BACKGROUND: Water deficit is considered among the abiotic stresses most impacting agriculture for its ability to interfere with crop development and quality.OBJECTIVES: Practices and innovations that could contain the deleterious effects of such stress with copper and manganese are importance for maintaining acceptable crop yields. In this study water deficit stress (end of irrigation at initiation of corn formation) on maize seedlings and the effects of Cu++ and Mn++, the accumulation of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and lipid peroxidation products (MDA), total markers compounds (8-oH-dg), were investigated in control samples, in samples treated with CuSo4 alone, and in samples treated with MnSO4.METHODS: The experiment was conducted to split split plot based on randomized complete block design such as water deficit in main plot (normal and end of irrigation at initiation of corn formation), copper sulphate (0, 15 and 30 kg.ha-1) in sub plots and manganese (0, 10, 20 and 30 kg.ha-1) which foliar application at 50 and 60 days after sowing with three replicates, respectively.RESULT: The results showed that Cu++ and Mn++ significantly mitigated the impact of the water deficit stress on seed yield and ChlA, ChlB and reduced the chemical markers activity. Regarding the oxidative status these elements revealed lower amounts of 8-oH-dg and MDA, while maize seedlings grown with water deficit alone exhibited the highest increases in reactive oxygen species. The explanation for these effects is provided by highlighting the effectiveness of the elements in avoiding to oxidative stress, which resulted in a lower content of H2O2, MDA and 8-oH-dg activity.CONCLUSION: Thus the content of malondialdehyde (MDA) and 8-oH-dg (Di hydroxy guanosine) was significant decreased by Cu (15 kg.ha-1) and Mn (20 kg.ha-1) in comparison with other treatments. Manuscript profile