Improving the Productivity of Yellow Corn Varieties Using Foliar Spraying with Micronutrients within an Integrated Nutrient Management System

An experiment of enhancing the productivity of the yellow maize varieties by applying foliar sprays of micronutrients in an integrated nutrient management system in a field in Al-Mahawil District, Babil Governorate, was carried out in the 2024-2025 growing season. The design was a randomized complete block design (RCBD) split-plot and having three replications. There were two factors within the experiment. Three types of yellow maize varieties (V1, V2 and V3) were used first, namely Sarah, Maha and Fajr. The second factor contained four combinations of micronutrients, which were named F0, F1, F2 and F3. The results of the study revealed a decisive advantage of variety V3 in all the vegetative, physiological, and productive traits. It obtained an average height of the plant of 184.73 cm, number of leaves per plant of 16, 235 -1, leaf area of the plant per 588.6 cm, and the chlorophyll index of 46.15 SPAD. The same variety also recorded an average 500-grain weight of 136.99 g, total grain yield of 6.182 tons ha -1 and a biological yield of 16.69 tons ha -1 which testifies to the high genetic efficiency of this variety in attaining balanced growth and high productivity. Treatment F3 (largest concentration of micronutrients) was significantly more superior in all traits under study with an average plant height of 188.96 cm, 16,544 leaves per plant minus one, leaf area of 612.6 cm 2 per plant minus one, and a chlorophyll index of 47.89 SPAD. The weight of 500 grains averaged 136.16 g, the total grain yield was 6.198 tons ha and the biological yield was 17.1 tons ha was a positive indication of the influence of the micronutrients in enhancing the physiological efficiency and productivity of the given plant.