Dr M۔U Shirazi, (DCS/Head, Plant Physiology Division)
VISION
ACHIEVEMENTS
Screening Studies:
NIA ABIOTIC STRESS TOLERANT GENOTYPES IDENTIFIED
| S. No. | Slat Stress Tolerant | Water Stress Tolerant | High Temp.Tolerant | ||||
| Wheat | Rice | Wheat | Rice | Wheat | Rice | ||
| 01 | Johar-78 | Shadab | Sassui | NIA-Amber | |||
| 02 | Sarsabz | Shua-92 | Khirman | NIA-Sunhari | |||
| 03 | Kiran-95 | Sarshar | NIA-Sundar | ||||
| 04 | Bhittai | Shandar | |||||
| 05 | NIA-Zarkhez | NIA-Mehran | |||||
| Potential Breeding Lines | 14 | 08 | 05 | 18 | 05 | — | |
Physiological Investigation
- Stress-related physiological responses revealed that tolerant genotypes have less reduction in leaf area and chlorophyll contents. The enhanced accumulation of proline, glycine betaine, total soluble sugars, secondary metabolites, potassium and restricted Na uptake were observed in stress tolerant genotypes.
- Stress-induced physiological responses were identified and categorized as potential indicators and adaptive traits for stress tolerance in major field cops including wheat and rice.
A. Indicator traits: Osmotic potential, sodium content, Proline, Glycine betaine, soluble Sugars and MDA content etc.
B. Adaptive traits: K:Na ratio, chlorophyll & relative water content
- Four Potassium responsive & efficient genotypes showed more tolerance to water stress under induced osmotic stress of 0.5 MPa (PEG-6000). These responsive and efficient genotypes may counteract drought stress more effectively under field at K0.
Exogenous application of plant growth promoters:
- Exogenous application of growth regulators (GA-10-6, NAA-10-5) enhanced germination and grain yield of wheat cultivars under saline field conditions.
- Foliar spray of 100 mM proline proved most effective to ameliorate the toxic effects of salinity by improving plant growth, chlorophyll contents, compatible solutes, shoot K+ contents and K/Na ratio in wheat which confirmed the ability of foliar applied proline to stimulate the salt tolerance in wheat.
- Seed osmopriming with moringa leaf extract and hormonal priming with salicylic acid improved seedling establishment, membrane thermostability, relative water content, osmoprotactant, spike length, and yield even at high temperature under late sowing.
Developed Fruit retention Technology
An effective and economic technology for fruit retention in mango has been developed and introduced to mango growers at different locations of Sindh. This technology proved helpful in increasing mango productivity by 15-30%. This technology is being further extended to overcome flower/boll drop problem in chilies, tomatoes and cotton.
Agroforestry:
A number of woody species (Conocarpus lencifolious , Acacia stenophylla, Atriplex lentiformis, Leucaena leucocephala,
Acacia nilotica,Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Acacia ampliceps, Acacia machenochiena) suited for gainful utilization of highly salt affected lands has been identified which have the potential of giving economical yields (Rs.10000/ha.).
AWARDS
| RPA-201111 | 04 |
| PAEC Gold Medal Award | 05 |
| Merit Certificate | 05 |
| Pakistan Academy of Science- Gold Medal Award | 01 |
PUBLICATIONS
International journals 778
National Journals 221
HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
| WORKSHOP ORGANIZED | 10 |
| Training Imparted | No. of Students Supervised |
| BSc. Hons | 25 |
| MSc. Hons | 18 |
| M.Phil | 13 |
| PhD. | 08 |
| TOTAL | 64 |
COLLABORATION
NIAB, FAISALABAD
NIBGE, FAISALABAD
NIFA, PESHAWAR
Agriculture Research, Tandojam
Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam
MAIN THRUST OF DIVISION
Plant Physiology Division
1. Wheat and Rice crop germplasm screening for salt & drought tolerance
2. Study of stress tolerance physiological mechanism and trait based evaluation of tolerant wheat and rice genotypes
3. Fruit-retention in Mango by phytohormone application