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Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is a staple food of Pakistan and constitutes 60% of the daily diet of a human being in Pakistan. Production of wheat can be improved by using marginal lands and the salt affected areas by silicon supplementation and improving fertilizers. As Nanotechnology has brought revolutions in agriculture, therefore silica nanoparticles (SiO2 Nps) have been used in this study to reduce the salinity stress. Seeds of four wheat varieties, Umeed and Raskoh (salt tolerant) and Zarghoon and Shahkar (salt sensitive) were grown in Hydroponics. Hoagland's Nutrient Solution (HNS) was used as control while treatments included CRF (Controlled Release Fertilizer), CRF with SiO2 Nps, sodium silicate, SiO2 Nps and silicic acid. Salt stress of 100 mM NaCl was induced. Data was recorded for TDS, germination rate, length of root and shoot, fresh and dry weight and chlorophyll content. All results were statistically significant at 0.05 level, sodium silicate and SiO2 Nps were found to control salinity. Excellent results were achieved using CRF and CRF containing SiO2Nps. It has been concluded that SiO2 Nps or its CRF can be useful to compete the salinity and drought stress for growing wheat in the marginal and salt affected land in Pakistan.

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Biodiesel has attracted considerable interest as an alternative biofuel due to its many advantages over conventional petroleum diesel such as inherent lubricity, low toxicity, renewable raw materials, biodegradability, superior flash point, and low carbon footprint. However, high production costs, poor low temperature operability, variability of fuel quality from different feedstocks, and low storage stability negatively impact more widespread adoption. In order to reduce production costs, inexpensive inedible oilseed alternatives are needed for biodiesel production. This study utilized inedible tamarind (Tamarind indica) seed oil as an alternative biodiesel feedstock, which contained linoleic (31.8%), oleic (17.1%), and lauric (12.0%) acids as the primary fatty acids. A simple and cost-effective high vacuum fractional distillation (HVFD) methodology was used to separate the oil into three fractions (F1, F2, and F3). Subsequent transesterification utilizing basic, acidic, and enzymatic catalysis produced biodiesel of consistent quality and overcame the problem of low temperature biodiesel performance. The most desirable biodiesel with regard to low temperature operability was produced from fractions F2 and F3, which were enriched in unsaturated fatty acids relative to tamarind seed oil. Other properties such as density and cetane number were within the limits specified in the American and European biodiesel standards.

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This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of microencapsulated butyric (MEB) acid on growth performance, apparent ileal digestibility of protein (AID), duodenal morphology and immunity in broilers reared to 35-days. In total, 336 one-day-old Hubbard classic broiler chicks were randomly assigned to 4 dietary treatments (Control, 0.25, 0.35 and 0.45g/kg of MEB). Each treatment was replicated 3 times with 28 birds in each replicate. Feed intake, body weight gain and feed conversion ratio (FCR), parameters of growth performance and intestinal morphology, AID of protein and immunity parameters were evaluated. At the end of the experiment (35-d), 3 birds / replicate were randomly selected and slaughtered to collect blood, duodenal samples, and ileal digesta. The result indicated improved body weight gain (P<0.05), feed conversion ratio (P<0.05) and AID (P<0.05) whereas, treatments remained unresponsive with respect to feed intake (P>0.05), duodenal villous height (P>0.05) and antibody titer against Newcastle disease (ND) (P>0.05). There is an indication that MEB improves the digestion and consequently bird’s performance.