Improving Maize Yield with Advancing Planting Time and Nano-Silicon Foliar Spray Alone or Combined with Zinc

A two years field experiment was carried out to determine the effect of planting time and foliar application of zinc (Zn) and nano silicon particle (NSP) on maize. SPAD value, leaf area index, grain quality and quantity of maize were evaluated at Haji Abad-e-Hormozgan Agriculture Research center, Hormozgan, Iran during the 2018 and 2019 growing seasons Planting time (on time and delayed planting) and foliar treatment including: no application, application of NSP, application of Zn, and application of NSP + Zn were the treatments group. At 50% tasseling, the plants measured for leaf greenness (Spad) and leaf area index. The main effects of planting time and foliar treatments significantly influenced all traits except stearic acid and oil percentage in foliar application. In addition, the interaction effect of planting time and foliar treatments showed that the SPAD, grain yield, oil yield and linoleic acid were observed with on-time planting and NSP + Zn application. Averaged across foliar treatment, leaf area index, grain weight, oil percentage, biological yield and oleic acid decreased by delay in planting date and the highest of these traits achieved from on-time planting. Increase in the linoleic acid content by delay planting and high temperature, results in decreased quality of maize meal, which is greatly influenced by Zn, NSP and environmental factors. The current findings suggest that Zn or NSP + Zn can be recommended for on-time planting to increase the grain yield of maize plants by 33% and 37% than control, respectively.