Ms Bemisal Afridi, MPhil Scholar at the Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Peshawar (UoP) has successfully defended her MPhil thesis Viva-Voce on Friday 24 May 2019, under the supervision of Dr Asif Khan Khattak, Assistant Professor, UoP, and co-supervision of Dr Ishaq Ahmad Mian Kakakhel, Assistant Professor, University of Agriculture. Her external examiner was Professor Dr Muhammad Arif, University of Agriculture. The title of her thesis is "Effects of Water Stress and Phosphorous on Different Developmental Stages of Maize Crop".

The research study is directly linked to the United Nations SDG 2 ‘Zero Hunger’ and SDG 13, ‘Climate Action’. Due to climate change impacts, it is necessary to grow climate resilient crops in Pakistan to ensure food security. With higher temperatures, many areas of Pakistan are prone to drought. In her research, Ms Bemisal Afridi, investigated the impact of drought conditions and nutrient availability on plant growth and grain yield in the important cereal maize. Her findings identify a high yielding variety of maize, grown under the interaction of drought conditions and nutrient availability, that may be highly beneficial for growing in the climates of Peshawar and other similar regions.

Present on the occassion were Prof Dr Hizbullah Khan, Prof Dr M. Nafees, Prof Dr M. Arif, Dr Asif Khan Khattak and Dr Saeeda Yousaf.