Soils have been getting worse over time, which has led to lower crop yields and nutritional value. This is because of too many conventional fertilizers, anthropogenic activities, and climate change. Soil salinity is also a big problem and challenge for agricultural scientists. To address this issue, nanoparticles are gaining a reputation in agriculture that can enhance salinity tolerance in crops, especially at early growth stages. A pot experiment was conducted at Post Agricultural Research Station (PARS), Faisalabad to assess the impact of iron oxide nanoparticles (0, 15, and 30 ppm) and four levels of salinity (0, 50, 100 and 150 mM) on morphological, physiological and yield traits of maize (Zea mays L.) in salinity stress. Salinity stress significantly negatively affected the growth attributes, photosynthetic pigments, ion content (Na⁺, K⁺, and Ca²⁺) of maize plants. Salinity has also increased the levels of MDA, H₂O₂, and Na⁺ ions. The application of iron oxide nanoparticles through foliar spray had a notable impact in enhancing the growth and yield of the tested maize variety. It was achieved by promoting the activities of antioxidant enzymes, increasing photosynthetic pigments, and elevating K⁺ and Ca²⁺ ion levels under both normal and salinity-stressed conditions. Additionally, iron oxide nanoparticles mitigated the adverse effects of salinity stress by effectively reducing Na⁺ ion concentration, MDA levels, and H₂O₂ concentration. Among the different concentrations tested, 30 ppm of iron oxide nanoparticles proved best in alleviating the negative impacts of salinity stress in maize. Thus, field use of 30 ppm iron oxide nanoparticles as foliar spray could effectively mitigate salinity stress in maize.

Nanoherbicides are articulated by empowering the potential of nanotechnology for the efficacious delivery of chemical or biological herbicides with the aid of nanomaterial‐based herbicide combinations. Therefore, the goal of this work was to investigate the chitosan nanoparticles loaded with mesosulfuron methyl and mesosulfuron methyl + florasulam + (2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid) MCPA isooctyl herbicides as a possible environmentally benign substitute to manage weeds in wheat. Due to intriguing characteristics including biocompatibility, low allergenicity, biodegradability, and nontoxicity, chitosan biopolymers as sustainable chitin derivatives have received intense scrutiny in the biomedical business. The manufactured nanoparticles were characterized by using ultraviolet absorbance, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The average particle size as revealed by SEM was 40–70 nm in a cluster form with the porous structure. The maximum absorption peaks of both nanoparticles of mesosulfuron methyl and mesosulfuron methyl + florasulam + MCPA isooctyl were 330 and 360 nm. The FT-IR analysis showed an intensive peak at 2 θ value of 30.55° for mesosulfuron methyl and 32.79° for mesosulfuron methyl + florasula + MCPA isooctyl, which correspond to the 78 and 198 planes of the anatase phase, respectively. The nanoparticles were sprayed at the third to fourth leaf stages of the targeted weeds. Seven different doses were applied. A total of 100% mortality and visual injury were caused by the chitosan-based nanoparticles of both herbicides at the recommended dose of standard herbicide. The 5-fold lower dose showed the minimum chlorophyll content (5.75%), plant height (2.35 cm), fresh biomass (1.08 g), and dry biomass (0.33 g) of a weed mixture. For the same traits, the herbicide nanoparticles at 10-fold lower dose of commercial herbicides exhibited a similar effect as the recommended dose. Nanoherbicides could recuperate the conventional herbicide effectiveness by enhancing the stability and reducing the toxicity.

The main consequence of climate change on temperature is global warming. Over the past century, worldwide temperature has increased, rising by about 0.14 degrees Fahrenheit every year. Rising temperature negatively affects morphology, physiology, and yield of crops. Over the last 5 years, agriculture production in Pakistan affected due to temperature increase. Pakistan is an agriculture based developing country. About 2.2% GDP of Pakistan depends on wheat crop which is 1^st major cereal crop and ranked as staple food. Nutritionally it provides proteins, dietary fibers, carbohydrates, calcium, and other important compounds but because of the harmful effects of a high temperature, yield of wheat crop in Pakistan has reduced to lowest levels in the last few years. Heat stress affects wheat plants by reducing growth, raised reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, denature cell membranes, and enzymes activity, decreasing photosynthetic activity and disturbing respiration processes. Improving wheat crop productivity is urgently needed to feed the rapidly growing population. Several techniques like Quantitative Trait Locus mapping, omics techniques, and application of nutrients have been used in the past to mitigate high temperature effect on wheat and other different crop plants. This review critically analyzes the response of wheat towards heat stress and its impacts on wheat crop as well as provides critical information on advanced strategies and techniques for the mitigation of heat stress.

| Appropriate sowing time is an important aspect that can affect the gowth and yield of any crop. So, a research trial was planned at Research Area, College of Agriculture, University of Sargodha, Pakistan to investigate the impect of different sowing dates on growth and yield on mungbean cultivars. The research trial was arranged out in randomized complete block design (RCBD) under split plot arrangement followed by 3 replicas. In this study four different sowing dates (1 st March, 15 th March, 29 th March and 12 th April and two cultivars (AZRI-2006 and NM-92) were used. Data regarding leaf area index, leaf area duration, plant height (cm), number of pod bearing branches per plant, number of grains per pod,1000-grain weight (g), grain yield (kg ha -1 ), biological yield (kg ha -1 ) and harvest index (%) of mungbean were recorded by using standrd procedure. Results of experiment revealed that sowing date of 1 st march and varity AZRI-2006 result in maximum leaf area index (3.43), leaf area duration (24.14), plant height (74.067cm), number of pod bearing branches per plant (60.96), number of grains per pod (11.30), grain yield (715.11 kg ha -1 ), biological yield (7773.3 kg ha -1 ) and harvest index (9.6167%) while sowing date 12 th april and Varity AZRI-2006 produce maximum 1000-grain weight (66.67 g). On the bases of result of this study it was concluded that sowing date of 1 st march and varity AZRI-2006 play important role in aching maximum yield of mungbean.

Nanoherbicides are articulated by exploiting the prospective of nanotechnology for effectively delivering chemical and biological herbicides using nanomaterial‐based herbicide combinations. The nanoparticles were characterized using X-ray diffraction and FT-IR. On the targeted weeds, the nanoherbicides were sprayed at the third to fourth leaf stage. Six different doses were applied. The mortality and visual injury caused by both chitosan-based nanoherbicides reached 100% at the recommended dose of standard herbicide. The 5-fold lower dose exhibited weed density and maximum wheat yield and related parameters. For the same traits, the nanoherbicide at 10-fold lower dose of commercial herbicides showed a comparable influence as the suggested dose. The size of both herbicides was found to be 35–65 nm. It was observed that the clodinofop-propargyl nanoherbicide has an intense peak appearing at a 2 θ value of 29.83°, corresponding to the (176) plane of the anatase phase and NPs of fenoxaprop- P -ethyl showed an intense peak around the 2 θ value of 30.55° corresponding to the (74) plane of the anatase phase. The FT-IR spectra of fenoxaprop- P -ethyl clearly showed that the major functional groups were located in the FT-IR region between 610 and 1,840 cm ⁻¹ and the major functional ones of clodinofop propargyl were located in the FT-IR region between 640 and 1,740 cm ⁻¹ . Nanoherbicides could restore the efficacy of conventional herbicides by improving stability and reducing toxicity.

Phalaris minor is the main and troublesome weed of wheat all over the globe. Chemical weed control is a quick and effective method for weed management. However, herbicides are criticized for environmental pollution and the development of resistance in weeds. Therefore, the present study was planned for chemical synthesis, characterization, and dose optimization of chitosan-based nanoparticles of clodinofop propargyl and fenoxaprop- p -ethyl for the management of Phalaris minor grown in wheat. Chitosan-based nanoparticles of clodinofop propargyl and fenoxaprop- p -ethyl were prepared by the ionic gelification technique. The nanoparticles (NPs) of clodinofop propargyl and fenoxaprop- p -ethyl were sprayed at 3–4 leaf stage of the P. minor weed. Seven different doses (D ₀ = weedy check, D ₁ = normal herbicide at recommended dose, D ₂ = nano herbicide at the recommended dose of normal herbicide, D ₃ = 5-fold lower dose of nano herbicide, D ₄ = 10-fold lower dose of nano herbicide, D ₅ = 15-fold lower dose of nano herbicide, and D ₆ = 20-fold lower dose of nano herbicide) were used. Chitosan-based NPs of herbicides were characterized using UV absorbance, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies. SEM demonstrated particles in the cluster form with porous structure and the average size ranged from 30 to 60 nm. XRD results confirmed the existence of (2 θ ) peak at 29.79 related to 160 anatase form in the NPs of clodinofop propargyl and 24.65 related to 76 anatase form in the case of fenoxaprop- p -ethyl. The FT-IR analysis of chitosan-based NPs of both the herbicides perfectly matched the standard parameters. UV-visible spectra exhibited absorption peaks at 300 and 330 nm, for the NPs of fenoxaprop- p -ethyl and clodinofop, respectively. The chitosan-based particles of clodinofop propargyl and fenoxaprop- p -ethyl at the recommended dose of normal herbicide caused 100% mortality and visual injury. However, a 5-fold lower dose of chitosan-based NPs of clodinofop propargyl and fenoxaprop- p -ethyl caused the maximum visual injury (94.00%), mortality (93.75%), minimum chlorophyll contents (7.47%), plant height (cm), fresh biomass (0.27 g), and dry biomass (0.08 g) of P. minor. The chitosan-based NPs of clodinofop propargyl and fenoxaprop- p -ethyl at a 10-fold lower dose of normal herbicides and recommended dose produced a similar effect on the previously mentioned traits of P. minor .