In the present study, SeNPs were synthesized using Melia azedarach leaf extracts and investigated for growth promotion in wheat under the biotic stress of spot blotch disease. The phytosynthesized SeNPs were characterized using UV-visible spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX), and Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The in vitro efficacy of different concentrations of phytosynthesized SeNPs (i.e., 100 $\mathsf{\mu }$g/mL, 150 $\mathsf{\mu }$g/mL, 200 $\mathsf{\mu }$g/mL, 250 $\mathsf{\mu }$g/mL, and 300 $\mathsf{\mu }$g/mL) was evaluated using the well diffusion method, which reported that 300 $\mathsf{\mu }$g/mL showed maximum fungus growth inhibition. For in vivo study, different concentrations (10, 20, 30, and 40 mg/L) of SeNPs were applied exogenously to evaluate the morphological, physiological, and biochemical parameters under control conditions and determine when infection was induced. Among all treatments, 30 mg/L of SeNPs performed well and increased the plant height by 2.34% compared to the control and 30.7% more than fungus-inoculated wheat. Similarly, fresh plant weight and dry weight increased by 17.35% and 13.43% over the control and 20.34% and 52.48% over the fungus-treated wheat, respectively. In leaf surface area and root length, our findings were 50.11% and 10.37% higher than the control and 40% and 71% higher than diseased wheat, respectively. Plant physiological parameters i.e., chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and total chlorophyll content, were increased 14, 133, and 16.1 times over the control and 157, 253, and 42 times over the pathogen-inoculated wheat, respectively. Our findings regarding carotenoid content, relative water content, and the membrane stability index were 29-, 49-, and 81-fold higher than the control and 187-, 63-, and 48-fold higher than the negative control, respectively. In the case of plant biochemical parameters, proline, sugar, flavonoids, and phenolic contents were recorded at 6, 287, 11, and 34 times higher than the control and 32, 107, 33, and 4 times more than fungus-inoculated wheat, respectively. This study is considered the first biocompatible approach to evaluate the potential of green-synthesized SeNPs as growth-promoting substances in wheat under the spot blotch stress and effective management strategy to inhibit fungal growth.

In this study, selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) and cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeONPs) were synthesized by using the extract of Melia azedarach leaves, and Acorus calamusas rhizomes, respectively, and investigated for the biological and sustainable control of yellow, or stripe rust, disease in wheat. The green synthesized NPs were characterized by UV-Visible spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The SeNPs and CeONPs, with different concentrations (i.e., 10, 20, 30, and 40 mg/L), were exogenously applied to wheat infected with Puccinia striformis. SeNPs and CeONPs, at a concentration of 30 mg/L, were found to be the most suitable concentrations, which reduced the disease severity and enhanced the morphological (plant height, root length, shoot length, leaf length, and ear length), physiological (chlorophyll and membrane stability index), biochemical (proline, phenolics and flavonoids) and antioxidant (SOD and POD) parameters. The antioxidant activity of SeNPs and CeONPs was also measured. For this purpose, different concentrations (50, 100, 150, 200 and 400 ppm) of both SeNPs and CeONPs were used. The concentration of 400 ppm most promoted the DPPH, ABTS and reducing power activity of both SeNPs and CeONPs. This study is considered the first biocompatible approach to evaluate the potential of green synthesized SeNPs and CeONPs to improve the health of yellow, or stripe rust, infected wheat plants and to provide an effective management strategy to inhibit the growth of Puccinia striformis.

In August 2015 & 16, rotted grapes (about 15 % of the total) of cv. Taiffi were observed in commercial fruit markets located in Jhelum (32°56′22.3″N, 73°43′31.4″E) and Rawalpindi (33°38′19.2″N, 73°...

Oilseed crops play a vital role in the economy of Pakistan, yet the production of oilseeds is far less than the demand for them. White mustard (Sinapis alba L.) is an emerging crop, that belongs to the Brassicaceae family. It is considered to be an alternative to all other oilseed crops for dry temperate climates. White mustard develops rapidly, and has a large canopy and deep rooting system; hence, it can draw up nutrients from deeper layers. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of nitrogen on S. alba agro-morphological attributes and enhance nutrient use efficiencies. During the Rabi seasons of 2019-20 and 2020-21, an experiment was conducted at the University Research Farm, Chakwal Road, Rawalpindi. The study included seven treatments, i.e., T1-Control, T2-20, T3-40, T4-60, T5-80, T6-100, and T7-120 kg·ha⁻¹. Each treatment was replicated three times, and the study utilized a randomized complete block design (RCBD). The results revealed that nitrogen at 100 kg·ha⁻¹ was the optimal concentration and significantly increased the agro-morphological parameters, i.e., plant height (47.01%), primary branches (41.36%), secondary branches (45.33%), 1000 seed weight (54.35%), siliques/plant (41.57%), seeds/silique (52.30%) biological yield (68.38%), seed yield (54.90%), harvest index (11%), and oil yield (38.84%), as compared to the control. Moreover, protein contents and oil contents were significantly increased (5.15% and 6%, respectively), as compared to the control, while glucosinolate content was decreased (4.36%). Similarly, maximum agronomic efficiency (AE), apparent recovery efficiency (ARE) (53%), physiological efficiency (PE), and nutrient use efficiency (NUE) were also improved, as compared to the control. Hence, N application at a concentration of 100 kg·ha⁻¹ can be recommended for S. alba under the present cropping system of Pothwar.

The present study was designed to evaluate the effects of Zinc (Zn) and Boron (B) on agro-morphological and seed quality attributes of Camelina sativa. The experiment consisted of 3 levels (2%, 4% and 6%) of each mentioned nutrients along with control (no application of micronutrients). Means were calculated and subjected to analysis of variance and LSD analysis, at 5 % level of significance. Following parameters viz., plant height (cm), number of branches per plant, number of siliquae per plant, number of seeds per siliquae, thousand seed weight (g), grain yield (kg/ha), harvest index (%), dry matter accumulation (g/m2), crop growth rate (g/m2/day), biological yield (kg/ha), and oil yield (kg/ha) were evaluated. All subjected treatments were tested for every tested parameter, and results revealed significant values comparative to control. It was observed that foliar application of both boron and zinc micronutrients yielded maximum in all parameters in comparison with control which seems promising to improve crop development, oil yield and harvest index of Camelina sativa L.

Lentil (Lens culinaris L) is Pakistan's second main winter season legume crop after chickpea and is known to be vital for health. Rhizobia have a natural capacity to fix atmospheric nitrogen in legume crops through a symbiotic relationship with legumes- rhizobium, producing nodules on their roots. It is important to maintain an optimal rhizobial population in the rhizosphere in order to enhance nodulation, N2 fixation, and yield of lentil crop. The experiment was conducted to Evaluation of potential Microbial strains and lentil genotypes for enhancing BNF and production of lentil crop in Pothwar. Lentil varieties used were: V1 = NIA-Masoor-2005, V2 = Markaz-2009, V3 = Punjab-Masoor-2009, V4 = Chakwal-Masoor-2011, V5 = NIA-Masoor-2016 and the five rhizobial strains, RS0, RS1, RS2, RS3, RS4 and RS5 (Their accession numbers lie with the Institute of Soil science, PMAS AAUR) were used. Inoculation of seed with Rhizobium strains significantly increased the plant height (17.58%), number of branches plant-1 (25.67%), number of pods plant-1 (15.42%), number of nodules plant-1 (34%) and the N-content of shoots (12.70) of lentil crop as compared to control. Consequently, rhizobium strains contributed to improved soil productivity and could minimize the cost of production of next crop by reducing inputs in the form of nitrogen fertilizers. It has been found that rhizobic inoculation is more productive and better yields, as compared to control. Maximum growth and yield components was recorded in variety, V5 (NIA-Masoor-2016) followed by variety, V3 (Punjab-Masoor-2009) and minimum production was recorded in V4 (Chakwal-Masoor-2011). NIA-Masoor-2016 had larger yielded better than Chakwal-Masoor-2011. It was also clear from the present results that interactive effect of rhizobial strains and lentil varieties produced the plants with more yield than control which might have resulted in higher nitrogen fixation and consequently higher dry matter production.