In rural areas of Pakistan, the role of women in agriculture is more pronounced because they contribute a lot to agriculture, but their contribution in agriculture is not acknowledged. The present study was designed in rural union councils of three towns of Lahore, Pakistan namely Nishatar Town, Iqbal Town and Wahga Town. A questionnaire was designed to collect the data from rural women (n=207). Results reveals that a majority of women (42.02%) started the work at 29 to 39 years of age and mostly (86.95%) they were illiterate. A majority of the respondents (81.64%) were getting agricultural information from their own family members, and 56.52% rural women worked 8-10 hours per day. During this study, it was also found that wheat and rice were the major crops sown by all the respondents (100%). Out of all the preharvesting activities, 94.2% positive responses were recorded against seed bed preparation. A majority of rural women (85.02, 88.88 and 95.65%) were involved in shed cleaning, dung collection and fodder cutting, respectively. Thirty-one percent of rural women reported that limited agricultural product was the main cause for not being involved in agricultural marketing. Among the problems of household activities, 43.5% rural women reported that husband wife conflicts were the major problem in their life. Need assessment analysis reveals that rural women presented the highest need of trainings (85.5%) to improve their role in agricultural activities. This study suggests that concerted efforts of government and non-government agencies are required to uplift these rural women.

Kinnow is one of the major fruit crops of Pakistan and it is produced at a large scale in Punjab province of Pakistan. In Punjab province, the district Sargodha is famous for high production of kinnow. Unfortunately, during harvesting and post harvesting operations, the losses of kinnow yields in Pakistan are higher than that of other kinnow producing countries of the world. Therefore, this research study was conducted to observe various factors leading to yield losses of kinnow during harvesting and post harvesting. For it, 20 union councils of tehsil Sargodha were selected and from each union council, 10 kinnow growers were selected randomly. A total of 200 farmers were selected for the sample. The results revealed that 91% farmers reported fruit injuries during picking. A majority of farmers (67%) reported that 20% losses of the total yield occurred during picking. (51%) and 70% farmers did not have transport capabilities and storage facilities, respectively so losses occurred during these stages. Rough handling should be avoided during harvesting operation. Due to the defective marketing system, the farmers get low income which discourages the farmers from adopting recommended orchard management practices. Therefore, government should pay due attention to the establishment of an effective citrus marketing system.

Organic farming is centuries old human and natural intervention which has been eco-friendly and economically viable. It comprises eco-friendly agricultural techniques leading towards the maximum production without using chemical inputs. Nature friendly farming approach helps in reducing the negative effects of environmental pollution by recycling crop rotation, using crop debris, farm yard manure, pest control with biological methods, appropriate tillage, cultivating legumes to add organic matter in the soil and to mitigate the climate hazards. A majority of rural population in Pakistan is willing to adapt the organic farming practices to save their input costs for better livelihoods. The present component of Pakistan economy is agriculture which contributes 21% to GDP and adds more than 45% labor in agricultural activities. The Pakistani farm-home women are playing a great role in agricultural development and livestock management. Organic farming is efficient for eco-system providing a balance in the life of human, crops and animals; hence leading to the sustainability of the system.

This study was conducted to select the best tissue culture responsive basmati rice cultivar among Basmati 370, Basmati 385, Super basmati and Shaheen basmati. N6 and MS media having four levels of 2, 4-D (1.5, 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 mg/l) and three levels of agar (4.0, 5.0 and 6.0 g/l) were used in order to evaluate the most appropriate level required for calli formation. Basmati 370 showed the best response as compared to other cultivars on both MS and N6 media. The most cultivars behaved well for callus induction at N6 media, 5.0 g/l agar and 2.0-2.5 mg/l 2, 4-D. Basmati 370 showed callus formation; 74.0-85.07%, Super basmati showed 65.5-75.17%, Basmati 380 showed 72-79% and Shaheen basmati showed 53.0-67.87% callus formation. For regeneration, various treatments (0.5/2.0, 1.0/4.0, 1.5/5.0 mg/l) of NAA/BAP were used. Super basmati exhibited the best response for regeneration (58.33%) at 1.0/5.0 NAA/BAP. Based on our findings, Super basmati was found to be the best tissue culture responsive cultivar. These results will be helpful in unveiling many aspects of callus induction and regeneration and have potential use in genetic improvement of rice by employing various techniques of genetic transformation including Agrobacteriummediated transformation and gene gun method.

Peach (Prunus perisca) is a very important fruit and it is attractive all over the world due to its delicious aroma and flavor. Peach is susceptible to various types of pathogens that result in decline of its fruit production. An important pathogen, Agrobacterium tumefaciens attacks on peach plant and it causes crown gall disease. The present study was conducted to identify the peach plants infected with Agrobacterium tumefaciens and isolate as well as identify the bacterium from the crown gall samples. These samples were collected from different locations including district Swat and Shangla. The bacterium was isolated from the samples using MacConkey selection media that is used specifically for identification of Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Two different biochemical tests i.e. Gram staining and KOH test were performed to confirm that the isolated bacterium is gram negative. The biochemical tests reveal that all the bacterial isolates are gram negative. Furthermore, two pathogenicity tests i.e. potato disc and carrot disc bioassay were conducted that confirmed the isolates causing tumors in the infected plant tissues. Antibiotic sensitivity tests reveal that the bacterial isolates are resistant to rifampicin antibiotic. All the morphological as well as the biochemical features of the bacterial isolates suggested that the samples isolated from crown galls were Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Our study provides the basis for further molecular characterization of the pathogens and to devise strategies for reducing the risk of bacterial infection and to enhance the yield of fruits.

Poverty is persistent in district Swabi, Pakistan. A majority of the population cultivates small farms for its survival and earns extra money adopting small trade of medicinal plants collection to prepare the herbal medicines. The current study is based on ethno botanical data collection of the study area to document the valuable ethno medicinal information for the future generation. It is a qualitative study of 24 selected medicinal plants by field visits and questionnaire. Plants were collected from three study sites (research stations, plain areas and hilly areas). The hill stations were surveyed every fifteen days from January, 2010 to December, 2010. Change in temperature of selected site is negligible but human activities, grazing and soil texture verify the plant diversity. Plant species grow well in hilly site than that of plain areas. The results showed that among twenty-four medicinal plant species documented as herbal medicines by Swabi communities, the most familiar species included Hordeum vulgare, Lantana camara, Melia azedarach, Mentha longifolia, Morus nigra, Nerium odorum, Nicotiana tabacum, Opuntia dillenii, Oxalis corniculata and Phaseolus lunatus. During this study, it was found that ethnomedicinal information is transferred from generation to generation from older to younger people. This study provides a base line for developing plans so that these precious species can be preserved and used for drug production in future. Over exploitation by unscientific way of harvesting of these species should be controlled. Moreover, tissue culture techniques should be used to increase the production of these plants.