EFFECTS OF DEFICIT IRRIGATION REGIMES ON YIELD AND GROWTH COMPONENTS OF WINTER SAFFLOWER (CARTHAMUS TINCTORIUS L.)

A field study was carried out in order to determine the effect of deficit irrigation regimes on grain yield, seasonal evapotranspiration and plant growth components of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) in Thrace Region of Turkey. The field trials were conducted on a clay loam EntisoI soil, on Dincer, the most popular variety in the research area. A randomised complete block design with three replications was used. Combination of three well-known growth stages of the plant, namely vegetative (V), flowering (F) and yield formation (Y) were considered to form a total of 8 (including rain fed) irrigation treatments. The effect of irrigation and water stress at any stage of development on grain yield per hectare, thousand grains weight, and plant growth components were evaluated. Results showed that safflower was significantly affected by water stress during the sensitive vegetative stage. The highest yield was obtained in VFY treatment. Seasonal irrigation water use and evapotranspiration were 367 and 857 mm, respectively, for the non-stressed treatment. Safflower grain yield of this treatment was 3.68 t ha(-1) and weight of thousand grains was 46 g. The seasonal yield-water response factor value was 0.94. The total water use eff iciency was 4.3 kg ha(-1) mm(-1).