Water, a necessary component of cell protoplasm, plays an essential role in supporting life on Earth; nevertheless, extreme changes in climatic conditions limit water availability, causing numerous issues, such as the current water-scarce regimes in many regions of the biome. This review aims to collect data from various published studies in the literature to understand and critically analyze plants’ morphological, growth, yield, and physio-biochemical responses to drought stress and their potential to modulate and nullify the damaging effects of drought stress via activating natural physiological and biochemical mechanisms. In addition, the review described current breakthroughs in understanding how plant hormones influence drought stress responses and phytohormonal interaction through signaling under water stress regimes. The information for this review was systematically gathered from different global search engines and the scientific literature databases Science Direct, including Google Scholar, Web of Science, related studies, published books, and articles. Drought stress is a significant obstacle to meeting food demand for the world’s constantly growing population. Plants cope with stress regimes through changes to cellular osmotic potential, water potential, and activation of natural defense systems in the form of antioxidant enzymes and accumulation of osmolytes including proteins, proline, glycine betaine, phenolic compounds, and soluble sugars. Phytohormones modulate developmental processes and signaling networks, which aid in acclimating plants to biotic and abiotic challenges and, consequently, their survival. Significant progress has been made for jasmonates, salicylic acid, and ethylene in identifying important components and understanding their roles in plant responses to abiotic stress. Other plant hormones, such as abscisic acid, auxin, gibberellic acid, brassinosteroids, and peptide hormones, have been linked to plant defense signaling pathways in various ways.

Several agroforestry systems prevail in different agro-ecological zones of Pakistan, and cover a remarkable area of 19.3 million hectares. They not only play an important role in slowing down CO₂ emissions, but also contribute to mitigating climate change. However, in many regions, the relevant effect of agroforestry systems on overall carbon (C) stock and their reliance on various factors are quite unidentified. This study was planned to assess the biomass accumulation and C stocks of different commonly practiced agroforestry systems (boundary, bund, scattered, agri-horticulture) and their constituent land use types (tree + cropland) through a non-destructive approach (allometric equations) in a semi-arid region of Punjab, Pakistan. The results showed that the highest plant biomass (87.12 t ha⁻¹) increased by 46%, 17%, 78%, and 339%, and C stock (42.77 t ha⁻¹) increased by 49.51%, 20%, 82%, and 361% in the boundary planting system compared to the bund, scattered, agri-horti and sole cropland, respectively. The soil organic carbon (SOC) stock at all three depths, 0–15 cm, 15–30 cm & 30–45 cm, was found in the following order: boundary planting system > bund planting system > agri-horti system > scattered planting system > agricultural system, with a maximum in the boundary planting system and minimum in the sole cropping system at all three depths. Overall, the total C stock of the ecosystem’s vegetation + soil C (0–30 cm) in the forested area was 275 t ha⁻¹, equating to 37 t ha⁻¹ in the agricultural system alone. Our results highlighted that agroforestry systems have the highest potential for C sequestration. We suggest that research and investment in agroforestry systems can be a successful way for Pakistan to achieve some of its climate change mitigation goals.

The Kyoto Protocol includes agroforestry practices as a suggested approach for mitigating global atmospheric CO₂. Agroforestry systems are a desirable option for mitigating atmospheric CO₂, as they provide numerous secondary benefits, including food, fodder, fuel, increased farm income, biodiversity maintenance, and soil conservation. This research was planned to assess the current carbon storage status and future potential of agroforestry systems in Pakistan through a nondestructive approach (allometric equations) in 14 subdivisions (tehsils) of three selected districts located in the irrigated plains of Punjab, Pakistan. A total of 1750 plots of 0.405 ha each were selected in a randomized, unbiased sampling to estimate the total number of trees, tree species diversity, diameters at breast height (DBHs), and tree heights. Soil carbon was also measured at 0–30 cm using the Walkley–Black method in a subset of plots. It was found that the current number of trees in farms in the study area varied from 18 to 51 trees/ha, which can be increased to 42–83 trees/ha if all the farmers plant the maximum permissible number of trees along with their crops. The estimated total tree carbon stock ranged from 0.0003 to 8.79 Mgha⁻¹, with the smallest mean value of 0.39 Mgha⁻¹ for tehsil Faisalabad, and the largest mean value of 1.41 Mgha⁻¹ for tehsil Chiniot. The whole study area had an estimated woody vegetation carbon stock of 950,470 Mg and a soil carbon stock of 22,743,008 Mg. If farmers in the study area all increased tree stocking to their average maximum desired stocking, the total tree carbon stock would more than double to 2,497,261 Mg. These results highlight both the current and potential carbon sequestration potential of agroforestry in Pakistan and can be further used in devising strategies for implementing tree planting programs on agricultural lands and designing future carbon sequestration projects in Pakistan.

The supply of nutrients and proximate matter is insufficient to fulfil the dietary needs of the quickly expanding human population. Green leafy vegetables can prove economical sources of minerals, vitamins and fibers to overcome nutritional deficiencies. Five leafy vegetables (Brassica juncea, Spinacia oleracea, Trigonella foenum-graecum, Chenopodium album and Lactuca sativa) were collected from a horticulture garden and vegetable market for the evaluation of their proximate matter and nutritional composition. Their contents of proximate (moisture, ash, fats, fibers, carbohydrates and protein), minerals (Ca²⁺, K⁺ and P⁺) and anti-nutrients were examined using standard protocols. The contents of fats (0.43 mg g⁻¹f.w.) in S. oleracea; fibers (0.8 mg g⁻¹f.w.) in S. olerace; carbohydrates (0.89 mg g⁻¹f.w.); in B. juncea, proteins (0.91 mg g⁻¹f.w.) in L. sativa; and vitamin A (1.18 mg g⁻¹f.w.) in C. album from the horticulture garden were high enough to meet the daily dietary requirements of adults. Tannins were higher in species collected from the market, which is toxic for human health. It is concluded that vegetables of horticulture garden grown in suitable environmental conditions possess better nutritional composition as compared to vegetables purchased from markets. However, a large-scale research is needed for the analysis of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, anti-nutrients and heavy metals in leafy vegetables. Further research on ethnomedicinal attributes of leafy vegetables is recommended.