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Because of global warming and decreased river flows, all of Pakistan's provinces, especially large parts of Sind and Baluchistan, have been experiencing water shortages for decades. Based on such climatic changes several management techniques have been recommended to cope through drought stress. This study is focused on the assumption that seed soaking of Triticum aestivumL. at low (4 °C) and high (80 °C) temperature (thermopriming) with exogenous spray of alpha-Tocopherol (150 mol/L) will increase seedling formation and crop production through drought stress of 5 and 10 days recommended to persuade resistivity in test species. This study also describes resistance mechanism of drought both in physiological and biochemical activities. Results concluded that chlorophyll a & b, carotenoids, sugar, protein and proline (µmg/g) contents were detected maximum in case of T1 (control) and T5 (5 days drought + 4 °C + α-Tocopherol) enhancing growth and osmolytes component in plant whereas; antioxidant enzymes bitterly respond under induced high drought stress and growth regulator at p≤0.05. The study showed the degree of resistance to various drought stressors best suited in agricultural country (Pakistan) signifying successful demonstration of priming method with the application of α-Tocopherol as growth regulator will help agricultural industries improve seed quality and germination rate.

This work aimed to synthesize biodiesel from Ricinus communis L., using calcium oxide (CaO) nanoparticles as a catalyst. The CaO nanoparticles were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). The physico-chemical properties of biodiesel were studied through H and C-NMR, GC-MS, FT-IR, and fuel properties were studied according to ASTM and EN standard methods. The oil content of the feedstock was 53.7% with a free fatty acid (FFA) content of 0.89 mg KOH/g. The suitable condition for the optimum yield (89%) of biodiesel was 1:15 of oil to methanol using 20 mg of catalyst at a temperature of 60 °C for 80 to 100 min of reaction time. The H and C-NMR confirm the biodiesel synthesis by showing important peaks at 3.661, 2.015–2.788, 24.83–34.16 and 174.26 and 130.15 ppm. Similarly, GC-MS spectroscopy confirmed 18 different types of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) in the biodiesel sample. FT-IR spectroscopy confirmed the synthesis of biodiesel by showing characteristic peaks of biodiesel formation in the range of 1725–1750 cm−1 and 1000–1300 cm−1. The fuel properties were compared with the international ASTM and EN standards. The physico-chemical properties confirm that RCB is both an engine and environmentally friendly fuel.

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