Pakistan is an agricultural country still spending millions of dollars on the import of edible oil, which is a major drain on the foreign exchange reserves of the country. The indigenous oil production of the country could not match the growing demand of population. The domestic edible production only meet about 25% of the requirement and has grown @ 2.6% annually over last 20 years, while consumption has increased at 9%. Among different oilseed crops rapeseed and mustards contribute 21% towards national oil production but the quality of oil is low due to presence undesirable...

Pakistan's domestic edible oil production doesn't meet the need of the country. Annually about $1.5 billion is spent on its import to meet the demand. In this way, edible oil stood at the top in the import of food group and on number second after petroleum group in the total import. This huge drain on our hard-earned foreign exchange resources is a great challenge for our planners, agricultural scientists and extension workers. Any attempt to help in amelioration of this worsening situation is the need of the day. Among existing oilseed crops rapeseed/mustard and sunflower have assumed...

The industrial development and increasing demand of more food production is resulting the contamination of soil especially in developed countries of the world. Heavy metals soil contamination is one of them which not only affecting crop production adversely but also deteriorating other parameters of the environment. Such soils need remediation so as to bring them under cultivation and control further spreading of contaminants in the environment. Traditional soil remediation techniques are engineering based which are not only expensive but also destroy soil fertility. Phytoextraction, one of...