Mitigating Climate Change Effects on Maize Production through Sowing Time Alteration and Hormonal Application

Field experiment was carried out at Agronomy Research Farm, The University of Agriculture Peshawar to study the impact of different sowing times and foliar application of salicylic acid on maize production. The research was carried out in randomized complete block design with split arrangement having three replications with plot size of 3.75 m x 4 m, with plant to plant distance of 25 cm and row to row distance of 75 cm. The experiment consisted of four sowing dates (25th May, 14th June, 4th July and 24th July) allotted to main plots, while CS 200 (Hybrid) and Azam and different levels of salicylic acid (0 mg L-1, 100 mg L-1, 200 mg L-1 and 300 mg L-1) were assigned to subplots. Maize sown on 14th June resulted in maximum grains ear(-1) (429.7), 1000 grains weight (274.6 g), leaf area index (2.3), leaf area plant(-1) (3513.5 cm(2)), biological yield (10597 kg ha(-1)) and grain yield (4268 kg ha(-1)). Salicylic acid @ 300 mg L-1 resulted in maximum grains earl (456.3), thousand grains weight (285.8 g), biological yield (10579.5 kg ha(-1)) and grain yield (4200.7 kg ha(-1)). Hybrid resulted in maximum grain yield (4801.1 kg ha(-1)), biological yield (11230 kg ha(-1)) and 1000 grains weight (318.1 g). The interaction between salicylic acid x varieties for chlorophyll content and grains earl were found significant. It is concluded that maize CS-200 sown on 14th June along with foliar application of 300 mg L-1 of salicylic acid produced maximum yield and yield components.