Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer
Plant Science Today (PST)

Research Articles

Vol. 13 No. sp5 (2026): Recent Advances in Agriculture

Influence of foliar application of biostimulants and micronutrients on the growth and yield dynamics of winter maize (Zea mays L.)

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.16198
Submitted
18 June 2026
Published
24-09-2026

Abstract

The effect of foliar application of biostimulants and micronutrients on the growth, physiological traits, yield attributes and productivity of winter maize was evaluated in a field experiment at the Crop Research Centre, Institute of Technology and Management (ITM) University, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh during the rabi seasons of 2024–25 and 2025–26. The experiment was laid out in a randomised block design (RBD) with 16 treatments and 4 replications. The treatments included individual and combined foliar applications of chitosan, seaweed extract, protein hydrolysates, iron (Fe), zinc (Zn) and a consortium comprising all the biostimulants and micronutrients. The consortium treatment (chitosan + seaweed extract + protein hydrolysates + Fe + Zn + iodine (I)) was found to significantly increase the growth, physiological attributes, yield components and productivity of winter maize. It recorded the highest crop growth rate (34.07 and 35.49 g m-2 day-1), leaf area index (LAI) (3.66 and 3.76), chlorophyll content (56.63 and 58.17 soil and plant analysis development (SPAD) units), grain yield (6.4 and 6.6 t ha-1), stover yield (13.1 and 13.4 t ha-1) and biological yield (19.5 and 20.0 t ha-1) during 2024–25 and 2025–26 respectively. However, the combined micronutrient treatment (Fe + Zn + I) did not significantly differ from the consortium treatment in most growth and yield parameters. The results demonstrate that foliar application of biostimulants and micronutrients enhances winter maize productivity by improving canopy development, chlorophyll content and biomass accumulation. The consortium treatment could be used for maximising productivity while the Fe + Zn + I treatment is a cost-effective option for agronomic biofortification under semi-arid agro-ecological conditions.

References

  1. 1. FAOSTAT. Food and Agriculture Organization. FAOSTAT statistical database. Rome: FAO; 2025.
  2. 2. Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MOA&FW). Agricultural statistics at a glance 2026. New Delhi: Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India; 2026.
  3. 3. Shukla AK, Tiwari PK, Prakash C. Micronutrient deficiencies vis-a-vis food and nutritional security of India. Indian J Fert. 2024;20(12):94–112.
  4. 4. Von Grebmer K, Saltzman A, Birol E, Wiesmann D, Prasai N, Yin S, et al. 2014 Global Hunger Index: The challenge of hidden hunger. Washington (DC): IFPRI; 2014.
  5. 5. World Health Organization. Global Health Observatory data repository. Geneva: WHO; 2025.
  6. 6. Dhaliwal SS, Sharma V, Shukla AK, Verma V, Sandhu PS, Irmak S. Biofortification: A frontier novel approach to enrich micronutrients in field crops to encounter nutritional security. Molecules. 2022;27(4):1340. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27041340
  7. 7. Ocwa A, Ochieng J, Muthomi J, Opiyo A. Seaweed-based biostimulants and their role in improving crop growth, nutrient uptake and stress tolerance: a review. J Appl Phycol. 2024;36(2):857–75.
  8. 8. Li K, Xing R, Liu S, Qin Y, Meng X, Li P, et al. Advances in preparation, analysis and applications of chitosan and its derivatives. Mar Drugs. 2021;19(2):89.
  9. 9. Montgomery EG. Correlation studies in corn. Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station Annual Report. 1911;24:108–59.
  10. 10. Watson DJ. The physiological basis of variation in yield. Adv Agron. 1952;4:101–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2113(08)60307-7
  11. 11. Donald CM, Hamblin J. The biological yield and harvest index of cereals as agronomic and plant breeding criteria. Adv Agron. 1976;28:361–405. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2113(08)60559-3
  12. 12. Gomez KA, Gomez AA. Statistical procedures for agricultural research. 2nd ed. New York: John Wiley and Sons; 1984.
  13. 13. RAISINS Team. RAISINS (R and AI Solutions for Inferential Statistics): Online statistical platform for agricultural data analysis. Kerala: Kerala Agricultural University; 2025.
  14. 14. Karrimi M, Elghadraoui L, Sijilmassi B, Cherkaoui M. Effect of foliar micronutrient application on growth and productivity of maize under field conditions. J Plant Nutr. 2018;41(14):1851–61.
  15. 15. Jolli RB, Shankar MA, Kumar NA, Ramesh YM. Effect of foliar nutrition on growth, yield and economics of maize (Zea mays L.). Int J Chem Stud. 2020;8(4):2161–5.
  16. 16. Calvo P, Nelson L, Kloepper JW. Agricultural uses of plant biostimulants. Plant Soil. 2014;383(1–2):3–41. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-014-2131-8
  17. 17. Rouphael Y, Colla G. Biostimulants in agriculture. Front Plant Sci. 2020;11:40. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2020.00040
  18. 18. du Jardin P. Plant biostimulants: Definition, concept, main categories and regulation. Sci Hortic. 2015;196:3–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2015.09.021
  19. 19. Rouphael Y, Colla G, Giordano M, El-Nakhel C, Kyriacou MC, De Pascale S. Foliar applications of plant biostimulants: agronomic, physiological and biochemical perspectives. Sci Hortic. 2018;237:60–76.
  20. 20. Monsi M, Saeki T. Uber den Lichtfaktor in den Pflanzengesellschaften und seine Bedeutung fur die Stoffproduktion. Jpn J Bot. 1953;14:22–52.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.