Assesment of Foliar Micronutrient Fertilization on Leaf and Crop Growth Attributes in Sweet Corn (Zea Mays L. saccharata)

Micronutrients are critical for the development of plants and play major role in enhancing both quantitative and qualitative crop yield. To examine the impact of foliar fertilization with micronutrients on various crop growth attributes, an experiment was conducted during kharif season of 2020 and 2021. Foliar spray with different combinations of zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, and manganese sulfate was done at 20 and 40 days after sowing. Increased plant height, leaf area index, leaf weight ratio, leaf area ratio, specific leaf weight, specific leaf area, crop growth rate, relative growth rate, and net assimilation rate were observed. Positive effect of foliar spray was observed in all parameters through all treatments. But, the overall maximum effect was observed in the treatment of foliar spray with T9 (0.2% FeSO4 +0.5% ZnSO4) followed by T7 (0.2% FeSO4 +0.2% ZnSO4) and T8 (0.5% FeSO4 and 0.2% ZnSO4). Given the positive effect of zinc, iron and manganese micronutrients on leaf and crop growth attributes, these treatments are suggested to be applied for the development of sweet corn.