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Water shortage is a severe threat to the sustainability of crop production. Exogenous application of glycinebetaine (GB) and salicylic acid (SA) has been found very effective in reducing the adverse affects of drought stress. This study was conducted to examine the possible role of exogenous GB and SA application in improving the yield of hybrid sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) under different irrigation regimes. There were three levels of irrigation, viz. control (normal irrigations), water stress at vegetative stage (irrigation missing at vegetative stage) and water stress at flowering stage (irrigation missing at flowering stage). GB and SA were applied exogenously at 100 and 0.724 mm, respectively, each at the vegetative and at the flowering stage. Control plants did not receive application of GB and SA. Water stress reduced the head diameter, number of achene, 1000‐achene weight, achene yield and oil yield. Nevertheless, exogenous GB and SA application significantly improved these attributes under water stress. However, drought stress increased the free leaf proline and GB, and were further increased by exogenous application of GB and SA. However, exogenous GB application at the flowering stage was more effective than other treatments. Oil contents were also reduced under water stress; however, GB and SA application could not ameliorate the negative effect of water stress on achene oil contents. The effects of water stress and foliar application of GB were more pronounced when applied at the flowering stage than at the vegetative stage. Moreover, exogenous GB application was only beneficial under stress conditions.

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To provide a detailed record of a relatively rare thrust surface rupture and examine its active tectonic implications, we have conducted field mapping of the surface rupture associated with the 2005 M w 7.6 Kashmir earthquake. Despite the difficulty arising from massive earthquake-induced landslides along the surface rupture, we found that typical pressure ridges and warps extend northwestward for a distance of ∼70 km, with a northeast-side-up vertical separation of up to ∼7 m. Neither the main frontal thrust nor the main boundary thrust is responsible for the earthquake, but three active faults or fault segments within the Sub-Himalaya, collectively called the Balakot-Bagh fault, compose the causative fault. Although the fault exhibits substantial geomorphic expression of repeated similar surface ruptures, only a part of it had been mapped as active before the earthquake. The location of the hypocenter suggests that the rupture was initiated at a deep portion of the northern-central segment boundary and propagated bilaterally to eventually break all three segments. Our obtained surface rupture traces and the along-strike-slip distribution are both in good agreement with results of prompt analyses of satellite images, indicating that space geodesy can greatly aid in time-consuming field mapping of surface ruptures. Assuming that the extensive fill terrace in the meizoseismal area was abandoned during 10-30 ka, we tentatively estimate the earthquake recurrence interval and shortening rate on the Balakot-Bagh fault to be 1000-3300 yr and 1:4-4:1 mm=yr, respectively. These estimates indicate that the Balakot-Bagh fault is not a main player of Himalayan contraction accommodation. Ⓔ Selected field photographs and ArcGIS files of the mapped surface rupture traces and measured vertical separations are available in the electronic edition of BSSA.Online Material: Field photographs and ArcGIS files of surface rupture traces and vertical separations.

Salt tolerance in eighteen advanced rice genotypes was studied under an artificially salinized (EC=8.5 dSm-1) soil conditions after 90 days of transplanting. The results showed that the yield per plant, chlorophyll concentrations, fertility percentage, and number of productive tillers, panicle length and number of primary braches per panicle of all the genotypes were reduced by salinity. However, genotypes viz. Jhona-349 x Basmati-370, NR-1, DM-59418, DM-63275, DM-64198 and DM-38-88 showed better salinity tolerance than others.