Evaluation of Weed Management Practices for Rain‐Fed Safflower Production in a Semiarid Mediterranean Environment

Abstract

Since safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) has slow early growth, effective early weed control is essential. The objective of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of various nonchemical and chemical practices for weed management in rain‐fed safflower. Field experiments were performed for three production years in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon. Six weed management practices were tested: delayed sowing, delayed sowing with interrow cultivation, normal sowing with interrow cultivation, preemergence herbicide, hand weeding, and the normal sowing weedy check. Averaged over 1999–2000 and 2000–2001, weeds were absent with herbicide application and there were as few as <4 weed plants m−2 in delayed sowing with interrow cultivation and hand weeding. Interrow cultivation under normal sowing, herbicide application, and hand weeding gave higher safflower seed and straw yields than the weedy check. Over the three production years, only interrow cultivation under normal sowing and hand weeding produced higher safflower seed and straw yields than the weedy check. In conclusion, interrow cultivation under normal sowing could be considered the best practice; application of pendimethalin and pronamide was also superior to delay sowing.