A field experiment was carried out during the winter (Rabi) seasons of 20132014 and 2014- 2015 at Agricultural Research Farm, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi to study the mitigating effect of salicylic acid on biochemical and antioxidant enzymes in maize genotypes i.e., HUZM-185 (tolerant) and HUZM-80-1 (sensitive) under low temperature stress. The experiment was laid out in split plot design comprised eight treatment combinations in three replications. Seeds were primed with salicylic acid (SA) @ 20ppm and 40ppm along with hydro (distilled water) for overnight and dry seeds as control before both sowing i.e., normal and delay sowing conditions. Observations were recorded at 20, 40 and 60 days after sowing viz., malondialdehyde content (MDA), hydrogen peroxide content (H2O2), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POX) activities in both normal and delay sowing. It was found that tolerant genotype with 20ppm salicylic acid significantly reduced MDA and H2O2 production and enhanced antioxidants (SOD, CAT and POX) levels as compared to sensitive genotype on normal and delay sowing. The deleterious effect of low temperature stress was cope up by enhancing SOD, CAT and POX activities in delay sowing as compare to normal sowing condition.