Being the most expensive spice, saffron has great economic importance. This crop grows well in cold arid deserts. Salinity is one of the important limiting factors for the cultivation of this crop. However, the use of composted manured and co-composted biochar and fertilizers can play a role in attenuating the salinity stress on this crop. In this two-year field study, manures from three sources: sheep and goat (SG), cow and buffalo (FYM), and poultry (PM) farms, and their co-compost with slow-pyrolyzed wood-derived biochar (B) were used for saffron cultivation in slightly saline (electrical conductivity 1.95 dS m⁻¹) and non-saline soils. Yield and concentration of antioxidants of stigma and bacterial diversity in the rhizosphere of this crop, under salinity and non-salinity conditions, were evaluated. Results revealed that in non-saline soil of first-year crops, all fertilizers decreased the yield of stigma than control by 15–49 % (P ≤ 0.05) but increased the concentration of carotenoids and total polyphenolics (P ≤ 0.05). In saline soil, no difference in yield was observed between treatments for the first-year crop; however, for the second-year crop, as compared to control, PM and FYM significantly increased yield by 41 % and 44 % respectively, whereas FYM also increased the concentration of total polyphenolics (P ≤ 0.05). The FYM fertilizer was found suitable for the yield and quality of saffron stigma for second-year crops in both soils (non-saline and saline). The observed OTUs, Chao1, Fischer, and ACE indexes based on 16 s rRNA metagenomic analysis revealed 2–4 times greater bacterial diversity in the rhizosphere soil of PM-B and SG-B treatments than in the control. Furthermore, 347 bacterial species were found in PM-B- or SG-B-amended soils absent in control treatments.

Seed-priming is an essential phenomenon of today’s agricultural practices which is widely being utilized for better seed stand development of plants. Priming of seeds with essential plant growth regulators (PGRs) such as; hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), salicylic acid (SA), ascorbic acid (AsA), gibberellic acid (GA3), potassium nitrate (KNO₃) including H2O priming treatment for 12 hours is highly beneficial to promote plant effectiveness under different environmental circumstances including artificial magnetism (north, south and north/south). The present study was carried out during September 2022 in Department of Botany, University of Balochistan, Quetta to investigate the physiological and biochemical attributes of two important plant species; Plantago ovata Forrsk. (Plantago) and Pisum sativum (pea) under artificial magnetism. Design of experiment was completely randomized design (CRD) comprising three replications. Results of different parameters portrayed that priming of seeds with essential PGRs is a novel technique to enhance plant growth and development. The overall accumulation of secondary metabolites such as; anthocyanin, soluble sugars and phenolics, tannins contents in pea plants showed significant (p < 0.05) variations except shoot tannin which showed non-significant (p > 0.05) results under artificial magnetic treatments in combination with supplementation of SA, KNO₃, AsA and GA₃ primed seeds as compared to plantago seedlings. Moreover, the status of nutrients, i.e., potassium in both shoots showed non-significant results by accumulating higher contents as compared to root, while in both plants seedlings, manganese content showed significant differences in root and shoot under priming. Astonishingly, the oxidative damage parameters (hydrogen peroxide and malondialdehyde) decreased by illustrating non-significant interactions among root and shoot. In overall study, pea seedlings performed very well under artificial magnetism by the pre-soaking of seeds with PGRs as compared to plantago seedlings. Therefore, the present study highly encourages the phenomenon of PGRs seed-priming along with artificial magnetic treatment for the better growth and development of plants seedlings and more importantly, pea and plantago.