Impact of Community Orgnizations (CO’S) on Rice Productivity in District Malakand Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, Pakistan

The research study was conducted in selected villages of district Malakand to study the impact of Community Organizations (CO’s) on rice productivity. A total of 70 respondents having different characteristics were interviewed. The main dependent variable was rice productivity which was studied in relation to other variables, inputs and in their application. Contact with various government departments and private sector by (CO’s) to the respondents. The results of the research study show that 7% of the farmers stated the problem of low productivity due to insect/pest attack, reasons were increase cost of the of the insecticides and pesticides. Majority of the respondents as 42.9 % purchased their seed for growing rice crop while the second dominant group was those with their own seed numbered about 32.9 %. Some of the respondents were those who used to grow seed of their own as well they also purchased some of the seed from market, were about 22.9 %. Majority of the sample respondents stated that their source of information regarding various inputs was (CO’s) following by Agri. Extension and fellow farmers. The satisfaction level of the sampled respondents was 81.4 % while 82.9 % sampled respondents stated that their production was increased due to the assistance and credit provided to them by (CO’s). The statistics of the paired T-test shows that the result was highly significant at the rate of 5% sample size and the production was increased by 10.39 % which show the effectiveness of (CO’s) activities in the area. It was concluded from the study that majority of respondents were literate, got proper technical assistance from (CO’s), agricultural extension departments and private companies. On the basis of findings it was recommended that all type of farmers should be involved in such activities and state should encourage the organizations to increase the productivity of various crops, the same techniques of assistance and credit should be adopted for other regions of the country. Keywords: Community Organizations, Rice productivity, variables, statics, technical assistance

Poultry Litter Biochar Increases Mycorrhizal Colonisation, Soil Fertility and Cucumber Yield in a Fertigation System on Sandy Soil

There is a continuing argument about the benefits of biochar on arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis, crop growth, yield, and fertility of soil. There is also limited research on the effects of biochar on AM colonization, cucumber yield, and soil fertility improvement. Therefore, this investigation aimed to determine the impact of poultry litter biochar (PLB) on colonization of roots by indigenous AM fungi in agricultural soil and their contribution to cucumber yield, nutrition, and soil fertility improvement. A field trial was conducted to assess the effect of PLB combined with compound poultry manure (CPM) and nitrophos (NP) fertilizer to investigate the response of treatments on nutrient-deficient sandy soils. Plant growth responses to biochar showed better plant growth and yield of cucumber. Application of biochar with and without CPM and NP reduced the negative impact of nutrient deficiency stress on cucumber growth. AM fungal colonization, soil fertility, and cucumber yield were improved with the combined application of biochar, CPM, and NP fertilizer. Post-harvest, soil C, N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, Zn, Cu, Fe, and Mn increased with application of biochar applied with CPM and NP. Biochar application with CPM and NP also increased the percent root colonization of cucumber. Use of biochar with CPM and NP has the potential to improve plant growth, yield, nutrient uptake, and soil fertility. Further studies in various agro-ecological conditions would help utilize this technology in sustainable crop production

Spatial variability pattern and mapping of selected soil properties in hilly areas of Hindukush range northern, Pakistan

Soil samples at 0-20 cm depth were collected from major crop areas of Hindukush mountainous range, District Chitral, extreme Northwestern Pakistan, during April 2014 to assess their physico-chemical properties and spatial distribution pattern. 103 soil samples were analyzed and maps were created by geostatistical technique of inverse distance weighting and kriging techniques using GIS and GS win-7 computer software. The soil texture ranged from silt loam to dominantly sandy loam, slightly acidic to alkaline and moderate to highly calcareous but with no salinity indication. Soil organic matter was higher than 2 % in about 75 % of samples. Soil pH, EC and lime showed slight dependence on each other with r values from 0.4 to 0.5 while OM varied independently as indicated by their lower correlation values. Semivariogram analysis showed that soil pH, lime, OM had strong spatial dependence (nugget-sill ratio, <25%) while silt, sand, EC had moderately (nugget-sill ratio, 25-75%) and clay had weakly distributed in the area. Linear, Gaussian and exponential models were used for different soil parameter based on nugget, mean prediction error and root mean square standardize prediction error values and maps were developed through extension techniques to cover all the area outside the sampling points

Application of Single Superphosphate with Humic Acid Improves the Growth, Yield and Phosphorus Uptake of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in Calcareous Soil

In calcareous soil, the significant portion of applied phosphorus (P) fertilizers is adsorbed on the calcite surface and becomes unavailable to plants. Addition of organic amendments with chemical fertilizers can be helpful in releasing the absorbed nutrients from these surfaces. To check out this problem, a field experiment was conducted for two years to determine the effect of P fertilizers and humic acid (HA) in enhancing P availability in soil and their ultimate effect on growth, yield and P uptake of wheat in calcareous soils. The experiment was comprised of five levels of P (0, 45, 67.5, 90 and 112.5 kg P2O5 ha&minus;1) as a single superphosphate (SSP) and 2 levels of locally produced humic acid (with and without HA) arranged in a two factorial randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. Wheat plant height, spike length, number of grains per spike, 1000-grain weight, grain, straw and biological yield were significantly improved by the addition of HA with SSP. Very often, the performance of 67.5 kg P2O5 ha&minus;1 with HA were either similar or better than 90 or even 112.5 kg P2O5 ha&minus;1 applied without HA. Post-harvest soil organic matter, AB-DTPA extractable and water-soluble P, plant P concentration and its uptake were also significantly improved by the addition of HA with SSP compared to sole SSP application. It was evident that P efficiency could be increased with HA addition and it has the potential to improve crop yield and plants P uptake in calcareous soils