nuclear institute of agriculture (NIA) tandojam
Atomic Energy Agricultural Research Centre (AEARC) Tando Jam was formerly inaugurated on November 22, 1963
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PLANT PHI
CARI
CHILIE
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PLANT PHYSIOLOGY DIVISION

Dr M۔U Shirazi
(DCS/Head, Plant Physiology Division)

Vision:

Scarcity of fresh water, deteriorating water quality and soil salinity are the major growth limiting factors for agricultural productivity, food security and the sustainability of natural resources. “Salinization – the increasing amount of salt content in soil – contributes to land degradation, desertification and subsequently food insecurity.  “Soil salinity is dynamic and spreading globally in over 100 countries and no continent is completely free from it. However, the countries posses semiarid to arid climate are facing severe salinization, and this is projected to increase due to climate change and its consequences: sea level rise and rising air temperature. The major challenges under these conditions are limited water availability with poor quality that is adversely affected by excessive salts in the soil. The availability of essential nutrients, especially nitrogen and potassium limiting under these conditions for the crops growing in these adverse soils are other main constraints for agricultural development of arid and semi-arid lands, making agricultural production difficult. This prevailing situation demands adaptation of genotypes physiologically and genetically more stable under stress conditions. Cereal crops mainly wheat and rice are the main food commodities for supporting food requirements. These crops are very sensitive towards these stresses and suffer from huge annual losses in their yield and put a great impact on our national economy.

  • Identification of stress tolerant genotypes (exotic and indigenous germplasm) through mass scale screening for enhancing crop productivity of salt prone / water deficit areas.
  • Understanding of physiological mechanisms/ traits, which confer sensitivity / tolerance for using in a breeding programme to evolve high yielding stress tolerant genotypes.
  • Exogenous application of growth regulators in different crop plants for better crop productivity under abiotic stresses.
  • Propagation of fruit retention technology.

MAN POWER

                                     

                                 

                                     Dr. Ubaid-ullah Shirazi, DCS

                                     Dr. Wajid Mahboob, SS

                                     Mr. Muhammad Aqib, JS 

                                     SCIENTIFIC STAFF: 07

ACHIEVEMENTS

NIA ABIOTIC STRESS TOLERANT GENOTYPES
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 —
  • Stress related physiological responses revealed that tolerant genotypes have less reduction in leaf area and chlorophyll contents. The enhanced accumulation of proline, betaine, total sugars, potassium and restricted Na uptake were observed in stress tolerant genotypes.
  • Stress related physiological traits were identified and categorized into stress indicator and adaptive traits in wheat and rice.

    A . Indicator traits:    OP, Na, EL, Proline ,Sugars & MDA

    B.  Adaptive traits:     K:Na ratio, chlorophyll & RWC.

  • 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 growth regulators (GA-10-6, NAA-10-5) enhanced germination and grain yield of wheat cultivars under saline field conditions.

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.

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.).

RPA-201111 04
PAEC Gold Medal Award 05
Merit Certificate 05
Pakistan Academy of Science- Gold Medal Award 01
International 757
National Journals with impact factor 221
WORKSHOP ORGANIZED 08
Training Imparted No. of Students Supervised
BSc. Hons 25
MSc. Hons 15
M.Phil 10
PhD. 08
TOTAL 58

NIBGE , FAISALABAD

NIFA, PESHAWAR

ARI, TANDOJAM

SAU , TANDOJAM