This study was aimed to investigate the effect of bio-organic phosphate either alone or in combination with phosphorus solubilizing bacteria strain (Bacillus MWT-14) on the growth and productivity of two wheat cultivars (Galaxy-2013 and Punjab-2011) along with recommended (150-100NPkgha-1) and half dose (75-50NPkgha-1) of fertilizers. The combined application of bio-organic phosphate and the phosphorous solubilizing bacteria strain at either fertilizer level significantly improved the growth, yield parameters and productivity of both wheat cultivars compared to non-inoculated control treatments. The cultivar Punjab-2011 produced the higher chlorophyll contents, crop growth rate, and the straw yield at half dose of NP fertilizer; while Galaxy-2013, with the combined application of bio-organic phosphate and phosphorous solubilizing bacteria under recommended NP fertilizer dose. Combined over both NP fertilizer levels, the combined use of bio-organic phosphate and phosphorous solubilizing bacteria enhanced the grain yield of cultivar Galaxy-2013 by 54.3% and that of cultivar Punjab-2011 by 83.3%. The combined application of bio-organic phosphate and phosphorous solubilizing bacteria also increased the population of phosphorous solubilizing bacteria, the soil organic matter and phosphorous contents in the soil. In conclusion, the combined application of bio-organic phosphate and phosphorous solubilizing bacteria offers an eco-friendly option to harvest the better wheat yield with low fertilizer input under arid climate.

Maize (Zea mays L.) is an important component of global food security but its production is threatened by abiotic stresses in climate change scenarios, especially drought stress. Many multinational companies have introduced maize hybrids worldwide which have variable performance under diverse environmental conditions. The maize production is likely to be affected by a future water crisis. Potassium (K) is a well-known macronutrient which improves the performance of cereals under abiotic stresses. In this field experiment, we assessed the influence of soil applied K on the productivity of diverse maize hybrids grown under well-watered and drought stress conditions. The study consisted of three K levels viz., control (no KCl), KCl at 50 kg ha⁻¹, and KCI at 75 kg ha⁻¹ factorally combined with two irrigation levels (i.e., normal recommended irrigation, well-watered condition, and half of the recommended irrigation, drought stress condition) and eight maize hybrids. Irrigation was kept in main plots, potassium in subplot, and maize hybrids in sub-subplots. The results revealed that performance of the maize hybrids was significantly influenced by all three factors, and the interaction of irrigation with potassium and irrigation with hybrids was significant; results being non-significant for all other interactions. Potassium application improved yield traits and water productivity under both normal and water stress conditions but effect was more prominent under water stress conditions than normal conditions. Potassium application also alleviated drought susceptibility of all maize hybrids. In all cases, the performance of maize hybrids was maximum under potassium application at 75 kg ha⁻¹.

Wheat is the leading staple food in the world, particularly in developing countries, which lacks a mechanism of zinc absorption; when compared to pulses, more attention is consequently important to be given to the wheat crop. Micronutrient deficiencies and especially zinc deficiency influences one-third of the world population. In addition to this, it is also essential for the growth and development of plants and animals. A pot and field experiment was conducted to check the effect of foliar application of zinc sulphate on three different wheat varieties at the same time. Treatment consisted of three zinc levels (control, 4%, 6%) in the form of zinc sulphate (21% Zn) applications were applied on various wheat varieties (Zincol, Fakher-e-Bhakkar, Faisalabad-2008) at different growth stages (tillering, booting and heading). Different zinc levels showed different results on wheat varieties in both experiments. Results revealed that var. Fakher-e-Bhakkar was best at 6% zinc application for more plant height, the number of spikelets, spike length, 100-grain weight, biological and grain yield per plant as compared to other varieties and treatments. Antioxidants and nutritional quality (protein, gluten, starch and zinc contents) showed variable behavior both on wheat varieties and zinc application. It is concluded that Fakher-e-Bhakkar was found to be the most responsive cultivar at 6% zinc application for improvement in growth, yield-related traits and nutritional quality. So it is recommended for achieving maximum yield and yield components and grain zinc contents of wheat under agro-climatic conditions of Layyah, Punjab-Pakistan.

A decrease in water resources around the globe in irrigated agriculture has resulted in a steep decline in irrigation water availability. Therefore, management options for efficient use of available irrigation water are inevitable. Deciding the critical time, frequency and amount of irrigation are compulsory to achieve higher crop outputs. Hence, this two-year field study was conducted to assess the role of different row spacings, i.e., 20, 25 and 30 cm, on growth, productivity, and water use efficiency (WUE) of wheat under deficit supplemental irrigation (DSI) at the vegetative and reproductive phase by using surplus supplemental irrigation (SSI) throughout the growing season as the control. DSI at both growth stages, and the reproductive stage in particular, changed the crop allometry, yield and net income of wheat. However, narrow spacing (20 cm) resulted in efficient use of available irrigation water (DSI and SSI) with higher yield, WUE and economic returns. Interestingly, wider spacing resulted in a higher number of grains per spike with higher 1000-grain weight under SSI and DSI, but final yield output remained poor due to a lower number of productive tillers. It was concluded that reducing irrigation during the vegetative stage is less damaging compared with the reproductive phase; therefore, sufficient supplemental irrigation must be added at the reproductive stage, particularly during grain-filling. Further, narrow spacing (20 cm) resulted in efficient utilization of available irrigation water; therefore, wheat must be grown at a narrow spacing to ensure the efficient utilization of available irrigation water.

The use of organic amendments is seen to be a promising method for enhancing crop productivity and soil health. Therefore, this study was performed for two consecutive years (2019 and 2020) to determine the effects of organic biochar (BC), sugar industry press mud (MUD), and poultry manure (PM) combined with inorganic amendments on the yield and nutritional quality of forage sorghum at the College of Agriculture, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Bahadur sub-campus, Layyah, Pakistan. The treatments were comprised of the following: control (no inorganic or organic amendments added); recommended dose of NPK (59:72:30 kg ha⁻¹); half dose of NPK (29.5:36:15 kg ha⁻¹); recommended dose of poultry manure (PM) at 5 t ha⁻¹; recommended dose of press mud (MUD) at 40 t ha⁻¹; recommended dose of biochar (BC) at 11 t ha⁻¹; BC + half NPK; MUD + half NPK; PM + half NPK; PM + BC + half NPK; PM + MUD + half NPK; BC + MUD + half NPK; PM + BC + MUD + half NPK. The treatments were carried out in a triplicate randomized complete block design. Results revealed that combined application of PM + BC + MUD + 1/2 NPK significantly enhanced the plant height (201 cm), number of leaves (17), stem diameter (18 mm), stem dry weight (201.7 g), leaf dry weight (30.4 g), leaf area (184.3 cm²), green forage yield (31.8 Mg ha⁻¹), and dry biomass yield (12.7 Mg ha⁻¹) compared with the control treatment. Forage quality traits, including crude protein (CP), brix percentage, acid detergent fiber (ADF), and acid detergent lignin (ADL), showed maximum value with the combined application of PM + BC + MUD + 1/2 NPK. ADF and ADL are linked with lower digestibility; therefore, it was concluded that the combined application of PM + BC + MUD + 1/2 NPK can improve the productivity, dry biomass yield, and CP of sorghum, but reduces the digestibility under semi-arid conditions, such as those in Central Pakistan.

Because it is a staple food, sustainable production of wheat is crucial for global food security. Arid and semi-arid regions are worst affected by climate change, which has resulted in poor productivity of different crops, including wheat. To this end, this study aimed to investigate the effect of foliage-applied thiourea on the growth, yield, and nutritional-quality-related traits of bread wheat. The treatments consisted of thiourea levels (control, 500, and 1000 mg L⁻¹) factorally combined with two diverse wheat cultivars (Gandam-1 and Galaxy-2013) at different growth stages (tillering, booting, and heading) and was repeated over two years. The analysis of the data shows that thiourea treatments and the cultivars significantly (p ≤ 0.05) affected the growth, nutritional quality traits, and morphological traits, and the interaction of the two factors was also significant. Improvement in productivity and nutritional quality was observed from the application of thiourea in both cultivars. Galaxy-2013 performed best at 1000 mg L⁻¹ thiourea application for both productivity- and nutritional-quality-related traits at the heading stage. In conclusion, exogenous application of thiourea improves the productivity and nutritional quality of wheat on sandy loam soils in semi-arid regions; however, for wider recommendations, more trials may be conducted across various agro-ecological regions.