FOLIAR SALICYLIC ACID APPLICATION MODULATES PHENOLOGY AND VEGETATIVE GROWTH OF SPRING MAIZE VARIETIES AT V8 AND VT STAGES UNDER PESHAWAR CONDITIONS

Abstract

Salicylic acid (SA) is a plant growth regulator that has the ability to affect crop phenology, leaf growth and plant vegetative development. To observe the effect of foliar SA application on two maize varieties, CS-200 and Azam, at two crop growth stages (V8 and VT), a field experiment was carried out at the Agronomy Research Farm, The University of Agriculture, Peshawar in spring 2023. The treatments were four levels of SA (0, 100, 200 and 300 mg L^-1) and they were randomized complete block design with three replications. An analysis of variance was used for data analysis and the treatment means were compared with the LSD at P <= 0.05. The 300 mg L^-1 SA treatment resulted in a delay in tasseling (59.3 days), silking (65.6 days) and physiological maturity (101.8 days) and increases in number of leaves plant^-1 (13.6), leaf area plant^-1 (5494 cm2), leaf area index (3.0) and plant height (218.2 cm). CS-200 had superior vegetative growth compared to Azam in terms of plant height (218.4 cm), leaf area (5501 cm2) and leaf area index (3.0). Vegetative growth was generally better for application at V8 than VT. The findings indicate that application of SA 300 mg L^-1, especially at V8, can have a beneficial effect on vegetative growth of spring maize in Peshawar agro-ecology.