Muhammad Jawad Nazir’s scientific contributions

To cite this paper: Nazir MJ, SA Jatoi, I Hussain, EU Haq, M Shoaib (2025). Foliar application of biostimulants on improving chickpea growth and productivity under drought conditions. Intl J Agric Biol 33:330410. https://doi. Abstract Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) plays a vital role as an important source of protein among food legumes. It is cultivated worldwide on a large scale to fulfill human nutritional requirements. Climatic extremes (extreme high and low temperatures, erratic rainfall) are key restraints for its production. The application of potassium (K) through foliar feeding improves resistance against abiotic stresses. Similarly, the foliar application of plant derived growth substances (bio-stimulants) such as iple and moringa leaf extract is commonly utilized to enhance the yield of field crops. Therefore, the present study was carried out check how Nutrient (K) (bio-stimulants (Moringa leaf extract (3%) 3 L/100 L of water, Iple leaf extract (3%) 3 L/100 L of water, amino acid (20%) 500 mL/acre and potassium sulfate (5%) 120 L of water/acre) and plant biostimulants moringa leaf extract and iple leaf extract benefits kabuli chickpea (indus 2019) plants usually 4 irrigations containing 4 inches water are supplied to chickpea but we applied 3 irrigations with 2 inches water to create drought condition in the study. The research was performed at the Arid Zone Research Centre, Dera Ismail Khan, during the chickpea growing season of 2020-2021. Field was laid out in an RCBD design with a split-plot arrangement having three repetitions, three growth stages were placed as main plots while 5 biostimulants used as subplots due to their importance, split plot arrangement was done. There were three different growth stages (S1: Vegetative Stage, S2: Flowering Stage, S3: Pod Initiation). The experiment consisted of various treatments, i.e., iple leaf extract (3%), moringa leaf extract (3%), amino acid 20% (Isabion), K (5%) and control. The application of K and moringa leaf extract in the form of foliar spray significantly enhanced the biochemical, physiological and production of chickpea grown under drought conditions. Increases in yield attributes like number of pods per plant (32.33), pod weight (1.53 g), grain per pod (2.40), and grain production (2576.3 kg/ha) were noted in case of foliar application of K at S2 (flowering stage). Maximum improvement in root attributes (root length, root fresh, and dry weight) and various shoot parameters (shoot length, shoot fresh, and dry weight) were recorded with the application of moringa leaf extract at S2 (flowering stage). Moringa leaf extract dominated in research, but artificial synthetic K was at par in some parameters. So, we recommended the use of moringa leaf extract as a biostimulants for improving chickpea in drought condition of D.I. Khan kp. Pakistan. Therefore, the foliar application of K and moringa leaf extract can be applied to improve the production of Kabuli chickpea under drought conditions.

The current research study was carried out at ARI (Agricultural Research Institute), D. I. Khan, during 2021. Experiment was set in RCBD (Randomized Complete Block Design) using split-plot layout with 2-factors. Five levels of fertilizers including NPK (at recommended rates), bio-fertilizer (green soil) and combination of bio-fertilizer each with 75, 50 and 25 % NPK along with control were maintained in main plot. In sub-plot, microelements (zinc, boron) along with control treatment were kept. Data on multiple attributes including physiological, agronomic and economic parameters were recorded and got statistically analyzed. The study showed that application of bio-fertilizer along with reduced rates of NPK and micronutrients significantly improved plant growth status, thereby increasing yield and yield components. Highest number of cobs (2.67 plant-1), hundred seed weight (31.11 g) and grains' count (557.00 cob-1) were achieved by the combined application of green soil + 75% NPK + zinc, whereas the combination of boron showed maximum grain (6.29 t ha-1) and biomass (19.90 t ha-1) yields. The current study also revealed that maximum net return (Rs. 217,766/-) followed by BCR (2.62) was recorded for combination of green soil + 75% NPK + boron. Both of these treatments showed better results when supplemented with boron application.

Canola (Brassica napus L.) is an important edible oilseed crop in the World and Pakistan. It has a healthy vegetable oil because of its balance with omega 3-6-9 essential fatty acids, making canola oil a healthy vegetable oil throughout the World for the cooking and processed food industry. Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK) are some of the major nutrients required to significantly increase canola yield. A high-yielding canola production needs a well-balanced fertilization program. In Pakistan, the production of oil seed crops with their nutrition values could not be enhanced in accordance with domestic edible oil needs. Canola is consumed as vegetables and its edible oil is used for cooking. The agronomic and nutritional values of vegetable oils are dependent on the nature of fertilizers that are added to the soil. An experiment was launched to check the impact of various fertilizer combinations on two canola varieties at the Agronomic research area of Gomal University, Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan.