Evaluation of foliar Fe, Zn and B micronutrients application on quantitative and qualitative traits of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.)

In order to evaluate the effects of foliar micronutrients on quantitative and qualitative yield of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.), a field experiment was carried out at Research Farm of Agricultural Faculty, Zabol University during growing season of 2005-2006. The experiment performed based on RCBD with 3 replications and 7 treatments including: Fe, Zn, B, pair combination of them and control. Foliar application of Fe (as FeSO4) in 0.004, Zn (as ZnSO4) in 0.003 and B (as H3BO3) in 0.002 was used two times, before flowering and after pollination. The results showed significant differences in plant height, seed yield and biological, thousand seed weight, harvest index and percentages of protein and oil due to application of foliar micronutrients, but number of seeds per capitol was not affected by foliar. The maximum seed yield, plant height and thousand seed weight were relevant to Fe treatment and the maximum number of fertile capitol per plant, protein percentage were relevant to Zn treatments and the maximum oil percentage was relevant to Zn-Fe pair combination at foliar micronutrient application. In general, application of micronutrients had positive effects on quantitative and qualitative traits of safflower.