1Federal State Budget Scientific Institution Federal Scientific Centre of Agroecology, Complex Melioration and Protective Afforestation of the Russian Academy of Sciences (FSC of Agroecology RAS), Volgograd, Russia
Safflower is an oil seed crop that can form seeds in extreme conditions, so it can be used as an alternative to sunflower because their growing technologies are similar. Weeds cause significant damage to the safflower crop. The safflower crop does not tolerate chemicals used to control weeds, so the study was devoted to alternative methods of weed control in its crops, namely the effect of seeding rates on weed infestation and seed yield. The goal is optimal seeding rate and its effect on weed infestation of safflower crops.
The experimental site was laid out on the right bank of the Volga River, Kamyshinsky district, Volgograd region, in a dry steppe zone of chestnut soils with a hydrothermal coefficient of 0.6-0.4. Safflower seeds were sown with three seeding rates: 25, 30, 35 kg/ha in triplicate, with row spacing of 15 cm. The experimental results were presented graphically and processed by dispersion analysis.
The research results showed that in the area with a sowing rate of 35 kg/ha of viable seeds there was the least weed in the safflower crops, and the seed yield was higher than in other areas with lower sowing rates. Statistical analysis determined that the seeding rate has a 51.1% effect on safflower yield.
Crops, Safflower, Seeding rate, Weeds, Yield
