Drought is one of the major abiotic stresses to sustainable agriculture and global food security. The present study was conducted to evaluate the integrated effect of algal biochar (BC) and plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) on growth and physiology of maize under deficit irrigations. A pot experiment with different combinations of algal BC and PGPR under three deficit irrigations [field capacity (FC), 75% FC and 50% FC] was performed using maize as test crop. There were three controls without application of algal BC and PGPR under each water deficit irrigation. Both algal BC and plant growth-promoting rhizobacterial inoculation mitigated negative effects of deficit irrigations on maize performance, especially when applied in combined form. Under 50% FC, combined application of algal BC and PGPR significantly increased fresh and dry weights of shoot and root and root length by 2.76, 5.94, 3.24, 13.82, and 4.06 times compared to control, respectively. In case of physiological and nutrient uptake parameters, the same treatment caused the maximum increase in comparison to control. Post-harvest soil analysis also showed a positive treatment effect compared to their respective control. The combined application of algal BC and PGPR could be an effective strategy to improve growth and physiology of maize under deficit irrigations.

Plants are sessile organisms, frequently face unfavourable growth conditions such as drought, salinity, chilling, freezing and high‐temperature stresses, inhibiting growth and development, and ultimately reducing crop productivity. Among these stresses, drought stress has been a major challenge for sustainable crop production and a hot area of research under the current climate change scenario. Organic amendments such as biochar (BC) and compost along with plant growth‐promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) could be a sustainable strategy to improve crop growth and productivity under drought stress environment. There are several reports about compost, BC, and PGPR application as a single or combined treatment to enhance crop productivity under drought stress. Compost and BC act as conditioners to improve soil physicochemical and biological properties thereby enhancing water holding capacity (WHC) and nutrient retention and availability to the plants. Both BC and compost also serve as carbon sources and suitable environment for PGPR and endogenous microbes to enhance their growth promotion activities under drought stress. PGPR alleviate drought stress via ACC‐deaminase and P‐solubilizing activities, production of phytohormones, secretion of organic acids, acting as biocontrol agents,etc. In the present review, the individual and combined effect of compost, BC, and PGPR to alleviate drought stress in plants has been critically summarized. Moreover, research gaps and future research directions have been identified and discussed in depth.

The present review highlights the recent advancements regarding the use of biochar for the management of nutrient impoverished and metal contaminated soils. It includes a detailed discussion on the preparation, applications, and prospects of biochar for sustainable agriculture and environmental sustainability. Biochar is a sensible and robust material for the enhancement of soil fertility and management of contaminated soils for sustainable agriculture and mitigation of climate change. The properties of biochar are dependent on the type of feedstocks, pyrolysis temperature, residence/retention time, flow rate of gas, and modification characteristics of biochar. The use of biochar can improve the physicochemical and biological properties of soil, which results in enhanced crop growth and productivity under normal conditions, as well as in soils that pose abiotic stresses because of the presence of heavy metals, salt, or organic contaminants. Biochar remains unaltered in the soil for a long time, thereby contributing to soil organic carbon, mitigation of greenhouse gases, and ultimately contributing to the mitigation of climate change. The proposed research guidelines recommend prolonged field trials to assess the ecological impacts of biochar in soil, as well as its production, with the aim of increasing agricultural and environmental sustainability. Furthermore, the related processes can be effectively deliberated for exploiting the overall efficacy of the biochar modifications.

The purpose of this study was to show Plasmodium species burden and symptoms consistent with malaria related complications among pre-school going children in North Western part of Pakistan (Timergara, Munda, Maidan, Samar Bagh and Talash). A total of 1312 blood samples were collected during winter, autumn and summer (2011), from males (808, 61.5%) and females (504, 38.4%). Microscopy and rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) were used for the detection of plasmodium species. Questionnaires were also designed to collect information about the health conditions of malarial symptomatic children. Overall data revealed that 6.9% samples were infected, with Plasmodium vivax (96.7%), Plasmodium falciparum (2.1%) and mixed species (P. vivax and P. falciparum) (1.0%). Highest infection rate was recorded in autumn (2.87%) followed by summer (2.45%) and winter (1.73%). Among malaria symptomatic children symptoms like severe temperature (9.85%) lower RBS count (3.7%), Glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6PD) deficiency (0.65%), respiratory distress (0.65%), neonatal sepsis (0.64%) and low birth weight (0.42%) were observed. Shortly malaria control efforts should be taken with an emphasis on improving species diagnosis and treatment availability in district Dir Lower.

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