Effect of Salinity and Sowing Method on Yield, Yield Component and Oil Content of Two Cultivars of Spring Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.)

In order to study the effects of salinity stress and sowing method on yield, yield component and oil percentage in two spring safflower a field experiment was conducted at Research Station of College of Agriculture, Shiraz University. The experimental design was a split split plot based on Randomized Complete Block with three replications. Treatment were two cultivars (Goldasht and Isfahan 14) as main plot and four salinity levels (.4, 5.9, 7.3 and 9.1 dS m-1) as sub plot and two sowing method (furrow and ridges) as sub-sub plot. Results showed that with increasing salinity seed yield and its component (capitula number per plant, seed number per capitula, capitula weight per plant and 1000-seed weight) were significantly decreased. The highest seed yield (2265.43 Kg ha-1) obtained at. 4 dS m-1 level and the lowest seed yield (1559.19 Kg ha-1) achieved at 9.1dSm-1 salinity level. The cultivar Isfahan 14 as compared with Goldasht cultivar was found more salt tolerant and in all of levels of salinity has higher seed yield. With increasing salinity, oil percentage of two cultivars decreased but this reduction in Isfahan 14 by (22.7 percent) lower than Goldasht cultivar. Seed yield in furrow sowing was higher by (4.7 percent) than ridge sowing. It seems that the modification of sowing method and selection cultivar are two agents that can be used as a way of alleviating the adverse effect of salinity on growth and yield.