Stumpy irrigation water availability is extremely important for sugarcane production in Pakistan today. This issue is rising inversely to river flow due to inadequate water distribution and an uneven rainfall pattern. Sugarcane growth faces a shortage of available water for plant uptake due to the low water–holding capacity of sandy loam soil, particularly under conventional flood irrigation methods. To address this problem, sugarcane clones were evaluated for their agronomic and physiological traits under conditions of low water availability in sandy loam soil. Ten cane genotypes, HSF–240, SPF–213, CPF–249, CP 77–400, S2008–FD–19, S2006–US–469, S2007–AUS–384, S2003–US–633, S2003–US–127, and S2006–US–658, were exposed to four levels of water deficit created through skip irrigations. These deficit levels occurred during the 9th, 11th, 13th, and 16th irrigations at alternate deficit levels between 2020 and 2022. Physiological data were collected during the tillering and grand growth stages (elongation) in response to the water deficit. The sugarcane clones S2006–US–658, S2007–AUS–384, and HSF–240 exhibited resistance to low water availability at both the tillering and grand growth stages. Following them, genotypes S2006–US–658, S2007–AUS–384, and HSF–240 performed better and were also found to be statistically significant. Clones susceptible to water deficit in terms of growth and development were identified as CP 77–400, S2008–FD–19, S2006–US–469, and S2003–US–633. These genotypes showed reduced photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, stomatal conductance, relative water content, cane yield, and proline content under stressed conditions. Therefore, genotypes S2006–US–658, S2007–AUS–384, and HSF–240 were better performers concerning physiological traits under water deficit and sandy loam soil in both years. Moreover, a significant positive correlation was assessed between agronomic traits and photosynthetic rats. This study highlights that sugarcane can sustain its growth and development even with less irrigation frequency or moisture availability, albeit with certain specific variations.

The judicious use of crop input is of prime importance for achieving a considerable output with a low-cost input. A two-year field experimentation was executed to assess the effect of varying polymer-coated single super phosphate (SSP) regimes on the yield and quality of sugarcane under differential water regimes. A two-factor study was executed under a randomized complete block design with a split-plot arrangement. The CPF-249 sugarcane variety was planted during the 2019–2020 period and the 2020–2021 period. The experiment consisted of four levels of polymer-coated SSP, i.e., control, 90, 110, and 130 kg ha⁻¹, and three water regimes, which consisted of a number of irrigations, i.e., 18 irrigations, 15 irrigations, and 12 irrigations. Moreover, the water regimes were kept in the main plot, whereas the polymer-coated supplement was allocated in a subplot and replicated thrice. The data on the yield components and sugar-related traits were recorded during both years of study, and the treatment means were differentiated using an LSD test at a 95% confidence interval. Summating the findings of this study, a significant variation was revealed under the subject levels of both factors. Statistically, a 110 kg ha⁻¹ polymer-coated SSP dose, along with 18 irrigations, declared the highest millable canes, stripped cane yield, and unstripped cane yield, followed by the 130 kg ha⁻¹ treatment. Additionally, the highest pol% and cane sugar recovery % were recorded under 12 irrigations along with 130 kg ha⁻¹ during both years. Similarly, the °Brix value was also significantly affected by 12 irrigations when 110 kg ha⁻¹ of polymer-coated SSP was used. The unstripped cane yield had a strong positive correlation with the stripped cane yield, millable canes, and the number of internodes. Moreover, the commercial cane sugar % resulted in a strong positive correlation with the pol%, whereas the cane sugar recovery % revealed a strong positive correlation with the pol% and commercial cane sugar %.

The extensive utilization of nitrogen (N) fertilizers within maize cultivation systems has resulted in diminished nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and contributed to nitrogen pollution on a global scale. To assess the ecological repercussions of excessive fertilization, it is imperative to elucidate both the nitrogen use efficiency and the fate of nitrogenous fertilizers upon application. The current research evaluated the potential of a newly developed slow-release nitrogen fertilizer on maize growth and its behavior in soil under controlled conditions. Six different levels of urea fertilizer (UF) and slow-release nitrogen fertilizer (SRNF) were administered within the field, representing 100%, 85%, and 70% of the recommended application rates. The slow-release nitrogen fertilizer (SRNF) exhibited superior performance regarding growth, yield and nutrient retention in comparison to urea fertilizer (UF). Moreover, minimal ammonia emissions were detected with the employment of the slow-release nitrogen fertilizer (SRNF), while other urea-based fertilizers proved inefficient in mitigating ammonia emissions, despite enhancing various growth and yield parameters. The efficiency in nutrient recovery followed a distinct pattern, with polymer-coated fertilizers demonstrating superiority. The plots treated with SRNF displayed significantly higher growth and yield characteristics compared to those treated with urea fertilizer. In terms of NH₃ volatilization, the urea fertilizer (UF) treatment at 100% application rate showed higher emissions (1.99 mg g^-1) after a 27-day incubation period, as opposed to the slow-release nitrogen fertilizer (SRNF) treatment (1.68 mg g^-1). Leaching data indicated that urea fertilizer treatments led to greater losses of NO₃-N (2.01 mg L^-1) compared to SRNF treatments (0.88 mg L^-1).

Crown rot impacted olive plants (cv. Koroneiki) in an orchard in Chakwal, Punjab, Pakistan (32° N, 72° E), with a prevalence of 60%. Observable symptoms included leaf chlorosis, defoliation, wilting, and twig dieback in 6-8-year-old plants, ultimately resulting in their demise (Fig. 1 A, B). It was initially observed in June 2020. In September 2020, 48 samples (3 root and 3 crown stem part sample per plant) of diseased olive plants were randomly chosen from the orchard for detailed analysis. Bark pieces from the diseases portion were sectioned into smaller pieces and placed on corn meal agar supplemented with PARP. The culture was maintained at 22°C in the dark. Within 4 days, coenocytic white fluffy mycelium emerged. Hyphae were subsequently transferred to carrot agar medium supplemented with beta-sitosterol. A total of 15 isolates were obtained and characterized, yet a particular two isolates consistently stood out. These isolates did not show sexual reproduction in culture (Ann 1988). Instead, they reproduced asexually through sporangia borne on aerial sporangiophores, originating directly from the internal mycelium. Each branch of the sporangiophore featured a sporangium at its tip, with sporangia varying in shape from pyriform to ellipsoid and being non-papillate and non-caducous (Fig. 2B, C, D). After morphological study, the isolates were identified as Phytophthora species and named BPK-01 and BPK-02. For the molecular identification, we amplified and sequenced their internal transcribed spacer and beta-tubulin regions using universal primer pairs ITS1 and ITS-4, as well as TUB-F and TUB-R primer pairs (Safaiefarahani et al. 2013). Sequences of 816 bp and 940 bp were obtained for the ITS and beta-tubulin regions, respectively. These sequences were deposited in NCBI GenBank, resulting in accession numbers OL423596 and OL423597 for the ITS region of BPK-01 and BPK-02, and OL771190 and OL771191 for the beta-tubulin region of BPK-01 and BPK-02, respectively. BLAST analysis revealed 99.88% identity (816bp out of 837bp) for ITS and 100% (940bp out of 940bp) for TUB between our isolate and P. inundata reference isolates (GenBank Accessions MK326518.1 and EF210202). Phylogenetic analysis using MEGA X software further confirmed the identity of the olive crown rot isolate as P. inundata, aligning it with reference isolates from various Phytophthora species (Fig. 3) (Tamura et al. 2013). The fungal isolates have been officially deposited as living cultures at the Barani Agricultural Research Institute's fungal culture collection center under the designations BAPI.3550 and BAPI.3551. The pathogenicity test involved inoculating isolated strains on 2.5-year-old olive trees. Each isolate was used to inoculate five Koroneiki plants, while five plants served as controls. Inoculation, performed on the stem, included surface disinfection, wounding, and placement of a mycelium plug, with all plants maintained in controlled conditions (25°C, 12h light). After 15 days, symptoms such as leaf chlorosis, collar rot, and stem rot began to appear, and data was recorded up to 45 days. Symptoms were assessed at the conclusion of the experiments using a 0-4 scale, with the following criteria: 0: No symptoms observed (0%), 1: Symptoms present on 1-33% of the plant (1-33% affected), 2: Symptoms present on 34-66% of the plant (34-66% affected), 3: Symptoms present on more than 67% of the plant (more than 67% affected), 4: Complete root death observed (González et al. 2017). Notably, the symptoms induced by strain BPK-02 were more severe than those caused by BPK-01, ultimately resulting in plant wilting and death (Fig. 4)(Santilli et al. 2020). Control plants inoculated with sterile CA plugs remained healthy. Reisolation and morphological identification of P. inundata from diseased tissues fulfilled Koch's postulates. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of P. inundata infecting olive plants in Chakwal region of Pakistan, and it is a serious threat to the olive plantation in Pakistan, posing a significant threat to the olive plantations throughout the country.