Malakand region is an endemic area for cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). However, there are limited number of studies of this disease in Pakistan. Therefore, a study was conducted to understand the level of awareness attitude and practice among the residents of Makaland towards CL and the disease vectors. This study adopted a cross-sectional approach with a total of 400 respondents (n=93 rural and n= 307 urban). Overall, the population in Malakand region (61.2%) were well-informed in the role of sand fly in transmitting diseases, but most lack knowledge on the vector’s behavior and almost a quarter (24.5%) were unable to provide knowledge on proper control measures. Alarmingly, the practice and attitudes of the general population was not satisfactory as close to half (49.8%) of the population did adopt any control method. This study calls for increase in awareness through health education campaign to reduce the risk of cutaneous leishmaniasis outbreaks in the future.

Local and exotic germplasm of tomato remains a major source for genetic improvement. Assessment of such lines for biotic stresses particularly viral diseases are the most important criteria for selection in Pakistan, where Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus (TYLCV) and Tomato Mosaic Virus (ToMV) are the major diseases/viruses. A set of 40 accessions (including indigenous Pakistani lines and exotic germplasm from Europe, the United States, and Asia) were evaluated for their resistance/infection response to ToMV with artificial inoculation under greenhouse conditions. Infection response was quantified through disease scoring and DAS-ELISA test (for ToMV). A subset of 24 lines, was further screened for TYLCV using disease scoring and TAS-ELISA. The tested lines showed significant variability for resistance to ToMV. Only one accession (Acc-17878) was resistant to the ToMV whereas seven accessions i.e. Acc-17890, AVR-261, CLN-312, AVR-321, EUR-333, CLN-352, and CLN-362 expressed resistance to TYLCV. Correlation between phenotypic evaluation was confirmed by the ELISA results in both diseases, although both tools complemented to assess the viral infection status. In future, tomato breeding programs must consider breeding for ToMV and TYLCV resistance (using identified germplasm in our study) so as to deliver virus resistant tomato varieties.

Line × Tester combining ability analysis involving five lines (cultivars i.e., CIM-446, CIM-473, CIM-506, CIM-554 and SLH-284) and three testers (cultivars viz., CIM-496, CIM-499 and CIM-707) was carried out during 2015 and 2016 to determine the inheritance for earliness, yield and lint traits in upland cotton. Genotypes revealed significant (P≤0.01) variations for all the traits. On average, F1 hybrids showed the significant increase over parental means for yield traits. Mean squares due to general (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) were highly significant, which suggested that additive and non-additive gene actions were involved in controlling all the characters. However, the preponderance of non-additive type of gene action observed for majority of the traits. Lines (SLH-284, CIM-473) and pollinators (CIM-707, CIM-496) were leading general combiners for majority of the traits. F1 hybrids (CIM-473 × CIM-496, SLH-284 × CIM-707 and CIM446 × CIM-496) which involve best general combiners, showed the leading performance for yield and lint traits. Heritability was moderate to high with appreciable genetic gain for majority of the traits. Except for lint %, the correlation of seed cotton yield was positive with other traits. The significance of additive and non-additive components suggested integrated breeding strategies with delayed selection for development of cotton hybrids with improvement in earliness and seed cotton yield.

| Fourteen sugarcane genotypes and two check cultivars were evaluated in randomizedcomplete block design with three replications at Sugar Crops Research Institute Mardan during 2012-13 and 2013-14. The studies were conducted in two plant crops to calculate broad sense heritability (repeatability), genetic gain and correlations among the parameters, and establish selection criteria.Highly significant (p ≤ 0.01) differences were found among the genotypes for number of tillers, plant height, cane length,number of nodes, internodes length,number of millablecane and cane yield while non-significant differences were recorded for cane diameter. The effect of genotype and crop interaction was highly significant fornumber of tillers while non-significant for other characters. Broad sense heritability for different characters showed varying levels and it was higher for internodes length (43%), number of nodes (39%),cane length (39%), plant height (30%), number of tillers (12%), cane yield (41%) andnumber of millablecane (35%),respectively indicating that these traits could be selected in the improvement of crop yield. Genetic gain was higher for cane length (36.53 cm), plant height (31.84 cm) and number of tillers (12.98 tillers per 9 m 2 ). Number of tillers (r g =0.96, r p =0.83), plant height (r g =0.95, r p = 0.81), cane length (r g =0.90, r p = 0.76), number of nodes (r g =0.79, r p = 0.67), internodes length (r g =0.80, r p =0.74) and number of millablecane (r g =0.96, r p = 0.87) exhibited highly significant and positive correlation with cane yield at genotypic and phenotypic levels.

True Potato Seed (TPS) breeding offers a promising pathway to develop high-yielding, disease-resistant, and climate-resilient potato hybrids, contributing to food security and sustainable agriculture in regions such as Pakistan. This study evaluated heterosis and inbreeding depression in eight potato hybrids derived from true potato seed under climatic conditions of Northern Pakistan. A randomized complete block design was employed with three replications at Battakundi and Abbottabad during 2022–2024. Analysis of variance revealed that all the genotypes had showed highly significant differences (P < 0.01, 0.05), reflecting substantial genetic variability. High estimates of relative heterosis (64.10%), heterobeltiosis (54.58%) for the number of marketable tubers per plot, and standard heterosis (48.64%) for their weight revealed strong hybrid vigor. Negative inbreeding depression ranging from –0.81% to –349.7% suggested superior hybrid performance over parental cultivars. Positive correlations among yield and yield attributed traits provided greater opportunities for selection in potato breeding. Results concluded that among the tested combinations, Sarpomira × Roko and Kuroda × Burna demonstrated significant positive heterotic effects for yield traits and desirable negative heterosis for late blight incidence, identifying them as promising candidates for future hybrid release. Overall, the findings highlight TPS breeding as a viable approach for enhancing productivity and resilience of potato crops in high-altitude and similar agro-ecological regions.