Vol. 12, Special Issue 9 (2023)

Crop productivity must be doubled in another fifty years to feed the ever-growing population, possibly by cultivating high-yielding varieties or best crop management strategies. We hypothesise that foliar application of nutrients and plant growth regulators may be more effective in increasing maize productivity than other crop management options. The objective was to quantify the impacts of foliar application of nutrio-hormonal consortia on the physiological and yield traits of maize. A pot culture experiment was conducted at the Glasshouse, Department of Crop Physiology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore. The experiment was conducted in a factorial randomized block design with four replications. Factor 1 was genotype (G) with two levels (1. Co 6 and Co(M) H8), and factor 2 was foliar sprays with five levels (T₁- Control, T₂- Nutrio-hormonal consortia 1, T₃- Nutrio-hormonal consortia 2, T₄- Maize booster 1, and T₅- Maize booster 2). The primary result of the present experiment was that the foliar application of maize booster I and II increased the F_v/F_m ratio, soluble protein, nitrate reductase, stomatal conductance, photosynthetic rate, and grain yield. Foliar application of formulation containing nitrogen, boron, auxin, and salicylic acid increased the grain yield through increased grain number and grain size, and the increased seed yield may be associated with delayed leaf senescence.