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Purpose: The main purpose of this study is to identify the socioeconomic determinants of dropout from primary schools and to give policy suggestions to address the issue. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 600 dropout and enrolled respondents were selected from 60 government primary schools of district Chiniot. School heads and parents of dropout children were taken as samples. The results were obtained by employing the Probit regression model. Findings: Numbers of family members, age of the family head, exchange marriage and poverty status have positive relationship with dropout from primary schools. The findings revealed a higher rate of dropout among girls, which is a major cause of concern. Practical implications: Education is regarded as a basic human right and a valuable human capital. It is included in Millennium Development Goals to achieve universal primary education and in Sustainable Development Goals as quality education. Underdeveloped countries are facing the problems of high dropout and lack of quality education, especially in Pakistan. These problems need to be addressed to keep pace with developed nations and to meet development goals. Originality/value: It is recommended that government should create employment opportunities, family planning programs, legislature measures on exchange marriage and child labor. The involvement in co-curricular activities in learning and usage of audio-visual aids in the teaching process can improve the enrollment in the primary schools.

Entrepreneurship drives economic growth in the modern knowledge-based economy. Furthermore, entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) Efficiency, combined with government financial and non-financial incentives, play a vital role in fostering the growth of SMEs. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the impact of EO with government incentives as moderators on SMEs efficiency from the perspective of Pakistan. The primary data were collected from 412 top-level managers of SMEs across three cities. A structural equation modeling was used for analysis. Results showed that risk-taking, innovativeness, and proactiveness had a positive and significant impact on SMEs efficiency, and autonomy had a negative and significant impact. It was found that government financial incentives had a significant positive moderating impact on risk-taking, proactiveness, and competitive aggressiveness. Moreover, government non-financial incentives as a moderating variable positively and significantly influenced risk-taking, proactiveness, innovativeness, and competitive aggressiveness. The positive and significant impact of government financial incentives on risk-taking, proactiveness, and competitive aggressiveness emphasizes the potential to amplify SMEs efficiency and growth through enhanced promotion of such incentives. Governments should deliberate on delivering more targeted financial support to encourage entrepreneurial activities. Complementary to this, government non-financial incentives positively and significantly influenced key entrepreneurial factors such as risk-taking, proactiveness, innovativeness, and competitive aggressiveness. Consequently, augmenting SMEs efficiency and competitiveness can be achieved by implementing non-financial incentives such as mentorship programs, technological access, and market insights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Government of Pakistan started focusing on the cultivation of olive trees to meet the rising demand for edible oil, save foreign exchange, and improve the farming community's livelihoods. It is a matter of fact that training plays an important role in building the farmer's capacities, raising awareness, and providing them with modern knowledge by enhancing their performance to achieve the ultimate goals. However, farmers struggle to manage the olive crop due to a lack of practical knowledge and training sessions on advanced production techniques. Keeping in view the above-mentioned facts, it was imminent to assess the awareness level and adoption of olive growers of the Pothwar region of Punjab so that they can contribute effectively to the uplift of agriculture as well as their livelihoods. Pothwar region comprises Attock, Chakwal, Jhelum, and Rawalpindi districts. Three districts (Chakwal, Jhelum, and Attock) were purposively selected due to the maximum number of olive growers. The olive growers' list with a minimum of 50 plants was collected from the Department of Agriculture (Extension). A total sample size of 310 farmers was selected through a purposive sampling procedure by using Morgan and Krejcie table as the total population (Olive growers in the targeted research areas) is 1500. Data were collected through a face to face interviews with the help of an interview schedule. The SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) and MS. Office software were considered for analysis. According to the results, about 51% of the respondents in the study belonged to old age (above 45) and about 53.2% of the respondents were having matric education. Furthermore, results from correlation analysis showed that education, the number of olive trees and motivation to grow olive trees have a highly positive significant relationship with the level of awareness about olive cultivation practices. The systematic promotion of fortnightly and monthly training of olive growers without any discrepancy should be planned under realistic monitoring and evaluation. Agricultural extension department should arrange the training for different progressive farmers' fields to develop an interest in updating their knowledge and analyzing their problems that will bring positive outcomes in olive production of Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Floods have caused major losses and damages to people, infrastructure, and the environment. This study aims to assess the risk perception of households prone to riverine and flash floods and the perceived damages to infrastructure and livelihoods. Data were collected from 382 households through a questionnaire survey and analyzed using chi-squared and t-tests. Overall, risk perception was higher for riverine floods. Similarly, 'flood coping capacities', 'livelihood disruption', 'change in lifestyle/adjusting to floods', and 'change in the relationship' were also high for riverine floods and statistically significant (p-value < 0.05). The 'likelihood of future flood damages' perception was higher for flash floods (mean values: 0.913 vs. 0.779), while the 'infrastructural damages' showed the same results. The perceptions of 'livelihoods' and perceived 'economic loss' were greater for riverine floods (p-value < 0.05). The perceptions of 'livestock damages' and 'household damages' were higher for flash floods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current study was carried out during the year 2019-20 at Agricultural Engineering (Research) AMRI division Faisalabad, Paksitan. A power cut-off/Limit switch was installed in the electric chopper to stop in dangerous conditions. A second protective feature was the trigger/belt deflector system which was worked by pressing a paddle to stop both engine and motor-driven choppers. Front shield grill, belt cover, gears cover, wooden foundation and protection barrier plates were the other novel features that were used as protective measures. These safety features were tested on alfalfa, sorghum and sugarcane crops. A rubber pipe was used as a testing tool material and feed through to check the reliability of the safety gadgets. The distance between feed rollers and blades was measured at 17 cm. When the electric motor was switch off by a cutoff switch mechanism then the rubber pipe moved 8.1 cm while the testing crop was sugarcane and 13 cm while the testing crop was berseem. When the belt was removed from the flywheel by paddle mechanism then the rubber pipe moved 9.5 cm while the testing crop was sugarcane and 13.5 cm while the testing crop was berseem, all these values were less than 17 cm which falls under the safe limit and prevents the human from any danger which makes its operation reliable and hazard-free. Hence, the cutoff switch was more reliable because in that case, the rubber pipe moves to less displacement in the cutting head. The average theoretical capacity was calculated as 1.44 ton/h, while the average actual capacity of the machine was measured 1.18 ton/h and the average efficiency of the machine was found 84.5%. All these novel safety gadgets were merely costed 4,500 PKR and research results showed that the operation of traditional Toka was safer in operation when augumented with these safety gadgets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The contemporary study was designed to investigate farmer's participation behavior concerning public sector agricultural extension services, by comparing the situations of two countries, Pakistan and China. The logistic regression model was used to study the influence of age, education, labor, farm area and villages on the household head's participation in agricultural extension services/activities organized by public sector department. For this purpose, a random sample of 160 households from four districts of Punjab province of Pakistan was selected, and another random sample of 122 households selected from the six villages of Huailai County of Hebei Province in China. Data were collected using the interview method with the help of validated and expert reviewed interview schedule. The results revealed that the household head's average age is 47 years in Pakistan and 53 years in China. The old aged household head's participation in extension services in Pakistan is less (36%) than China (43%). Similarly, household head's education is 9 years schooling in Pakistan accounting less participation (25%) in agricultural extension services while 7 years schooling in China with higher participation (57%) in agricultural extension services. Governments of the Pakistan and China should launch massive adult literacy programs to increase the educational level of the farming community together with the involvement of youth in agricultural farming and agro-based enterprises to achieve sustainable rural livelihood and improved living standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current study was conducted at Faculty of Animal Husbandry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad during 2019. The objective was to determine the role of flaxseed (FS) inclusion in diet on omega-3 fatty acid composition, production performance, quality of eggs and their sensory evaluation in laying hens. Lohmann Selected Leghorn Lite (LSL) (n=192) laying hens (age=31 weeks) were selected for the study. Birds were distributed into three groups. Experimental diets had three levels (0, 5 and 10%). Total duration of the study was 10 weeks including two weeks adaptation period. Gas chromatography technique was used for fatty acids analysis of eggs. Amount of omega-3 fatty acid in eggs improved with higher level of FS while linoleic acid (omega-6), decosahexanoic acid (DHA) and ecosapentanoic acid (EPA) contents were remained unchanged. Addition of FS decreased egg production and weights of eggs. Feed conversion ratio was better in birds fed with control diet than those fed with FS. Feed intake (FI) and egg quality parameters like yolk weight, yolk percentage, albumen weight, albumen percentage, shell weight, shell percentage and shell thickness remained unchanged with dietary treatments. However, higher level of FS produced fishy smell in eggs. It was summarized that incorporation of FS in layers diet improved omega-3 fatty acids contents in eggs but decreased egg production and weight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural journalism considered an effective tool in diffusion of agricultural technologies among the farming communities. Various forms of agricultural journalism are used by different organizations in order to address the community problems and provide solutions to them. The present study was conducted to analyze the role of agricultural journalism in the dissemination of agricultural information in year 2018. The universe of the study was district Sargodha from which a sample of 100 farmers was collected with the help of pre-tested, validated and expert reviewed interview schedule. The collected data were analyzed by running computer-based software "statistical package for social sciences" (SPSS). The results of the present study revealed that majority of the respondents (64.6%) were middle aged (31-50 years), also indicates a high (73.23%) literacy rate above middle level education, most (78.3%) of the respondents were connected with the occupation of farming. In various forms of agricultural journalism Radio/T.V./ F.M is used by 99.4% of the respondent, mobile phones 96%, Magazine/Newspaper/periodical 66.4% and social media 60.9%. As for as areas focused by agriculture journalism "Help farmers to enhance their productivity" is on the highest level with mean of (x =3.98/5.00). The regression model of famer's education and various forms of agricultural journalism facilities used was found to be significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pakistan is now facing severe water crisis as in a recent newsletter of IMF, Pakistan has been declared 3rd most water scared country of the world. A big share of water is lost in agriculture during conventional means of irrigation through field application and percolation losses. A new mobile sprinkler raingun was developed at Agricultural Mechanization Research Institute, Multan during the year 2018 for precise and decentralized application of water. A centrifugal pump of 24 m3/h capacity coupled with 16 hp diesel engine to apply water through rain gun with selected range of 18, 20, 22 & 24 mm nozzles was analysed in terms of area coverage, application efficiency and coefficient of uniformity at different pressures. Raingun of size 24 mm was installed to throw 38 m jet of uniformly scattered water with discharge rate of 12.28 L/s at 3 bar pressure. The irrigated area was 0.46 ha with application rate of 9.8 mm/hr, while the coefficient of uniformity of this sprinkler raingun was found to be 80.2%. This system was equipped with hose reel that holds 35 m length of canvas pipe having dia. 63.5 mm. The worked out operational cost and payback period was US $6.81/hr and 3.8 years respectively. This research study showed that this system saved 72% water is saved with 4 times higher yield output in chickpea crop and 67% amount was less consumed in operational cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluation on the diversified Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) application along their association in socio-economic attributes can provide valuable insights about the trends of farmers towards improvement. Therefore, analytical research design and descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data collected from 400 respondents within different regions of Punjab Province in Pakistan. Based on the findings, it is recommended that government in collaboration with all stakeholders should launch regular, holistic and modern ICTs programs like applications of robo calls, SMS, etc. services at central level to ensure timely availability of agricultural information to improving the quality of young farmers. Furthermore, it is recommended to launch effective monitoring and evaluation mechanism of ICTs for agricultural development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thirteen insecticides - Stake 40WV (triazophos), Polo 500SC (diafenthiuron), Actara 25WG (thiamethoxam), Chlorfenapyr 36SC (chlorfenapyr), Maximal 60WG (nitenpyram + pymetrozine), Crown 20SL, Lescenta 80WG (fipronil + imidacloprid), Fyfanon 57EC (malathion), Talstar 10EC (bifenthrin) Momentum 50WG (nitenpyram + chlorfenapyr), Jozer 202SL (imidacloprid + acetamaprid), Tresta 20SC (clothianidin) and Closer 240SC (sulfoxaflor)- were evaluated for efficacy in a controlled mango nursery experiment against an active infestation of Scirtothrips dorsalis at the Mango Research Institute, Multan during 2018 and 2019. The data was recorded before the treatments were applied, then 24, 72, 168 h after treatment. Treatments with percent mortality greater than 70 % were considered to be effective controls. Percent mortality was 74.14 % for chlorfenapyr, 70.58 % for Momentum, and 70.51 % for Crown at post-treatment on an cumulative average of 24, 72 and 168 h of both the study years. Medium percent mortality was; 69.52 % for Jazor; 59.59 % for Maximal; 57.38 % for Actara; and 45.11 for Lescenta. All other treatments had percent mortality estimates of less than 30 %. It is concluded that chlorfenapyr, Momentum and Crown are suggested to be used on mango nursery against S. dorsalis for better management since among the treatments in the trial efficacious control was found at 24, 72 and 168 h post-treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was designed to estimate the optimum plot size with the shape for field research experiments on paddy yield trial considering the effect of plot size on variability in yield of crop as well as studying the coefficients of variation of different plot sizes and shapes of plots. The Smith's index of soil heterogeneity was computed to estimate optimum plot size and shape using yield data of the 12mx24m recorded separately from each basic unit of 1mx1m (288 basic units). Soil productivity contour map described graphically the productivity level of the experimental site. The index of soil heterogeneity (b = 0.491) indicated a degree of low similarity among the experimental plots. Variance per unit area and coefficient of variation decreased rapidly with an increase in the plot size. Based on the coefficient of variation the optimum plot size for paddy yield trial was estimated to be 6mx 12m with rectangle shape for Rice Research Institute, Kala Shah Kaku, Lahore. This estimated plot size is larger than the plot size of 3mx5m generally used for paddy yield in the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contribution of mechanical inputs in farming is considered in terms of farm mechanization. Farm mechanization has helped in increasing the cultivated area and yield of major crops like wheat, rice and maize to 0.4%, 10.4% and 27.3%, respectively, by bringing barren land under cultivation. To study the present status of farm mechanization in all the districts of Punjab using GIS, data of farm machines, sowing area and wheat crop production was collected from Census Organizations for 1994-95 to 2004-05. Graduated color maps and multivariate maps were used to analyze the spatial variation in farm mechanization in thirty four districts of Punjab upto year 2004. To analyze the combined effect of most common farm machines (tractors, disc plows, cultivators, tubewells and threshers) on cultivated area of wheat and its production, multivariate maps help by considering the sum attribute of these farm machines. According to maps generated; Central, Southern and Eastern Punjab have greater area under cultivation as compared to Northern Punjab except Attock and Mianwali and there is a great need of recommended farm machines which may help to increase the wheat production for the same area under cultivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Households' vulnerability assessment is considered an essential step towards reducing the harmful consequences of disaster risks. Adaptation helps in reducing their future vulnerability. The aims of this study are to (1) assess the different components of vulnerability, (2) compare the individual components and the composite vulnerability between the two regions and (3)assess the households' adaptation to floods. Data were collected from 382 households and statistical tests were applied for comparison among these households living in two regions. A total of 32 and 17 indicators were used for vulnerability and adaptation assessment respectively. Results revealed that social, economic, physical and institutional components of vulnerability were found higher in Region 1 than Region 2. Except for social and attitudinal vulnerability, all the other vulnerability components had significant differences. Similarly, the overall composite vulnerability was higher in Region 1 than Region 2 and statistically significant. Moreover, in both regions, informal adaptation was mostly practiced compared to formal adaptation. Thus, it is recommended that the government and non-governmental stakeholders provide options and facilitation for formal adaptation at the community level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study assessed the adoption level of essential oil extraction practices among lemon growers in the Pothwar region of Punjab, Pakistan. A well-structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 138 smallholders using the interview method by trained remunerators. Descriptive statistics and econometrics; logit and Poisson regression were employed for data analysis. Results of farmers' perceptions of adopting new practices indicated that 10.1% of the farmers are not adopting any one, 22.5% are adopting any three, and 26.8% are adopting all four practices. Moreover, farmers' age, farming experience, land holding, skill, training participation, and receptivity proved to be statistically significant determinants in improving the likelihood of adopting all four practices under the logit and Poisson models, respectively. Hence, it is recommended that the provision of an effective package in the form of literature concerning essential oil extraction practices to the doorsteps of smallholders during demonstration sessions, along with adequate professional training, could help in improving farmers' perceptions toward adoption and strengthening the essential oil sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current research was initiated in the College of Agriculture, University of Sargodha and conducted in the Pothwar region of Punjab, Pakistan during 2019 in perspective of Punjab Agriculture Departments Initiated project to mobilize farmers to plant olive at a mass scale in the Pothwar region. It is a matter of fact that training plays an important role in enhancng the farmer’s capacities, raising awareness, and providing them with modern knowledge to achieve the ultimate goals. Pothwar region comprises five districts Attock, Chakwal, Jhelum, Rawalpindi, and Islamabad. Three districts (Chakwal, Jhelum, and Attock) were purposively selected due to the maximum number of olive growers. The list of olive growers having an olive farm with a minimum of 50 plants was collected from the Department of Agriculture (Extension). A total sample size of 310 farmers was selected through purposive sampling procedure by using Morgan and Krejcie table as the total population (Olive growers in the targeted research areas) was 1500. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and MS. office softwares were used for analysis. According to the results, about 50 percent of the respondents required the most needed training about insect pests and diseases on olive with a mean value of 2.48 and standard deviation of 0.537, respectively. Besides that, residual management of insecticides and pesticides with mean value of 1.92 which was closed to need on the scale. Furthermore, 58.1 percent of the respondents needed training on the method of fertilizer application. Post-harvest techniques and marketing of olive obtained the highest mean value of 2.50 against the variable of time and method of picking fruits. The farmers of olive needed high awareness about the production technology. The Government should focus to improve the training needs of farmers on weekly basis or also give awareness about new methods of irrigation and demonstrate the pest and disease control of olive plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted in district Khanewal, located in the southern region of Punjab during 2018 with the collaboration of Department of Agri. Extension and Rural Development, College of Agriculture, University of Sargodha, Pakistan. The whole region is much famous for cotton production. This quantitative study was performed in specifically the Khanewal district due to environmental vulnerabilities prevailing in this area. District Khanewal having 04 tehsils, four villages randomly selected from each tehsil. Moreover, ten farmers from each village were randomly selected for interview. Results revealed that 95% of the farmers had a perception about increased in temperature, 61% of the farmers had a perception about changes in precipitation, summer periods (71.3%), reduction in water (50%), changes in agriculture zones (73.1%) that ultimately effected crop growth and development. Deforestation, fossil fuels industry, green houses gas emission, and land use pattern had perceived as major causes of climate change. Trend of last five years of cotton performance was perceived poor to average draw in a graph. Changes in cotton practices were agreed by a large number of respondents which include changes in seed selection, pest & diseases, changes in fertilizer application, pest & diseases attack, irrigation application, weeding, sowing time, harvesting time, changes in sprays and effect on boll formation. It concludes that deforestation, greenhouse gas emission, land degradation and manipulation of fossil fuels industries is damaging for the ecological zone. Researchers stressed that implementation of green Pakistan initiative in study should be implemented at ground level. For that policy makers and local administration should pay attention to the ground working and evaluation of involved stakeholders [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Dir-Utror meta-volcanics from the south western portion of the Kohistan arc in northern Pakistan are analyzed in term of their petrography, physico-mechanical properties. Field observations and petrography show the collected representative samples to be fine-grained meta-andesites (FMA), coarse-grained meta-andesites (CMA) and agglomerate (AG). The relationship between petrography and physico-mechanical properties has been investigated which inferred the grain size to be the major factor, alongside grains’shape, arrangement and size distribution as well as degree of mineral alteration significantly affecting the mechanical behavior of rocks. The CMA yield more strength (98 MPa) than FMA (93 MPa) due to its lesser degree of mineral alteration, inequigranular texture, lack of preferred mineral alignment, relatively low porosity and water absorption. The lower strength of agglomerate (57 MPa) corresponds to abundance of soft minerals (calcite), exotic rock fragments and coarse-grained texture. Based on physico-mechanical properties including specific gravity, bulk density,aggregate impact value, Los Angeles abrasion value and unconfined compressive strength (UCS), these rocks fall within permissible range to be utilized for multiple engineering purposes including dimension stones and foundation materials for other civil structures. However, petrographic investigations reveal excessive amount of reactive silica in these rocks making them prone to alkali-silica reactivity in concrete works with ordinary Portlandcement (OPC). Hence these rocks are not recommended for use as sole aggregate material or low-alkali cement is recommended, if used

Citrus is one of the major exported fruits of Pakistan. Especially Kinnow cultivar is famous across the globe because of its aroma and taste. The overall production of citrus is reported as half of the potential because of the non-adoption of research-based practices and lack of agricultural extension services and training of the citrus growers. In the last few years, the department of agricultural extension has started training programs called Farmer Field Schools (FFS) for citrus growers in the major citrus growing zone of the Punjab province, i.e., Sargodha region. This research was conducted in the Sargodha district to evaluate the knowledge and skills gained by the farmers from the FFS. The interview schedule was designed for the purpose of data collection. The data was collected from 120 farmers randomly selected from 15 FFS in the study area. All the respondents were participants of the FFS. The data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The Results of the study showed that 40% of the farmers learned about citrus verities, one-third of respondents learned about the management of new plants/orchards, 28% of the respondents got knowledge about the cultivation of fruits, and one-fourth of respondents acquired knowledge and skills about layout and management of citrus orchards. These findings conclude that training course has a positive influence on farmers' farm management skills; hence emphasize on its persistence and further improvement by the concerned authorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comparative economics and net return differentials of fresh and ratoon sugarcane crop were investigated at Social Sciences Research Institute, PARC, Ayub Agricultural Research Institute, Faisalabad Pakistan during the year 2014. For this purpose three districts ie. Jhang, Faisalabad, and Chiniot were selected as study area. The study also investigated the contributing factors that affect the net revenues earned by sugarcane growers. The study sample consists of 150 sugarcane growers and for the purpose of analysis descriptive as well as empirical analysis was incorporated to attain the results. The estimates of descriptive analysis of average cost and returns exhibited total cost of fresh seed crop and ratoon crop as Rs. 95660 and Rs. 73961 per acre with net revenue of Rs. 28363 and Rs. 27429 per acre, respectively. Total cost of fresh seed sugarcane production was found higher in Faisalabad district (Rs. 97966) followed by Jhang and Chiniot. Gross and net revenues were estimated higher in Jhang district (Rs. 136405 and Rs. 40404.7/acre). In case of ratoon crop sugarcane growers of Jhang district had higher cost and net revenues i.e. Rs. 73359 and Rs.41473 per acre, respectively. The results of regression analysis for both fresh seed and ratoon sugarcane crop indicate inverse and significant relationship of cost indicators (fertilizer and irrigation cost) and significant positive relation between yield and price per kg of sugarcane with net return attained by sugarcane growers. Dummy variable analysis, however, indicates significant variation of net revenue earned by sugarcane growers of selected districts. In the light of regression estimates for dummy variables it can be concluded that sugarcane production is more profitable for growers of Jhang district followed by Faisalabad and Chiniot. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A pot study was conducted at Postgraduate Agricultural Research Station, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan to determine the appropriate potassium level for enhancing growth and development of maize (Zea mays) plant under drought conditions. Two maize hybrids [32-F-10 (drought tolerant) and YH-1898 (drought sensitive)] were sown on January 20, 2010 in a net house with two drought levels viz. 100 percent field capacity (control: no drought) and 70 percent filed capacity with application of five potassium levels (0, 50, 100, 150 and 200 mg/kg of soil). All other fertilizer nutrients were applied as recommended. The drought levels were maintained after two weeks of germination on 30 percent depletion in respective level. The moisture levels were regulated with the help of moisture meter. The data were taken after 35 days of sowing using recommended procedures. The results showed significant differences among the treatments. Under drought, variety 32-F-10 performed significantly better at potassium level of 100 mg/kg for plant height (60.59 cm), leaf area (484.68 cm2), shoot fresh weight (34.62 g), shoot dry weight (8.79 g), relative water content (83.64%) and photosynthetic rate (18.71 μmol/m2/s) which was statistically similar to potassium levels of 150 and 200 mg/kg of soil. Same trend was also noted in variety YH-1898 at 100 mg potassium level with 33.76 cm plant height, 270.06 cm2 leaf area, 19.29 g shoot fresh weight, 4.26 g shoot dry weight, 68.15 percent relative water content and 10.43 μmol/m2/s photosynthetic rate. The results further indicated that potassium application under drought conditions enhanced all traits studied significantly as compared to control. However, differences beyond 100 mg potassium level were non-significant. The study suggests to investigate the role of potassium under severe drought stress in maize crop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]