INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE & BIOLOGY ISSN Print: 1560–8530; ISSN Online: 1814–9596 16–0100/2016/18–5–1025–1032 DOI: 10.17957/IJAB/15.0204 http://www.fspublishers.org Full Length Article To cite this paper: Anees, M.A., A. Ali, U. Shakoor, F. Ahmed, Z. Hasnain and A. Hussain, 2016. Foliar applied potassium and zinc enhances growth and yield performance of maize under rainfed conditions. Int. J. Agric. Biol., 18: 1025‒1032 Foliar Applied Potassium and Zinc Enhances Growth and Yield Performance of Maize under Rainfed Conditions Muhammad Abbas Anees 1 , Abid Ali 1* , Usman Shakoor 2 , Farooq Ahmed 1 , Zuhair Hasnain 3 and Anwaar Hussain 4 1 Department of Agronomy, Pir Mehr Ali Shah-Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi, Pakistan 2 Department of Management Sciences, COMSATS Institute of Information & Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan 3 Department of Agronomy, Attock Campus, Pir Mehr Ali Shah-Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi, Pakistan 4 Department of Soil Science and Water Conservation, Pir Mehr Ali Shah-Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi, Pakistan * For correspondence: abid.aayan.ali@gmail.com Abstract A field experiment was conducted for two years (2013 and 2014) to study the effect of foliar spray of potassium and zinc on maize crop under rainfed environment. Nine treatments were examined as: control, recommended rate of zinc (RRZn) to soil @ 15 kg Zn2SO4 ha -1 , foliar zinc spray (FZS) @ 0.1%, recommended rate of potassium to soil (RRK) @ 75 kg K2O ha -1 , RRK + RRZn, RRK+ FZS, foliar potassium spray (FKS) at 1% concentration, FKS + RRZn, FKS + FZS. The experiments were arranged in split plot with three replications. All integrated and individual foliar sprays of potassium and zinc surpassed all other treatments. Among all foliar treatments, integrated use of foliar potassium and zinc spray at 25 and 50 days after sowing (DAS) @ 1.0 and 0.1%, respectively enhanced all plant growth, yield, physiological and quality traits of maize. The highest 1000 grain weight (g) and grain yield (kg ha -1 ) were recorded under the combined foliar spray of potassium and zinc (FKS + FZS), followed by FKS + RRZn and RRK+ FZS. Greater net benefit and benefit cost ration were examined under all foliar sprays. Foliar spray of potassium and zinc is a fertilizer use efficient technique for increasing the maize yield attributes and net income under rainfed conditions. © 2016 Friends Science Publishers Keywords: Foliar spray; Potassium and zinc; Grain yield; Crop growth rate; Maize; Rainfed conditions Introduction Potassium plays a vital role in enhancing the yield and quality of maize grain. Many physiological processes of plants, affecting plant growth and yield such as photosynthesis, activation of enzymes, plant water relation and assimilation are affected by potassium application. Potassium is an important nutrient as nitrogen and phosphorus for grain crops (Ahmed et al., 2006; Pettigrew, 2008). It significantly affect protein synthesis, enzyme activation, osmoregulation, photosynthesis, stomatal movement, phloem transport, energy transfer, cation-anion balance and stress resistance (Marschner, 2012). The deficiency symptoms of potassium apparently have been not shown on maize crop but the yield decreases drastically, if there is severe deficiency then symptoms also can be observed (Ahmad et al., 2012). Soils in Pakistan are generally considered rich in potassium but increase in cropping intensity, extensive removal of straw from the field, excessive use of tube well water and soil applied K get fixed with clay minerals have resulted in considerable exhaust of soil potassium (Malik et al., 1989; Abid et al., 2016). Moreover, the price of fertilizers is getting higher and become expensive to the farmers. Zinc is essential for biosynthesis of the carbonic enzyme required for chlorophyll biosynthesis (Xi-Wen et al., 2011; Mousavi, 2011; Rehman et al., 2012). Zinc availability from the soil solution to growing plants depends on the soil factors because these factors influence the sorption and desorption of zinc in the soil solution to manage the amount of zinc in the soil (Alloway, 2008). If seed has higher amount of zinc it performs many beneficial roles in the germination and in early establishment (Cakmak, 2008). Zinc application in maize improves photosynthetic rate, chlorophyll synthesis, metabolism of nitrogen and resistance to a biotic and biotic stresses (Ali et al., 2008; Mousavi, 2011; Yosefi et al., 2011). Inadequate supply of Zn drastically decreased the yield returns growing under temperate regions of maize (Subedi and Ma, 2009). Zinc deficiency is more prominent in semi-arid regions of the world having calcareous soils (Alloway, 2008; Akay, 2011). Soils with low organic matter are more susceptible to zinc deficiency (Alloway, 2009). Zn deficiency is observed in crops like rice and maize which result in reduction of crop growth and yield attributes (Mousavi, 2011; Yosefi et al., 2011). The demand of macro and micro nutrients such as potash and zinc is increasing day by day because of