Effect of Organic Fertilizer and Plants Thinning Date on Growth and Yield of Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.)

Abstract

A field explore was done throughout the colder time of year time of 2021-2022 at two destinations, first at agricultural research and experiments station of Department of field crops/ Faculty of Agriculture and forestry-Mosul University and second at Badush dam to concentrate on reaction of safflower harvest to various degrees of organic fertilizer and plants thinning date in growth and yield qualities. The study included three levels of organic fertilizer (4, 8, 12 t/ha) and three dates for thinning plants (20, 30, 40 days from planting). Experiment was carried out according to randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. The results showed that the fertilizer level exceeded 30 t/ha significantly in plant height, number of branches / plant, leaf area, number of heads/ plant, 1000-seed weight, seed yield, Percentage of oil and oil yield in both study sites, while the fertilizer level exceeded 15 t/ha in number of seeds/head. Date of thinning of plants after 20 days after planting significantly exceeded in the characteristics of number of branches / plant, leaf area, number of heads/ plant, number of seeds/ head, 1000-seed weight, seed yield, Percentage of oil and oil yield at both study sites, while the date of thinning after 40 days after planting exceeded in plant height. Interference between the fertilizer level exceeded 30 t/ha with the date of thinning of plants 20 days after planting in the characteristics of leaf area and seed yield.