Where Pakistan Stands Among Top Rice Exporting Countries,an Analysis of Competitiveness

Under the umbrella of WTO, the reduction in trade barriers has forced the policy makers to focus on the export competitiveness. Rice is an important source for foreign exchange earnings for the economy of Pakistan, keeping in mind of this fact, the competitiveness of Pakistan’s rice with other major exporters was examined by applying revealed competitive advantage. The domestic consumption trends of rice among the major rice exporting countries were also analyzed in the current study. The results revealed that as compare to other major exporters of rice in the world, Pakistan had high competitive and comparative advantage in the production of rice. The comparison of the movements in comparative advantage indices for Pakistan with the major world rice competitors/exporters showed that Pakistan possessed relatively high comparative and competitive advantages in rice production. The declining domestic per capita consumption of rice and increasing trends in competitiveness for Pakistan clearly revealed the expected potential of higher growth which meant that rice exports from Pakistan could continue to play an important role for the earnings of foreign exchange. In order to exploit the potential benefits of rice exports, we need to strengthen the competitiveness in rice sector of Pakistan.     

Common ragweed: An emerging threat for sunflower production and human health in Turkey

Common ragweed invasion poses serious risks to human health, biodiversity and agricultural production throughout the world. Although ragweed has an enormous potential to expand its range in Turkey, studies on ragweed have only concentrated on the Black Sea region. An exploratory survey was conducted to observe the level of ragweed occurrence on the nodes of predecided 10 × 10 km grids in the Thrace region of Turkey. Ragweed populations were observed in 44 out of 129 sites in a wide range of habitats, including roadsides, pastures, agricultural fields and non‐agricultural areas. The highest levels of ragweed infestation were recorded in the agricultural fields, followed by the roadsides. The most‐invaded crop was sunflower. The sunflower fields had the highest ragweed coverage as well and invasion even resulted in crop failure alongside the field borders. A spatial analysis of the data indicated that ragweed exhibited an aggregated pattern over the Thrace region. Ragweed distribution was not associated with the characteristics of the soils, which had a varying range of pH, electrical conductivity and texture. The results revealed that ragweed invasion can arise as a serious weed problem, interfering with the sustainability of sunflower production in Thrace and other sunflower‐producing regions of the country. A high degree of ragweed infestation also will contribute to the pollen level counts for the most crowded cities in the region, posing a serious danger to human health.     

Influencing in vitro clonal propagation of Chonemorpha fragrans(moon) Alston by culture media strength,plant growth regulators,carbon source and photo periodic incubation

Chonemorpha fragrans is an endangered medicinal woody climber,regarded among alternative plant sources of camptothecin.Camptothecin is a monoterpene indole anti-cancer alkaloid with annual trade value of over three billion U.S.dollars in the recent,and is used in the production of its analog drugs approved for the chemotherapy of cancer of varied types.Effects of plant growth regulators,culture media strength and photoperi-odic duration on the micropropagation ef ciency of C.fragrans from nodal segment explants were studied on Murashige and Skoog(MS)medium amended with Thidiazuron(TDZ),Benzylaminopurine(BAP)or Kinetin(Kin).Thidiazuron was more ef cient over BAP and Kin when half basal MS medium was used over full or quarter strength.Results of carbon source experiment showed sucrose as the most effective over glucose,fructose,and maltose in the clonal production.Studies on the photope-riodic incubation duration showed 12 h as the best light period and sub or supra-optimal resulted in the production of abnormal and albino micro shoots.Experimental results on the evaluation of physiological,biochemical parameters showed the role of pigment molecules and antioxidant systems in the production of albino micro shoots.     

Perspectives of folate biofortification of cereal grains

One sixth of the world’s population is suffering from hidden hunger that indicates a gross malnutrition particularly among children and women of third world countries. The deficiency of micro nutrients, especially iron (Fe) causes a number of ailments such as megaloblastic anemia and neural tube defects in poor population. There is a dire need to supplement iron in the diet. Current efforts implicate fortification of wheat flour and other grains with different iron formulations such as ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), FeSO₄ and elemental iron. However, all such interventions are not sustainable due to logistic and quality assurance problems in resource-limited settings. For a long term solution, development of crop plants with increased micronutrients and iron bioavailability is essential. Therefore, biofortification of cereal grains using translational genomics approaches for enhancement of folate through genome editing in cereals is inevitable to mitigate the folate deficiency in poor remote population in a cost effective manner.     

Drought Stress Impairs Grain Yield and Quality of Rice Genotypes by Impaired Photosynthetic Attributes and K Nutrition

正Drought is one of the most prevalent abiotic stresses that adversely affect rice productivity(Petrozza et al, 2014). Rice is very sensitive to drought stress and drought can cause 50% reduction in rice production globally(Yang et al, 2008). To meet the food needs for global population, 63% more agricultural production will be required by the year 2050 than     

Alleviation of salt-induced adverse effects in eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) by glycinebetaine and sugarbeet extracts

Two eggplant cultivars, Dilnasheen and Bemisal, were selected to assess whether pure GB and sugarbeet extract could effectively ameliorate the harmful effects of salt stress on eggplant (Solanum melongena L.), under saline conditions. Salt stress markedly suppressed the growth, yield, photosynthetic capacity, internal CO₂ level, transpiration, and stomatal conductance in both cultivars. Potassium (K⁺) and Ca²⁺ contents and K⁺/Na⁺ ratios of both root and leaf were also reduced, while GB and proline in leaves, and Na⁺ and Cl⁻ contents in roots and leaves were significantly enhanced. Exogenously applied glycinebetaine and sugarbeet extracts significantly counteracted the salt-induced adverse effects on growth, yield, various gas exchange characteristics, GB and leaf K⁺, Ca⁺, Cl⁻ and Na⁺. However, GB and sugarbeet extract showed differential effects on photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance and transpiration, internal CO₂ level, C_i/C_a ratio, leaf K⁺, Ca²⁺, and Cl⁻ contents, and K⁺/Na⁺ ratio. Sugarbeet extract proved better than the GB in improving growth, photosynthetic rate, transpiration, stomatal conductance, yield and GB accumulation. Since, sugarbeet extract contains a substantial amount of GB along with a variety of other important nutrients so it was found as effective as pure GB in improving growth and some key physiological processes in eggplant under salt stress. Thus, it can be used as an alternative cheaper source of GB for its use as an ameliorative agent for protecting plants against the hazardous effects of salt stress.     

不同形态硼对油菜幼苗铝毒的缓解效应及其FTIR特征分析

采用水培法,以油菜品种Cao 221167为试验材料,设置无机态硼酸(BA)和有机态山梨醇硼(SB)及不同Al~(3+)(0、100、200和500μmol L~(–1))处理,研究不同形态硼(B)对油菜幼苗铝(Al)毒的缓解作用及不同形态B之间的缓解效应差异,以及利用FTIR(傅里叶红外光谱)技术分析叶片各物质含量的变化。结果表明,Al毒胁迫下,不同形态B(BA和SB)处理,显著提高植株生物量和根系长度(0、100、200和500μmol L~(–1) Al毒胁迫下BA处理根长分别增加了52.15%、101.45%、366.70%和18.73%;SB处理分别增加了46.80%、133.98%、261.36%和10.77%),提高色素含量和SOD活性,而降低了Al含量、MDA含量和POD活性。不同形态B处理下,油菜幼苗在200μmol L~(–1) Al~(3+)处理下长势、生物量及色素含量最高。在500μmol L~(–1) Al~(3+)处理下,油菜幼苗株高、根长、总干鲜重及色素含量显著低于无Al处理;FTIR分析表明,Al毒胁迫下油菜叶片中蛋白质和低聚糖等含量明显上升,加硼明显降低了蛋白质和低聚糖的含量,且BA处理降低幅度明显高于SB处理。说明不同形态B(BA和SB)的添加均明显缓解Al毒,且BA对Al毒缓解效果优于SB,这为农业生产中施用何种硼肥来缓解Al毒起到一定的指导作用。