Best Planting Time of Safflower in Southern Iran

S. Motelipour, M.J. Bahrani, L. Joukar and K. Jelali

Abstract

The effects of six plating dates (Sept. 22, Oct. 6, Oct. 22, Nov. 5, Nov. 21 & Dec. 5) were evaluated on an autumn safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) cultivar, namely Zarghan 279 in 3 years (1995-98) at Fars Agric. Exp. Sta., Shiraz, Iran. The experiments were conducted as complete block design with 4 replications. Results showed that the highest seed (1276 kg ha-1) and oil (330 kg ha-1) yields were obtained when it was planted in Oct. 22 and the lowest seed and oil yields were obtained in Nov. 21. The sooned the planting time the more rapidly it emerged and seed numbers head-1 and plant height were higher. The higher the 1000-seed weight, the more seeds were also present in each head.