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Complex nature of nitrogen fertilizer in soil and poor management practices are major causes of low fertilizer use efficiency in Pakistan. These factors further increases nitrogen losses in form of nitrate leaching and volatilization of ammonium, as well as nitric oxide which are burning economic and environmental threats. Keeping in view the demand of urea application in Pakistan and its low efficiency, we hypothized that appropriate urea management with neem formulations or biofertilizers can enhance the nitrogen use efficiency. We designed experiment with treatments: T0 (N0 application), T1 (recommended nitrogen), T2 (recommended nitrogen + biofertilizer), T3 (recommended nitrogen + neem seed extract), T4 (75% recommended nitrogen + biofertilizer), T5 (75% recommended nitrogen + neem seed extract), T6 (recommended nitrogen + biofertilizer + neem seed extract), T7 (75% recommended nitrogen + biofertilizer + neem seed extract) in wheat crop. The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with split plot arrangements. Different approaches for stabilized nitrogen fertilizer responded significantly for the wheat plant height, tillers per plant, number of grains per spike, 1000-grain yield, grain yield and harvest index. Result exhibited that wheat crop enhanced yield attributes and finally the yield under treatment T7 and T7 for both wheat cultivars. Treatments comparison with recommended nitrogen (T1) revealed that all treatments with biofertilizer, as well as with neem seed, enhanced crop performance along with nitrogen use efficiency. It can be concluded that nitrogen fertilizer can be stabilized in the soil with the use of different natural products for sustainable crop production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Fresh forages are the cheapest source of animal feed in world. Small grain cereals (SGC) are the most commonly used fresh forages or ensiled forage. Clovers are the perennial legumes that offer quality forage but their initial dry matter (DM) yield is low. Usually, SGC and clover are sown in mixtures to draw benefits from greater Cut-1 DM yield of cereals and biological nitrogen (N) fixation of clovers. However, mixtures are difficult to manage, compared to monoculture owing to differences in their growth pattern, temporal, spatial and physical requirements. In this review, SGC-clover mixtures are analyzed for their potential herbage DM yield and quality of the produce. Effect of various management factors on the productivity of forage mixtures are well documented. Decisions in managing mixtures, like choice of cereal and cutting time and how they affect the value of the final produce is reviewed. Besides decision, effect of relative proportion and spatial arrangement of intercrops is also deliberated. Special attention is paid to the competition between SGC and clovers and its impact on clover suppression in mixture. At the end conclusions are drawn to optimize production from mixtures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water scarcity and land degradation are emerging threats to global food production. The dry land regions of world are affected by climate change to a greater extent and facing food insecurity. The current pattern of food production has been estimated to be inadequate to meet demands of growing population and required around 38% increase to meet world`s food demands by 2025. Food insecurity in erosion hit dry land regions of Pakistan also demands development of resource-efficient cropping systems to meet the food needs of population growing. The research studies involved different cropping patterns such as fallow-wheat, mungbeanwheat, sorghum-wheat, fallow-lentil, mungbean-lentil, sorghum-lentil, fallowbarley, mungbean-barley and sorghumbarley. The organic amendments involved farmyard manure, NPK, poultry manure, compost and inoculation by phosphorus solubilizing microbes. The effect of cropping systems and soil amendments were evaluated at field scale in terms of water use efficiency measured in terms of economic terms. The results of the studies revealed that double cropping (mungbean-lentil and mungbean-barley) was feasible option in the dryland regions of Pakistan if integrated with the use of poultry manure as alternate environmental-friendly strategy to cut down the use of mineral fertilizers and eliminate summer fallowing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rainfed wheat is generally grown in rotation with summer fallow in medium to high rainfall zone of Pothwar plateau of Pakistan. The present study was, therefore, conducted to investigate the impact of shallow and deep tillage practices, with and without herbicide (glyphosate) application, on moisture conservation and subsequent wheat yields. The study also aimed to examine the feasibility of substituting intensive shallow tillage with single application of glyphosate. The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design with three replicates and net plot size of 14 m × 10 m, during 2007 and 2008 at two locations i.e high and medium rainfall. Wheat cultivar "GA-2002" was planted as a test crop. The data showed the superiority of conservation tillage in terms of conservation of moisture and increasing grain yields. Results also elaborated that tillage cannot be completely eliminated for profitable fallow management. However, deep ploughing with moldboard followed by single application of glyphosate proved potential option for substituting shallow tillage carried out during summer (kharif). The additional benefits under this tillage system included saving in fuel, labour and lower depreciation and maintenance costs for tillage machinery in addition to unquantifiable environmental benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]