Drought stress significantly hampers maize growth and productivity, especially in drylands. This study evaluated the potential of nano seed-coating enriched with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) to improve maize performance under drought stress. A split-plot randomized complete block design was used with two field capacities (100% and 60% FC) and four seed coating treatments: control, Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles (NPs), AMF, and Fe₃O₄ NPs+AMF. Results showed that Fe₃O₄ NPs enriched with AMF improved physiological traits such as photosynthetic rate and leaf relative water content while reducing proline accumulation under drought conditions. Although seed coating treatments did not significantly enhance yield parameters, a positive trend was observed, with higher cob weight and kernel weight per cob compared to the control. Pearson correlation analysis revealed strong positive correlations between kernel weight per cob and multiple growth and physiological parameters, as well as a strong negative correlation with proline content. These findings suggest that seed coating with Fe₃O₄ NPs and AMF can potentially enhance maize drought resilience through physiological improvements, warranting further field-scale validation.