Technology of safflower cultivation in ameliorated rice agricultural landscapes in Sarpa Lowlands

Abstract

The field survey results of developing the technology for the safflower cultivation in ameliorated rice agricultural landscapes in Sarpa Lowlands, which can provide both the rational use of moisture reserves after the rice cultivation and the oilseed crop yield of 1.0–1.5 t/ha have been reported. The regulations of the production process and the yield improvement in the safflower-adapted varieties used at different seeding rates and row spacing widths have been studied. The optimun agrocenosis structure is determined to realize the productive potential capacity of the safflower varieties in the rice crop rotations with the use of residual moisture reserves after the rice cultivation. The highest oilseed crop yields can be achieved with the use of the seeding rates at 350000 and 400000 units/ha and the row spacing width of 15 cm; they comprised 1.19–1.61, 1.15–1.47, and 1.32–1.78 t/ha for the varieties Astrakhan 747, Kamyshin 73, and Zavolzhskii 1, respectively. It was ascertained that the greatest leaf surface area in the sufflower varieties was formed during the flowering phase; it averaged 19800–28600 m²/ha for all the varieties over the years of the surveys. The analysis of the economic efficiency has proven the feasibility of the safflower production in the Sarpa Lowland rice crop rotations.