Istisnā’- a Realistic Approach to the Concept in Islamic Finance and its Application to the Agricultural Sector in Pakistan

Farmers predominantly belong to lower class of the society, particularly in developing and under developing countries. This actuality really put them on back-foot in every sphere of life, including their various agricultural activities.  For instance, they always face problems to fulfil their agricultural requirement, both for crop and non crop activities, and hence, not in position to get utmost benefits from their efforts. Being citizens of a developing country, Pakistani farmers come across the identical situation. As they are Muslims, therefore, avoid securing interest based loan from the financial institutions. Islamic financial system provides an alternate to such interest based arrangement in the shape of various financing techniques. Among these, Istisnā’ (manufacturing) is the most important one which can be used effectively for the fulfilment of various agricultural requirements. However, its role is more dominant in the satisfaction of non crop agricultural activities that is for example, manufacturing of some heavy agricultural machinery and equipments, installation of tube-wells and channels for appropriate irrigation system, construction of small houses for farmers in their lands etc. The present work discusses the theoretical background of this mode, available in the scholarly work of classical and contemporary Muslim jurists’ work, followed by the description that how it can be used for financing various sectors of agriculture. Study reveals the transaction is equally viable for the development of all sectors of agriculture like local farming, fish farming, dairy farming, poultry farming, horticulture etc. The intended results can be achieved when the financial institutions apply the transaction in its true spirit and philosophies envisaged for it by Islamic commercial law, and not mere a source of earning profit.

Isolation, Screening and Characterization of Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria from Legumes Rhizosphere to Improve Crop Growth and N2 Fixation

Plant-microbe interaction in the rhizosphere is the determinant of soil fertility and plant health. The presence of beneficial bacteria in the vicinity of roots stimulates plant growth. In this way, soil bacteria play very important role in improving plant nutrition and have been utilized for agriculture for long times. However, little has been done at molecular level in Pakistan to explore their potential. The present study was designed with the objectives to isolate bacterial strains from legume rhizospheric soil and nodules, to characterize and identify potential bacterial strains by using molecular tagging of 16S rRNA gene sequencing and to asses rhizobacterial impact on yield, nodulation and N2-fixation of legume crops under controlled and field conditions. Extensive survey was carried out in Pothwar (District Rawalpindi, Attock and Chakwal) for collection of legumes (mash bean and chickpea) nodules and rhizospheric soil. Five samples of each legume crop were collected from each district. Rhizospheric soil bacteria were isolated through dilution plate technique using Phosphate Buffer Saline solution (PBS; 1X) and nutrient media i.e. Tryptic Soya Agar (TSA; Difco). Root nodules for Rhizobium isolation were washed, crushed and directly streaked on yeast extract mannitol (YEM) plates supplemented with Congo red. About 100 bacterial strains of different genera included Rhizobium were isolated and designated as AM-1, AM-2 to AM-100. These isolated bacterial strains were characterized for plant growth promoting (PGP) properties like auxin i.e. indole acetic acid (IAA), P solubilization and production of NH3. On the basis of PGP traits, 10 most potential strains were selected and identified using molecular techniques i.e. 16S rRNA sequencing. The DNA of each strain was amplified using universal primers 9F: (´GAGTTTGATCCTGGCTCAG´) and 1510R: (´GGCTACCTTGTTACGA´).