Prospects
of Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) Production In Dryland Areas of Iran
Akhtar
Beg, Hussain Hatamzade,
and Mustafa Pala
Abstract
In
Iran, national production of edible oil is insufficient to meet the demand.
Thus, increasing the area of oil crops utilizing fallow land is very important.
The winter rains in the highland areas of Iran start when temperatures are low
and crops like safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) either cannot
germinate, or if planted after the rains, germination is low and crop stand poor
due to frequent frost events. Alternatives are early planting in September (with
initial irrigation) so that the crop is at the rosette stage by the time the low
temperatures with frost events occur, or planting in the spring when average
temperatures are above 5 0 C. However the spring-planted crop often
faces drought at the end of the growth cycle, that can considerably reduce
yield. Thus, in this last instance, there may be a need for supplementary
irrigation during very dry years. Two trials were conducted to evaluate the
potential of safflower under rainfed conditions in Iran. The first trial was to
evaluate 24 lines of safflower for the seed yield potential as a spring crop
during the 1999/2000 season in the Northwest of Iran, at the Agricultural
Research Station, Sararood, Kermanshah. The second trial was conducted to assess
the response to a minimum supplementary irrigation during April, May, or June.
Planting was done on 23rd February, and harvesting on 8th
August 2000. The average yield of lines and varieties from the first
trial was 0.48 t/ha, i.e., from 0.38 t/ha for Cyprus Local to 0.79 t/ha for
Lesaf 34. The yield of some safflower varieties gave a better economic return
than winter crops such as wheat, barley and chickpea grown in the area. The
results from the second trial have shown that yields are not significantly
affected by an irrigation of about 20 mm, because of the high evapotranspiration
during the end of spring. There was 300 mm of precipitation during the 1999/2000
growing season compared to the long-term average of 478 mm. The yields obtained
for spring-sown safflower are thus very promising, particularly as a fallow
replacement and to replace edible oil imports.
Key words: Iron, safflower, Carthamus tinctorius L., spring-sown, edible oil, irrigation