Drought adversely affects the yield, quality and nutritional value of the crop plants. Additionally, it causes unrest in society and economic loss to the farmers and governments. The present study involved the applications of nanoparticles to induce drought tolerance and improve yield in the wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) plants. Green chemical methods were used for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and copper nanoparticles (CuNPs). CuNPs were used in 0, 3, 5 and 7 mg/L and 0, 10, 20 and 30 mg/ L of AgNPs were tested at À 4, À 6 and À 8 bars osmotic potential in laboratory experiments and 40%, 60% and 80% field capacity (FC) in the glasshouse experiments were maintained. The solution culture experiments revealed significantly higher chlorophyll stability index (CSI), leaf succulence (LS) and leaf K (LK) content in plants treated with 03 mg/L of CuNPs and 10 mg/L of AgNPs, indicated the positive role of CuNPs and AgNPs in drought tolerance of wheat. A similar trend was observed for stomatal conductance (SC) and morphological parameters with the applications of Cu and Ag nanoparticles at different levels of field capacity. The results of this study provide the experimental evidence to use CuNPs and AgNPs to induce drought resistance and improve yield in the wheat plants by a satisfactory increase in nutrients uptake and water retention. Farooq Ahmed and Bilal Javed contributed equally to this study, so consider both as first authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

A field experiment was conducted for two years (2013 and 2014) to study the effect of foliar spray of potassium and zinc on maize crop under rainfed environment. Nine treatments were examined as: control, recommended rate of zinc (RRZn) to soil @ 15 kg Zn2SO4 ha ) were recorded under the combined foliar spray of potassium and zinc (FKS + FZS), followed by FKS + RRZn and RRK+ FZS. Greater net benefit and benefit cost ration were examined under all foliar sprays. Foliar spray of potassium and zinc is a fertilizer use efficient technique for increasing the maize yield attributes and net income under rainfed conditions.

Agricultural productivity is affected by air temperature and CO 2 concentration. The relationships among grain yields of dry season irrigated rice (Boro) varieties (BRRI dhan28, BRRI dhan29 and BRRI dhan58) with increased temperatures and CO 2 concentrations were investigated for futuristic crop management in six regions of Bangladesh using CERES-Rice model (DSSATv4.6). Maximum and minimum temperature increase rates considered were 0˚C, +1˚C, +2˚C, +3˚C and +4˚C and CO 2 concentrations were ambient (380), 421, 538, 670 and 936 ppm. At ambient temperature and CO 2 concentration, attainable grain yields varied from 6506 to 8076 kg·ha −1 depending on rice varieties. In general, grain yield reduction would be the highest (13% -23%) if temperature rises by 4˚C and growth duration reduction would be 23 -33 days. Grain yield reductions with 1˚C, 2˚C and 3˚C rise in temperature are likely to be compensated by increased CO 2 levels of 421, 538 and 670 ppm, respectively. In future, the highest reduction in grain yield and growth duration would be in cooler region and the least in warmer saline region of the country. Appropriate adaptive techniques like shifting in planting dates, water and nitrogen fertilizer management would be needed to overcome climate change impacts on rice production.

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