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Pakistan is primarily an agricultural nation. Agriculture is the backbone of Pakistan economy and accounts for around 19.3% of its total gross domestic product. Pakistan ranks among the world’s top 10 producers of wheat, maize, rice, cotton, and sugarcane, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). It also cultivates edible oil seed crops. Water is the most important element for the cultivation of various crops. Pakistan is a country where irrigation water is extremely valuable. The irrigation schedule affects a crop’s agronomic and economic viability. For the sake of water conservation as well as enhanced crop yields, a correct irrigation schedule is essential. Based on monitoring the soil water levels and crop water requirements, irrigation scheduling can be used to apply water for cultivation in accordance with predefined programs. How much water to apply to a particular crop and when depends heavily on the kind of soil and on the weather circumstances and is an important practical component of irrigation. Crop water requirements and crop coefficients are the most significant parameters that must be determined precisely locally to determine how much water is required for crop growth at various stages. There are many approaches for determining a crop water requirements, but lysimeters are the most effective devices. Lysimeters are devices that are routinely used to determine agricultural water requirements all around the world. The water required by different crops such as wheat, oat, carrot, and maize at different growth stages was determined using non-weighing-type lysimeters in this study. To compute the crop coefficient, the Penman–Monteith equation was used, which takes into account the daily mean temperature, wind speed, humidity, and solar radiation as inputs to the equation. The reference values for evapotranspiration during this period were obtained from a metrology station. The water requirement of the wheat varieties Fakhre Bhakhar and Anaj-17 were 361.8 mm and 379.5 mm, and their crop coefficient (Kc) values were between 0.79 and 1.19 and 0.27 and 1.27, respectively. The water required by carrot was 94.42 mm, and its crop coefficient was between 0.82 and 1.16. The water requirement of a maize hybrid variety was found to be 403.07 mm, and its crop coefficient was between 0.62 and 1.07. The water required by oat throughout its growth season including three harvests was 331.89 mm, and its crop coefficient was between 0.66 and 1.13. The water requirements of each crop and the crop coefficients calculated in this study are close to those recommend by FAO. Full article

The application of water-retention polymers with improved fertilizers is a better crop-growing technique, especially in soils where the water-retention capacity is low. In Pakistan, different types of fertilizers, such as urea, DAP, MOP or SOP, are used from sowing to harvesting of crops. The use of water-retention polymers in low water-retaining soils is very important to increase its retention time. The experiment was conducted on half an acre of land in FFC Research Center located in Dyyalgarh, Millat Rd., near Deputy Wala interchange M4, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan. The seed variety used in this experiment is zincole and the seed rate is 50 kg/acre. This experiment contains four different treatments, and each treatment contains three replicates. In T1, no water-retention polymers were used, while T2 was treated with standard and neem-coated urea under no water-retention polymer application. While in T3 and T4 recommended doses of polymers were used with standard and neem-coated urea. Irrigation scheduling was determined using tensiometers.. The research is aimed to keep moisture available in the root zone for better growth. For proper moisture monitoring tensiometers were installed. Full article

Unavailability of balanced nutrients in nutrient-deficient soils is the key reason in reduced yields of spring maize. After application to soil, most of the phosphorus (80–90%) is lost in the environment because of runoff losses and chemically bonding. So, this makes the phosphorus unavailable for plant use. However, soil microorganisms may provide a biological rescue system which is able to solubilize the soil-bound phosphorus (p). Keeping this in view, the present study is designed to meet the following objectives; (1) to improve physico-chemical properties of soil (e.g., soil water retention, soil enzyme activities), and (2) to improve growth and yield of spring maize (cv. Hybrid YSM-112) through the inoculation of phosphorus solubilization bacteria (PSB). A pot experiment was carried out with the following treatments; T1: control (uninoculated control, CT), T2: inoculation with PSB (Enterobacter sakazakii J129), T3: recommend level of NPK fertilizers (RNPK), T4: PSB + RNPK fertilizers, T5: rock phosphate (RP), T6: PSB + RP. Results showed that the addition of PSB together with RNPK improved the yield and yield-related characteristics of spring maize grown in sandy soil. Moreover, it also enhanced dry mater characteristics and maize grain quality. Soil fertility in the context of P-solubilization, soil organic acids, soil organic matter, enzyme activities, PSB colony, and rhizosphere moisture contents were significantly improved with PSB inoculation together with recommended dose of NPK fertilizers (RNPK) compared to PSB alone, rock phosphate (RP) alone, or PSB together with rock phosphate and control treatment. Maize digestibility attributes such as DM, CP, CF, EE (by 35%, 20%, 33%, and 28% respectively) and grain quality such as NPK, Mg, Ca, Fe, Mn, Cu, and Zn (by 88%, 92%, 71%, 68%, 78%, 90%, 83, 69%, 92%, 48%, and 90% respectively) were improved compared to control. In conclusion, improvement in maize crop yield and soil characteristics are more prominent and significant when RNPK is supplemented and inoculated. The present study suggests that PSB, together with RNPK, would improve the maize plant growth and soil fertility in sandy soil. Full article