affected soil (pH = 8.79; ECe = 6.46; Sandy loam). A significant difference was observed in wheat grain and straw yield with the application of different N sources. Maximum wheat grain and straw yields (3203 and 3489 kg/ha, respectively) were recorded when ammonium sulphate was applied. Various N sources followed the order: Ammonium sulphate > urea > calcium ammonium nitrate and/or nitrophos. Comparatively higher N uptake by wheat (117.26 and 114.00 kg/ha) was observed with Ammonium sulphate and urea application, respectively. Similarly, maximum N recovery was observed with both these N sources followed by nitrophos, and calcium ammonium nitrate. However, the highest physiological efficiency (14.29 kg/kg fertilizer applied) was noted with the application of ammonium sulphate.

A two years field study on rice was conducted to see the efficacy of gypsum to improve soil productivity with green manuring (GM) and crop residue (CR) incorporation and its impact on paddy yield of direct seeded rice and transplanted rice grown under saline-sodic soil..................................................Soil organic matter (SOM) intensity was also improved due to GM and CR incorporation particularly during the second year of crop harvest.

A hydroponic study was conducted to see the performance of fifteen Brassica genotypes (BARD-I, Sultan Raya, 19-H, Shiralle, Dunkled, 85-508, Toria, 85-499, BSA, 85-397, 85-500, 85-497, 85-5001, CON-I, and Jewel) for their salt tolerance. Four levels of NaCl (0, 30, 60 and 90 mM/L) were developed. One week old two healthy seedlings of each Brassica genotypes were transplanted in holes of thermopole sheet floating over a 200 mL capacity container having half strength Hoagland solution. Increasing the NaCl salinity significantly reduced the shoot and root dry weight of all Brassica genotypes. On an average, about 47% reduction in shoot dry weight was observed under higher salinity level (90 mM/NaCl). Although, all the genotypes differed among themselves in ability to tolerate salinity however, ranking order of genotypes showed that Sultan Raya performed well followed by BARD-I than rest of the genotypes. Genotype 85-500 produced comparatively the least shoot and root dry weights and accumulated more Na+, less K+ and Ca+2 than rest of the genotypes. The reverse was true for Sultan Raya and BARD-I. The farmers could be benefitted through growing the selected comparatively more tolerant genotypes which could grow and survive under salt stress conditions rather than complete crop failure.

S belongs to family Compositae. Globally sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is among one of the four most important oilseed crops. It is native to America, but at world scale it was available for commercial production after some years (Anjum et al., 2012). It contains vitamins, minerals and tocopherols in considerable amounts. It can play a vital role in narrowing down the gap between edible oil production in the country and its total national consumption (Khan et al., 2003). Globally, sunflower is grown on over 22 million hectares. The sunflower main producing countries are Russia, Argentina, Hungary, Ukraine, China, France, Spain, Romania, Turkey, India, and USA (FAO, 2010). Sunflower has Abstract | Pakistan is facing a chronic deficiency of edible oil and imports around 75% of its edible oil from other countries which is a huge burden on our national economy. The situation thus requires for enhancing the indigenous oilseed production through different possible approaches. Development and promotion of local sunflower hybrids can be one of the options. Local sunflower hybrids with higher yield and wider adoptability can make Pakistan self sufficient in edible oil. Therefore a study was carried out at National Agricultural Research Centre Islamabad, to evaluate the performance of 12 locally developed sunflower Hybrids. Twelve sunflower hybrids including two checks viz., SMH 1006, SMH 0907, SMH 0932, SMH 1208, NKS-278, SMH 1001, SMH 0917, SMH 1401, Hysun-33, SMH 0927, SMH 0909 and SMH 1215 were studied in the experiment. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Data regarding Agronomic parameters was collected on days to flower initiation, days to flower completion, stem diameter, number of leaves per plant, plant height, head diameter, days to maturity, 100 seed weight, number of seeds per head and seed yield per hectare. Quality parameters were consisted upon oil content (%), protein content (%) and Fatty acid profile. Results showed that SMH-1001 and SMH-1215 hybrids performed best for yield and quality parameters, whereas, SMH-1006 and SMH-0909 were considered best for early maturing traits. Hamza Khan1, Safdar Ali1, Ijaz Ahmad*2, Ihsanullah Khan3, Shujaat Hussain1, Bashir Ahmad Khan4 and Muhammad Suhaib5

. Hydroponic experiment was carried out to assess the effect of K in reducing the oxidative damage in maize (Pioneer-3335) under salt stress. Seedlings were transplanted to three levels of K (3, 6 and 9 mM) with 100 mM NaCl stress. Plant growth parameters, membrane stability index, K + / Na + ratio and antioxidant enzymes activity were reduced due to salt stress. Addition of K significantly improved the morphological and physiological attributes along with the antioxidant enzymes (SOD, CAT and POD) activity. With increasing K levels an improvement in crop growth was observed but the treatment with 9 mM K was found to give the best results. Maximum shoot and root lengths (61.2 and 30.6 cm) were observed at 9 mM applied K level. The similar trend regarding shoot and root fresh weight was observed for maize genotype. Improved membrane stability was observed at 9 mM K level in (Pioneer-3335) (75.6%) under salt stress. Similarly, improved antioxidant enzymes (SOD, CAT and POD) activity was found in maize plants (35.5, 65.6 and 49.6 unit/g fresh weight) as compared to salt stress at 9 mM K level. The antioxidant enzymes activity was improved with the application of potassium under salt stress which ultimately induced oxidative stress tolerance in maize (Pioneer-3335).

Fruit based products are major part of healthy diet ever since human life began on earth. In the present study, four treatments (T0 to T4) of date based snack bar of approximately 36±2g with high nutritional value were prepared on the basis of oats supplementation. Electronic hygropalm meter was used to determined water activity. After sensory evaluation, proximate composition, pH and free fatty acids, the mineral contents were measured by using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The hardness increased and water activity decreased significantly (p < 0.05) among the treatments. Moisture content in all treatments was low as compared to that of date paste. Maximum fat content was found in T3 (6.9%) and the minimum in T0 (2.5%). The maximum protein content was found in T3 (~14%) than all other three treatments. Significant difference (p < 0.05) was found in mineral contents of all treatments. Total sugars ranged from 50.7% to 45.9% were recorded with significant variation among treatments. Reducing sugars were high than non-reducing sugars, while acidity and free fatty acid contents were varied non-significantly among treatments. The highest score (7.1 score) of sensory evaluation recorded for T2, followed by T1 and T3 and lowest for T0. It has been concluded that the addition of oats have positive effect on acceptability and nutritional value of bars. Because of high nutritive value these bars would be healthy for consumers and motivate the food manufacturers and farmers for cottage as well as international industry.

An experiment was carried out to investigate the effect of different levels of Zn (0, 5, 10, 15kg/ha) on growth and yield of direct seeded and transplanted rice (Oryza sativa) under naturally salt-affected soil having pH=8.32; ECe=6.41dS/m; SAR=26.71(mmolc/L)½ at the farm of Soil Salinity ResearchInstitute, Pindi Bhattian during 2013. Plant height, number of tillers/plant, panicle length and number ofgrains/panicle were higher in transplanted rice than direct seeded rice at all Zn levels. Maximum paddyyield (2.61 t/ha) of direct seeded rice was attained with the application of 10 kg Zn/ha closely followedby 15 kg Zn/ha application (2.41 t/ha) which was statistical at par with paddy yield (2.45 t/ha) of transplantedrice in salt-affected field. However, overall paddy yield of direct seeded rice was 5 % higher than thetransplanted rice.

Salinity and sodicity is today one of the most shocking threat in the irrigated agriculture.Mostly this is an abiotic strain that influences germination and plant growth.Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Wild.) has garnered much attention in recent years because it is an excellent source of plant-based protein and is highly tolerance of soil salinity and sodicity.Protein content in most quinoa accessions has been reported to range from 12 to 17%, depending on variety, environment, and input sit is traditionally called the mother of grains having the potential to habitat under high saline sodic conditions environment.The aim of the present protocol was to investigate the germination and growth of quinoa plant under different naturally salt affected soils.Quiona weeds were sown in different salt affected soils comparing with a normal soil.A pot experiment was planned using randomized complete block design with three replicates.Non-significant results regarding germination among different naturally salt affected and normal soils was determined However germination percentage was reduced to 66.8 % by soil 5 having (SAR= 37.2).In other words Quinoa seeds were germinated up to (SAR= 37.2).Results of Quinoa plant height, fresh weight, and dry weight after two weeks were significantly affected by different naturally salt affected and normal soils.This study revealed the quiona growth was inversely proportional to the sodium absorption ratio.Reduction in growth parameters was associated with increasing trend of SAR due to the presence of excessive salts in plant tissues.