The effect of deficit irrigation methods on growth characteristics and water productivity of safflower under Arid climate

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) is a multipurpose crop that is widely grown in arid and semi-arid regions of the world, mainly to produce high-quality edible oil rich in unsaturated fatty acids. The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) and partial root zone drying (PRD) methods on yield, yield components and water productivity efficiency of safflower. This study was conducted in the Experimental Research Station located in Agricultural and Natural Resources Sciences University of Khuzestan during the 2020 to 2021 and 2021 to 2022 growing seasons. The experiment was designed as a completely randomized block with one control treatment (Conventional irrigation) and 4 deficit irrigation treatments and in four replications. The results showed that the different irrigation methods had a significant and decreasing effect on plant height, number of seeds per plant, thousand seed weight, seed yield, biological yield and oil yield traits. Comparing RDI80 and PRD80 treatments, the highest seed yield (3.4 tons/ha) and oil yield (845.7 kg/ha) and the highest value of water productivity index was obtained from RDI80 treatment. Also, comparing RDI60 and PRD60 treatments, the highest seed yield (2.2 tons/ha) and oil yield (584 kg/ha) was obtained from PRD60 treatment. Therefore, according to the obtained results, it is recommended to use the RDI80 regulated deficit irrigation method to reduce 20% and the PRD60 partial root zone drying method to save 40% of water requirement for safflower cultivation in hot and dry areas with limited water resources.