Current study was carried out for adaptability and response of newly introduced jujube (Ziziphus mauritiana) variety in desert area of district Umerkot, Sindh with poor quality groundwater (>3500 ppm TSS). Aim of the study was to acclimatize this variety under harsh conditions to uplift the socio-economic situation of local population. The study was carried out for five consecutive fruiting seasons viz. flowering and fruiting season 2013-2014 to 2017-2018. The results revealed that during first fruiting season 2014-15, there were only three branches plant-1, 154 to 239 fruits branch-1, 462 to 879 fruits plant-1, 25.5 to 46.7 g fruit weight, 8.4 to 9.2 mm fruit size, 4.1 to 7.7 kg fruit yield plant-1 and 442.8 to 831.6 kg fruit yield acre-1. But from the third year to onwards i.e from 2015 to 2018 a continuous increase was observed for all characters studied like number of branches plant-1 increased from 5 to 8, number of fruits branch-1 increased from 339 to 375, total fruits plant-1 increased from 1695 to 2538, weight of fruit was increased from 58.6 to 107.15 g, size of fruit increased from 9.2 to 9.8 mm, yield plant-1 was increased from 11.0 to 31.45 kg, yield acre-1 was increased from 1188 to 3396 kg and water use efficiency increased from 2.7 to 10.6 kg m3. Considering the above results, it was concluded that Ziziphus fruit yield, weight and size increases from third year to onwards significantly on brackish water and soil of arid areas of Thar. Pruning each year after fruit harvesting was found to be essential. As this plant with stands in harsh climate of Thar desert successfully, so it provides food in the form of fruits, fodder through leaves and wood for fuel and shelter for humans and animals, thus it will be helpful to the people of Thar in terms of malnutrition, food scarcity and climate change, as well.

No abstract

C hili is an important spice and cultivated throughout the world both in open and controlled environmental conditions. Also, it is one of the most important and vital items used in our kitchens for making several spice recipes and food items (Handayani et al., 2022). It can be used as a Abstract | Chili is an important crop and spice produced in Pakistan and globally. In Pakistan, the Umerkot district is the primary producer of chili crops. In this area, the chili is being usually dry under the open sun (T3) or traditional method; this practice has many drawbacks and leads to poor quality. A study was planned to find an alternative chili drying method for the study area. To achieve the desired goal, we considered two different drying methods, solar tunnel (T1) and solar cum gas (T2), and compared the rate of reducing the moisture over time with T3 method. The T1 and T2 methods are substitutes for the T3 drying method. Therefore, a small-scale natural convection solar tunnel dryer and solar cum gas-based drying methods were developed and tested at PARC-Arid Zone Research Center, Umerkot. This study was conducted in three different intervals during November 2022, and each interval was replicated three times. In addition, the chilies samples were collected (uniform in color and size) from the farmer's field and brought to the experimental site. The experiment selected chili variety was Longi, and the initial weight of the all collected samples was 2000 g. The selected samples' initial moisture content was considered to be 80%. The test results showed that T1 and T2 methods significantly reduced the moisture compared to T3 method. T1 and T2 method reduced the moisture level from 80% (w.b) to about 10-12% (w.b) in 63 and 54 hrs, respectively, compared to 81 hrs taken by T3. However, the total aflatoxin content of T1, T2, and T3 were 1.4, 3.0, and 2.7 ppb, respectively. The measured values were below the recommended values of the aflatoxin. Based on the experiment result, it was concluded that the T2 and T2 drying methods are a better alternative for open sun drying and ensure product quality. These methods are not subjected to the weather conditions like the rainy season.

Six villages were registered for the experimental purpose/plantation where more than 25,000 plants were planted to develop range forest. These plants were developed at Marvi nursery PARC-Arid Zone Research Institute, Umerkot and some were purchased from private nursery situated at Mirpurkhas. Results revealed that maximum plants mortality rate was found at village Ratnore and lowest mortality of plants was observed at Mithrio Charan. Plants damaged due to unknown reason (natural), termite attack and diseases. In various locations most of plants were affected by termites than others biotic and abiotic factors. The most influenced plant was Prosopis cinerera. Maximum plants survived numbers of grafted ber was found at village Ratnore, the biomass production of green and dry grasses was taken after harvesting. A highest green grass weight 21812.58 kg and dry 3439.83 kg were observed from elephant grass stock and lowest green weight 5001.92 kg from Gatten grass and dry weight 477.57 kg per acre were recorded from Rhode grass 1 (Sabri). Gatten grass and Rhode grass 1 (Sabri) were found lower weight. All these seven grasses showed excellent performance except Elephant grass and Gatten grass. These two grasses needed more water as compared to remaining five species. These grasses when fed by goats their milk production was increased and goats like to feed these grasses. The pictures of these grasses showed their appearance and health irrigated by underground brackish water with more than 2200 ppm. Keywords: grown, plants, performance, Tharparkar.