Abiotic stresses seriously impact crop productivity and agro-morphological and biochemical properties of all Brassica species. It also decreases the yield of many important Brassica species by disturbing their normal growth and development. In this review, we have highlighted the latest reports about the impact of different abiotic stresses on different growth stages and other morpho-physiological processes of important Brassica species such as canola/rapeseed (Brassica napus), indian mustard (Brassica juncea), Brassica oleracea and Brassica rapa. Several researchers reported that abiotic stresses affect the important morpho-biochemical processes such as shoot and root length, shoot fresh and dry weight, proline and relative water contents, chlorophyll amount, antioxidant enzymes activity of important Brassica species. These stresses also disturb normal oxidative processes that lead to cell injury. The genetic modification approaches for the development of transgenic plants against these environmental extremes have been described. The present study will be useful to identify the best abiotic stress tolerant Brassica genotypes for further genetic engineering program and crop improvement programs.

Punjab is one of the fertile provinces of Pakistan but poverty is prevailing especially in its rural areas. The main reasons for poverty in these areas include the lack of planning as well as implementation of policies. The present study was conducted in district Layyah, Punjab to investigate the sustainability of rural livelihoods among the small farmers. The results show that a majority of the respondents (68.33%) had their own land and 98 percent of the respondents had a farm. 41.66% were farming on the current farm for a period of 11-15 years. During this study, it was found that 87% respondents had electricity available for farming activities and 74.33 percent of respondents were using canal water to irrigate their land. A majority of the respondents (37.66%) were holding 1.1-2 ha of land and performing cultivation activities. As far as active membership of a community organization is concerned, about two thirds (65%) of the respondents held active membership in a community organization via different non-government organizations. After taking into account livestock and farming; 100 percent respondents told that they possessed these assets as their primary financial capital because the area was rural in nature and the targeted respondents were farmers by occupation. Agriculture loans were also found to be a source of income for a majority (61.66%) of the respondents. The findings of this study will be helpful for policy makers to develop policies that correspond to the realities of farming in the region.

In the agriculture sector, the success of any program and project depends upon the working efficiency of extension field staff (EFS). EFS are key stake holders and play crucial roles in the extension services, particularly in agriculture and rural development. Therefore, the present study was conducted to evaluate the working efficiency of extension field staff with special reference to IPM of cotton growers in district D. G. Khan. The results reveal that most of the respondents (44.2%) were under 35 years of age and about 80.80% of them were educated. A majority of the respondents (85%) had small land holding up to 12.5 acres. Less than half of the respondents (42.5%) reported that EFS provided extension services fortnightly. More than half of the respondents (56.7%) reported that EFS provided excellent information regarding resistant varieties. About 69.2 to 84.2% of the respondents reported that microorganisms, beneficial insects, buying and releasing beneficial insect and protecting beneficial insects were poorly addressed. Insecticidal soap and horticultural oil were the activities that performed poorly by the EFS as reported by a vast majority (90%) of the respondents. More than half of the respondents (56.7%) were of the view that the time involved was a big problem in applying IPM. The entire respondents (99.2 -100%) were of the view that IPM had positive impact on their crops. So the concerted efforts such as launching of IPM program for cotton crop in other districts of Punjab, Pakistan should be made with the aim of adopting cultural and biological control rather than chemical control.

Medicinal plants act as a very important and accessible source of blood purification in the rural communities of district Swabi, Pakistan. Current study represents the first ethnobotanical study of district Swabi to keep the record of medicinal plants to be used as blood purification. Approximately, 190 informants including local people (88.95%) and local health practitioners (LHPs) (11.5%) were interviewed for ethnomedicinal data documentations using semi structured interviews. Quantitative ethno botanical indices like frequency citation (FC), relative frequency citation and family importance value (FIV) were used to analyze the data. Total 66 medicinal plants belonging to 41 families and 63 different genera have been reported as blood purifying plants. Results indicated that Zygophyllaceae, Asteraceae and Solanaceae are families with more number of species (each have 4 sub-species), herbs were documented as dominant life form (71%). Relative frequency citation value ranges from 0.11- 0.95 in the current study. Azadirachta indica A. Juss., Fumaria indica (Hausskn.) Pugsley, Cuscuta reflexa Roxb, Mimosa pudica Mill. and Melia azedarach are the mostly cited blood purifying plant species. Approximately 50 plant species were reported as blood purifying plant in district Swabi. The ethnobotanical information demonstrated in this study to be useful for a high level of diversity of medicinal plants. The study disclosed the popular knowledge of medicinal plants and their use for blood purification which is still alive in the study area. New medicinal plants reported will provide new research topics for chemical and activity studies.

Increasing population of Pakistan puts a lot of pressure for more food production. Therefore, it is the need of the day to explore potential of avian species for the production of quality food and inclusion in existing meat resources. A study was conducted to analyze meat chemical composition of domestic pigeon (Columba livia domestica), wild pigeon (Columba livia), grey francolin (Francolinus pondicerianus), broiler chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) and turkey (Meleagris gallopavo). During the investigation, interspecific variations in meat chemical composition were recorded. The highest moisture contents (78.52%), crude protein contents (82.57%) and ash contents (5.34%) were recorded in the meat of the M. gallopavo, while the highest fat contents (16.99%) were recorded in the meat samples of C. livia domestica. Monthly variations in chemical composition of meat were also recorded during this study. The highest moisture contents were recorded during the month of January, 2016 followed by February, 2016 and March, 2016. Similarly, the highest protein contents were observed during the month of March, 2016 followed by February, 2016 and January, 2016 months. The highest fat contents were recorded during March, 2016 followed by the months of February, 2016 and January, 2016. Maximum ash contents were observed during January, 2016 followed by the months of March, 2016 and February, 2016. It can be concluded from the present study that meat of the turkey, grey francolin and wild and domestic pigeons may also be utilized to fulfill the protein requirements and these species should be included into the existing poultry industry.

Colibacillosis is an acute septicemia disease caused by E. coli producing considerable morbidity and mortality especially in poultry. Quinolones and cephalosporins have been used in treatment of various infections. Therefore, this study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of quinolones and cephalosporins against the antibiogram of E. coli isolated from chicken flocks. The 100 blood samples from liver and intestine were collected from different poultry vendors surrounding of Tandojam and Hyderabad, Sindh, Pakistan. The isolated organism was cultured on nutrient and blood agar media. The cultural, morphological and biochemical characteristics were observed for the confirmation of the isolated organism. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of different antibiotics against E. coli was performed by serially diluting antibiotics ciprofloxacin, metronidazole, cefipime as 0.4 µg/ml, 0.8 µg/ml, 1.6 µg/ml, 3.2 µg/ml and 6.4 µg/ml, 12.5 µg/ml, 25 µg/ml and 50 µg/ml, respectively. The mean zones of inhibition of ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, enrofloxacin, norfloxacin, cefepime, ceftazidimine and cefoxitin against the antibiogram of E. coli were recorded as 14, 11, 12, 11, 11, 11, and 11 mm, respectively. MIC results indicated that ciprofloxacin was found to be more effective to inhibit the growth of E. coli. It was found that antibiotics of quinolones group namely ciprofloxacin, enroflaxcin and ofloxacin as well as cephalosporin group namely cefipime, ceftazidime and cefoxitin were found to be effective to isolate E. coli.