Enhancing Hybrid Maize Performance and Yield Through Potassium Sulfate Fertilization: A Field-Based Assessment

Maize is the third most important cereal crop in the world due to its exceptional productivity and adaptability. The study was performed to evaluate the effects of potassium sulfate fertilizer on growth, physiological traits, yield, and its components of three single crosses of maize over two growing seasons. A field experiment was conducted at the agronomy experimental farm, Assiut University, Egypt, using a strip-plot design with three replications. Treatments included four potassium sulfate rates (0, 60, 120, and 180 kg ha−1) and three maize hybrids (SC2031, SC2036, SC168). The results revealed significant combined analysis of variance for potassium sulfate levels and hybrids on most of the studied traits. The hybrid SC2036, when fertilized with 120 kg K/ha, is especially suitable for achieving high productivity under the tested agro-environmental conditions. The path and principal component analysis results highlight that ear diameter and leaf number are the most influential traits for grain yield improvement for all tested crosses. Traits such as chlorophyll content and 1000-grain weight contributed mainly through indirect path effects. The path analysis also underlines hybrid-specific differences in how yield components affect grain yield per plant. These results highlight that the integration of nutrient management, hybrid selection, and multivariate analysis provides a comprehensive strategy for improving maize productivity.