New cultivars development is a continuous process as older genotypes become increasingly susceptible to biotic and abiotic stresses. The newly developed mash cultivar "Barani Mash" is an elite mash cultivar with yield potential of 1743 kg/ha. This cultivar has resistance against diseases and lodging, the pod size is medium and 100-seed weight is 4.73 g. It has been developed through screening from the local material. It was further evaluated in yield trials for six years from 2012 to 2016. The line 11CM-707 had higher yield than check cultivars per all replicated yield trials. In addition, it has resistance to yellow mosaic. The main yield contributing characters were number of pods per plant, number of primary branches per plant, yield per plant and 100-kernal weight. Based on desirable traits and higher yield, this line was approved with name of "Barani Mash" by the Punjab Seed Council for its cultivation on commercial level in rainfed areas of Punjab. "Barani Mash" will prove to be a good alternative of existing cultivars and cultivation of this cultivar would help to increase the productivity and income of mash growers in Barani tract.

Food security involves not only ensuring access to adequate food, but also ensuring that the food is nutritious and free from contaminants that can harm human health. Aflatoxins, produced by the fungi Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus, are one example of a contaminant that can pose a threat to food security. To address this issue, it is important to implement effective management practices throughout the food chain, from the field to the table, to minimize the risk of aflatoxin contamination. Additionally, promoting awareness about the dangers of aflatoxins at the social level and using a combination of genetic and management practices can help provide a stable and sustainable solution to this problem. This article extensively discusses the harmful effects of Aflatoxins (AFs) and outlines strategies for managing contamination before and after harvest, including the potential for breeding crops with higher resistance. The article also examines the relationship between moisture content and AF contamination in peanuts before harvest. It highlights the impact of AFs on the production of meat, milk, and eggs from animals and underscores the need for a comprehensive policy to prevent AF contamination from entering the food chain at every stage. Improved agronomic practices and cattle feeding, as well as public awareness efforts, can help reduce the risk of AFs in the food supply. With a combination of current genetic improvements and effective pre- and post-harvest management practices, it may be possible to mitigate the issue of AF contamination

The development of new crop varieties is a continuous process as old cultivars become susceptible to various biotic and abiotic stresses, thus decreasing the yield potential. The newly developed rapeseed variety “Barani Sarsoon” a high-yielding, disease resistant and drought tolerant has been developed through the selection method of breeding from the exotic material. A promising progeny of a single plant was selected and named “14CBN009”. The performance of “14CBN009” was further evaluated along with standard varieties in various replicated yield trials for six years from 2014-15 to 2018-19. The selected line “14CBN009” produced a higher grain yield (kg/ha) than the standard varieties in all replicated yield trials with a yield potential of 3378 kg/hectare which is tolerant to drought and resistant to diseases. The best sowing time for this variety is from 25th September to 15th October with a seed rate of 2.50 kg/acre. The seed contains 44.53% oil content. The main yield contributing characters of “14CBN009” are pods per plant, seeds per pod and thousand-seed weight. Based on the desirable phenotypic and genotypic characteristics, higher grain yield and oil content percentage, “14CBN009” was approved as a rapeseed variety with the name of “Barani Sarsoon” by the Punjab Seed Council in its 55th meeting held on Sep 20, 2021, for commercial cultivation in the Punjab rainfed areas. Due to high yielding, drought and disease-tolerant characteristics, the new variety “Barani Sarsoon” will prove to be a good alternative to existing varieties and improve the production and income of the oilseed crops growers of the rainfed area.

A field experiment was conducted during the two successive summer seasons of 2012 and 2013 at the experimental farm of Sakha Agric. Res. Station, Kafr EL-Sheikh Governorate. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of gypsum, sulphur and organic fertilizer (rice straw compost) on soybean yield, its chemical composition and soil chemical properties under three levels of soil salinity5.00, 9.00and 13.00 dS/m. The experiments were laid in split plot design, where the main plots, were allocoted for soil amendments: control treatment,-Rice straw compost at rate of 4 ton fed-1 , sulphur at rate of 800 kg fed and gypsum at level of 4tonfed-1 while the sub plots were allotted for soybean cultivars; Giza111, Dr 101, Giza35, Giza82, Giza83, Toano and Holyday. The treatments were replicated four times. The results can be summarized as follows:-1-The soybean yield and its components were significantly affected by salinity, soil amendments and soybean cultivars 2-The highest soybean seed yield were obtained by Giza 35 and Giza83 under application of gypsum treatment at three levels of soil salinity 3-The maximum values of N, P and K contents in the seeds were obtained by Giza111 .Giza 35 andGiza82 under gypsum treatment 4-The highest straw yields were recorded from Toano and Holyday, cultivars 5-Soil salinity decreased as follows gypsum>sulphur>compost>control in the soil at the end of experiments 6-Availability of N, P and K of soil after harvesting of soybean plants were increased at S1and S2 especially with application of compost comparing to control 7-The seed yield as affected by cultivars which can be arranged according to tolerance for salinity as follows: Giza83 = Giza35= Giza111=Dr101= Holyday =. Toano > Giza 82) at S1. (Giza83 = Giza35> Giza111. =Dr101= Holyday = Toano > Giza82) at s2 and Giza83 = Giza35> Giza111. =Dr101< Holyday = Toano > Giza82) at S3 under gypsum treatment respectively