Effect of zinc sulfate and salicylic acid foliar application on morphological characteristics and yield of safflower under drought stress

In order to evaluate the foliar application of zinc sulfate and salicylic acid effects on morphology and yield of safflower Carthamus tinctorius L. (cv. sofeh) under drought stress in Yasouj، a factorial experiment based on a randomized complete block design with four replications was conducted Yasouj University in 2012. The factors consist of three levels of drought stress، watering at 3 levels of consumption 10%، 30% and 60% of available water، respectively، as the levels of stress، mild stress and severe stress and foliar application in 5 levels، including control، salicylic acid (0. 5، 1 and 1. 5 Mm) and zinc sulfate (3 g l-1)، respectively. The results showed that drought and foliar application interaction for number of heads، the number of fertile seeds per head، seed weight and yield were significant and other traits were non-significant. Drought stress reduced، but foliar application of zinc and salicylic acid increased the grain yield. The highest grain yield per plant at 30% and 60% moisture content were achieved by 0. 5 Mm salicylic acid foliar applications. The highest grain yield in plant at 10% (FC) water availability was shown by zinc sulfate the foliar application. At all drought stress levels، the highest grain weight obtained by zinc sulfate foliar application and the highest fertile head number in 10 and 60 percent of water availability related the foliar applied concentration of 1Mm salicylic acid. The highest number of grains per head in 60% water availability belonged to 1. 5Mm salicylic acid foliar applications.