<p>The deficiency of micronutrients (zinc, iron, iodine and vitamin A) is persistently afflicting millions of people living across Africa, Southern Americas, Asia and Pakistan. Among these, the zinc deficiency syndrome is occurring by 47.6, 41.3, and 39.2% in pregnant, non-pregnant and children under 5 years, respectively in Pakistan. The reason being that majority of the people subsists on cereal-based diets, i.e., wheat. The commercially grown wheat varieties contain zinc about 25 mg/g, whereas about 40 mg/g zinc is required in daily diet.</p><p>The potential risk of zinc deficiency could be mitigated through certain interventions i.e., mineral drugs, food supplements, diversity in diets, production of fortified foods, and genetic biofortification of staple food crops. Among these, quantum increase in zinc content in wheat grains through genetic manipulation would be basics to alleviate zinc deficiency in the malnourished communities. The objective of the programme is to enhance the concentration of zinc nutrient from 25 to 40 mg/g in wheat grains through conventional plant breeding techniques.</p>Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, Islamabad in collaboration with Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and International Maize &amp; Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and HarvestPlus, Pakistan started R&amp;D works to develop biofortified high zinc wheat varieties containing around 40 mg/g in the year 2009. The biofortified wheat crop is developed through conventional plant breeding techniques. The germplasm inherited with high zinc nutrient are crossed with high yielding and adopted to ecological conditions. The varieties are high yielding, and inheriting zinc around 40 mg/g in the grains under both irrigated and rainfed production environments. The Government of Punjab has also given high priority to develop and consume biofortified high zinc wheat in its multi-sectoral Nutrition Strategy Plan 2015, as potential agricultural option to address malnutrition in the Punjab province.

Nitrogen (N) fertilization at higher rates enhances the yield of crop plants; however, overuse of N in cultivation of crop not only decreased Nitrogen Use Efficiency of crop plants but caused severe environmental pollution. Hence, the optimum use of N is perquisite for sustainable development of Agriculture. This study was carried out during 2016, to evaluate the effect of various nitrogen applications on the economic performance of muskmelon. This research work was laid out at experimental site of Horticulture orchard SAU Tandojam with three replications in RCBD. The growth and yield performance of muskmelon was assessed by using six nitrogen (N) levels viz; 0, 30, 60, 90, 120 and 150 kg ha-1. Two varieties including Chandny and golden tumbro were used in the current study.The result showed that effect of different nitrogen doses on the economic important parameters of muskmelon was significant (P

Nitrogen (N) fertilization at optimum quantity to cultivated plants is essential for sustainable crop productivity. The experiment was conducted to evaluate the response of nitrogen fertilizers on the growth and yield traits of tomato during 2016, at the experimental field of Orchard, | department of Horticulture, Sindh Agriculture University Tandojam. Six nitrogen treatment doses were tested (T1 =control (untreated), T2 = 30 N kg ha-1, T3 = 60 N kg ha-1, T4 = 90 N kg ha-1, T5 = 120 N kg ha-1 and T6 = 150 N kg ha-1.). The data were recorded on the number of branches plant-1, days to flowering, days to fruiting, number of fruits plant-1, weight of single fruit (g), yield plot-1 and yield ha-1 (tons). The results demonstrated that N fertilization showed significant influence on both vegetative and reproductive traits of tomato. On the contrary, plants which were not fertilized with N displayed minimum values for all investigated traits. The highest N level (150 kg ha-1) showed maximum number of branches (5.51) plant-1, minimum day to flowering (42.43) less days to fruiting (46.00), more fruits plant-1 (31.00) maximum weight of single fruit (46.50 g) and highest fruit yield plot-1 (21.01 kg) and per hectare (14008 tons), respectively. It was concluded that the crop growth and productivity was significantly influenced by various levels of nitrogen. However, 150 N kg ha-1 as compared to 120 N and other concentrations considerably displayed better performance in terms of vegetative and reproductive traits of tomato. Hence for optimum growth and economically higher yield, the tomato crop may be fertilized with 150 N kg ha-1.

Background: The footprints of zinc dietary nutrient deficiency are resulting in a widespread burden of stunting, wasting and underweight in children under five years, and reproductive development in women over a population of 100 million in Pakistan. The zinc malnutrition could be addressed by consumption of biofortified high zinc wheat flour, a staple food, in complemented with food supplementation, food diversification and food fortification interventions in the country. Methodology: This evidence-based research publication focused on micronutrients malnutrition on human health and capital. Literature was taken from last 20 years papers published in several peers reviewed scientific journals. Papers regarding malnutrition were mainly focused. The primary data was collected from R&D institutions and secondary data from Pakistan National Nutrition Survey 2011. Various sites, viz. www.harvestplus.org, www.ifpri.org, http://www.ars.usda.gov/ba/bhnrc/ndl, http://data.unicef.or g: www.fao.org: http://wholibdoc.who.int/publications were also visited. Results: In Pakistan, the recently released biofortified high zinc wheat variety "Zincol-2016" had a higher quantum of 37 mg Zn kg-1 compared to 25.0 mg Zn kg-1 in grain portion in other commercially grown wheat varieties. Upon consuming biofortified wheat flour, zinc concentration increased from 681.3 to 792.3 µg L-1 in human plasma. Furthermore, even an increase in dietary zinc by an amount of 2.0 mg Zn capita-1 day-1 may result in halving the endemic problem of zinc malnutrition, with a little change in food diversity pattern. Conclusion: The consumption of biofortified high zinc wheat variety "Zincol-2016" containing 37 mg Zn kg-1 compared to 25.0 mg Zn kg-1 in conventional wheat varieties could result in alleviating zinc malnutrition to the extent of 50% in the malnourished population. Thereby, it is a potential complementary staple food with other contemporary interventions to address malnutrition in Pakistan.

<p>The deficiency of micronutrients (zinc, iron, iodine and vitamin A) is persistently afflicting millions of people living across Africa, Southern Americas, Asia and Pakistan. Among these, the zinc deficiency syndrome is occurring by 47.6, 41.3, and 39.2% in pregnant, non-pregnant and children under 5 years, respectively in Pakistan. The reason being that majority of the people subsists on cereal-based diets, i.e., wheat. The commercially grown wheat varieties contain zinc about 25 mg/g, whereas about 40 mg/g zinc is required in daily diet.</p><p>The potential risk of zinc deficiency could be mitigated through certain interventions i.e., mineral drugs, food supplements, diversity in diets, production of fortified foods, and genetic biofortification of staple food crops. Among these, quantum increase in zinc content in wheat grains through genetic manipulation would be basics to alleviate zinc deficiency in the malnourished communities. The objective of the programme is to enhance the concentration of zinc nutrient from 25 to 40 mg/g in wheat grains through conventional plant breeding techniques.</p>Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, Islamabad in collaboration with Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and International Maize &amp; Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and HarvestPlus, Pakistan started R&amp;D works to develop biofortified high zinc wheat varieties containing around 40 mg/g in the year 2009. The biofortified wheat crop is developed through conventional plant breeding techniques. The germplasm inherited with high zinc nutrient are crossed with high yielding and adopted to ecological conditions. The varieties are high yielding, and inheriting zinc around 40 mg/g in the grains under both irrigated and rainfed production environments. The Government of Punjab has also given high priority to develop and consume biofortified high zinc wheat in its multi-sectoral Nutrition Strategy Plan 2015, as potential agricultural option to address malnutrition in the Punjab province.