Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) production and research in southern Australia

 Knights, S.E., Wachsmann, N.G. and Norton, R.M.

 Abstract

A number of challenging issues face farmers in the southern cropping zone of Australia. These include extending cropping into high rainfall environments prone to waterlogging, managing herbicide resistant weeds, producing crops on sodic and saline subsoils and the need for additional break crops, especially in areas affected by the root lesion nematodes, Pratylenchus spp.

The major safflower production area in Australia is in Victoria where it is grown mainly as an opportunity crop, sown in years of high winter rainfall which result in delayed sowing of crops until late winter or spring. This means that safflower is sown into sub-optimal conditions with little consideration given to its wider and continuing role as a crop in sustainable cropping systems. Safflower has many features that may address the above-mentioned issues. For example, safflower has an extended sowing window (July to October), is salt tolerant, has a deep taproot, and appears to be resistant to Pratylenchus neglectus and P. thornei.  Because of these features, safflower may have certain tactical roles in southern Australian farming systems that may have wider benefits to the whole rotation. As there has been no research on safflower in Australia for over 10 years, it is now timely to assess the role safflower may play in addressing some of the emerging issues in southern Australian farming systems. This paper will discuss current safflower production and research that is underway in southern Australia.

 Key words: safflower, Australia, research, production, tactical crop