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Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is an important oil seed crop in Pakistan having the potential of bridging gap between production and consumption of edible oil in the country. The experiment was conducted at National Agriculture Research Center (NARC) Islamabad, Pakistan, during August to December, 2016, to evaluate different exotic sunflower hybrids for their performance and adaptability in the field area of NARC. Twelve sunflower hybrids including one check i.e. SF-16013, SF-16007, SF-16010, SF-16005, SF-16006, SF-16002, SF-16008, SF-16004, SF-16011, SF16003, SF-160011, Hysun-33 were studied in the experiment. The experiments were carried out in Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. The distance between adjacent rows was 75 cm while the distance between plants to plant was 30 cm. The seed was sown in the first week of August. The following parameters were studied in the experiment i.e. days to flower initiation, days to flower completion, plant height, days to maturity, stem diameter, head diameter, number of leaves, 1000 seed weight and seed yield per hectare. Quality parameters were consisted upon oil content (%), protein content (%), and fatty acid profile. The results showed that significantly highest seed yield (2187.3) kg ha-1 was produced by SF 16003 followed by SF16010 and SF 16002 having (2016.2) kg ha-1 and (1888.2) kg ha-1 seed yield respectively. The Cluster analysis also determined SF 16003 as best hybrid which was at a very close distance from the group of SF16010 and SF 16002. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanotechnology plays a significant role in promoting agriculture and agricultural products. Agriculture and food industry aims for the sustainability and the protection of agricultural products, including crops for human and livestock. Nanotechnology helps in the manufacturing of innovative agrochemicals and novel delivery mechanisms to enhance crop production and decrease in pesticide use. Nanotechnology also contributes in increasing the crop yield in agriculture. One of the major contribution of nanotechnology in the field of agriculture is the formulation of nano based pesticides and fertilizers for increased crop production. Precise farming techniques can promote crop production without damaging soil and water, reducing losses due to leaching of nitrogen and enhancing long lasting incorporation of nutrients by micro-organisms present in the soil. Another major breakthrough of nanotechnology for improvement in agriculture production is the development of insect-resistant varieties by DNA transfer in the plants or nanoparticle-mediated gene. Biofuel production from biomass is estimated to speed up using nanotechnology. Researchers and manufacturers have to demonstrate that the application of nanotechnologies have no harmful effect on the atmosphere against the anomaly based only on small amounts of toxicological research and concerns about the safety of nanomaterials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]