This follow-up study was carried out to investigate association of wheat productivity with the nutritional status of farmers in an agricultural area of North West Pakistan. A total of 1200 small scale farmers were randomly recruited and screened for nutrition status. Total of 226 farmers were found malnourished. An equal number of well-nourished farmers were randomly selected; detailed data on wheat yield and relevant confounding factors were collected interviewing groups. Multivariate linear regression analysis was performed to identify factors in relation to wheat yield. Comparing to well-nourished, malnourished farmers were more likely to report less wheat yield. Agricultural predictors that independently and significantly explained variation in wheat production included crop rotation, sowing time, and per acre agricultural inputs. Farmers' nutritional status; and dietary patterns further increased variance in wheat yield. The study findings reaffirmed the importance of farmers' nutritional status in predicting wheat yield.

Genetic diversity present in gene pool is an important determination for breeding programs, and characterization is useful of building crop plant collections primarily based on the knowledge of the presence of valuable genes and traits. Developing successful varieties for increasing the future yield and quality of tomato depend mainly on the genetic diversity of parents used in the breeding program. Molecular characterization of 21 tomato genotypes used in in Pakistani breeding program was studied using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers. Total 102 bands were amplified among 21 genotypes using 20 RAPD primers. Overall 73.5% polymorphism was shown as 75 out of 102 loci were polymorphic. High degree of divergence between varieties was indicated by low level of monomorphic bands. The number of PCR products per primer varied from 2-8 with an average of 5.1 bands per primer. Primer GL J-20 and GL C-09 produced maximum number of bands whereas the primers GL A-09 produced the lowest. The polymorphism per RAPD primer ranged from 50% to 100% with an average of 73.5%. The accumulative analysis of amplified products generated by RAPD’s was enough to assess the genetic diversity among the genotypes. The information would be helpful for formulating future breeding and genome mapping programs. This study will also work as an indicator for tomato breeders to evolve varieties with genetic diverse back ground to achieve sustainability in tomato production in the country.

Cultivation of field crops is a challenge and risky business in sloping areas. A study was conducted as a demonstration model for the sloppy lands of Fateh Jang, Pakistan. The objectives of this study were to monitor the runoff water and soil sediment loss under different vegetative covers and slope gradients in comparison with bare fallow on each slope gradient. Three artificial slope gradients i.e., 1%, 5% and 10% were established and three crops i.e., Wheat, Gram and Lentil were cultivated on each slope gradient. Soil and water losses were quantified against each slope gradient and every cover crop for the period of 4 years. Total soil sediment losses during this study were 51% in Lentil, 30% in Gram and 25% in Wheat were lesser compared with bare soil whereas, water losses from Lentil, Gram and Wheat were 69%, 75% and 73% lesser respectively while compared with bare plots. The highest soil and water losses were monitored at 10% slope gradient following 5% and then 1% slope gradients respectively.