Document Type : Research Article
Authors
1
Msc. of Ecology (Agroecology) Department, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran
2
Assistant Professor, Department of Plant Production and Genetics, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Engineering, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran
3
Department of Plant Production and Genetics, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran.
4
Associate Professor, Department of Soil Science, Razi University, Kermanshah
5
Professor, Department of Plant Production and Genetics, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Engineering, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran
Abstract
Introduction
Optimum yield production in rainfed cultivation directly depends on the amount of rainfall and moisture storage in the soil. The tillage system directly affects the moisture storage and the physical and chemical properties of the soil, and choosing the right tillage system affects the yield of the product. Oilseeds are particularly important among crops, forming the second-largest food reserves in the world after grains. These products are rich in fatty acids. Today, the oil extraction and production industry is one of the most strategic industries in most countries. Iran has vast arable lands and favorable fields for cultivating oilseeds. Still, according to the available statistics, more than 80% of the country's required oil is supplied from abroad. Considering that our country needs more and better quality oil products on the one hand, and the other hand, is involved in climate issues and problems such as consecutive droughts, it seems that the cultivation and development of plants with fewer water requirements and high resistance and providing management methods and appropriate fertilizer in line with conservation agriculture is a suitable solution to increase crop yields and maintain and increase soil quality in the long term. For this purpose and considering the value of oilseed cultivation, an experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of tillage and fertilization on the yield and components of safflower yield in rainy conditions.
Materials and Methods
The experiment was carried out as split plots in a basic design of random complete blocks, with three replications in rainfed conditions. The treatments included tillage systems (conventional tillage, reduced tillage, and no-tillage) as the main factor and NPK fertilizer (a mixture of urea, triple superphosphate, and potassium sulfate) at four levels of zero, 33, 66, and 100% as a secondary factor. Potassium and phosphorus fertilization and 50% of nitrogen fertilizer were used at the same time as planting, and the remaining 50% of nitrogen fertilizer was used four months after planting. Each block had three main plots; the distance between each block was 3 meters, and between the main plots was 2 meters. In each main plot, four sub-plots were created, and the distance between the sub-plots was 1 meter. The area of the main plots was 21 × 15 meters, and the area of each sub-plot was 4.5 ×15 meters. The amount of seed used for safflower was 25 kg per hectare. The safflower seeds were sown in 5 rows and planted at a distance of 50 cm and a distance between plants of 10 cm. In all the stages of planting, holding, and harvesting, all agricultural management was carried out based on the traditional management of the studied area and in the farmer's way. The final sampling or harvesting was done manually in the physiological treatment stage. Before analyzing the variance of the data, the normality test of the data was performed. In this research, the LSD test was used to compare the mean at the 5% probability level, Excel software was used to draw graphs, and SAS 9.4 software was used to analyze the data.
Results and Discussion
The research showed that the traits examined, including leaf area index, dry matter content, thousand seed weight, seed yield, and biological yield, were affected by the tillage system, fertilizer, and their interaction effect. The highest safflower seed yield of 195.6 g/m2 was obtained from the fertilizer ratio of 33% and conventional tillage, and the lowest seed yield of 116.2 g/m2 was obtained from no-tillage and no fertilizer use. The results showed that the conventional tillage system had better results than low-tillage and no-tillage. The results showed that in reduced tillage and no-tillage, the changing trend of safflower plant leaf area index was not much different, and only in safflower, the 100% fertilizer ratio in reduced tillage had a more significant effect than no tillage. Also in the condition of no fertilizer use in no-tillage, the leaf area index was lower. The use of fertilizer increased the biological yield of the plant, but the effect of this use in conventional tillage was higher than in reduced tillage and no-tillage. Consumption of 33% of the fertilizer required by the plant under conventional tillage conditions caused the highest biological yield in the safflower plant. So, the biological performance of safflower increased by 94% compared to the control.
Conclusions
In most of the examined traits, the application of 33 and 66% of the fertilizer requirement caused the best results, and the 100% fertilizer ratio left adverse effects, which indicates the lower fertilizer requirement of this cultivar in the studied conditions compared to cultivars in other regions. Since the research was conducted in rainy years, conventional tillage was better than low tillage. It is suggested that this plant's production amount be evaluated under different irrigation conditions and moisture limitations so that tillage systems and management methods can be examined and selected more carefully.
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