The effect of foliar application of yeast and seaweed extract on the yield and quality of safflower seeds (Carthamus tinctorius) under drought stress condition

In order to study the effect of foliar application of yeast and seaweed extract on the yield and quality of safflower seeds under drought stress conditions, an experiment was conducted in the research farm of the Faculty of Agriculture of Azad University, Sanandaj branch in 2018. The experiment was carried out as split plots in the form of randomized complete blocks design in three replications. The main factor was water stress at two levels (control: no stress or full irrigation and the stress of interruption of irrigation from the stemming stage to the end of the growing season) and the second factor was foliar spraying of growth stimulants in three types (control: distilled water, yeast and seaweed extract). The results showed that the traits of number of pods per plant, number of seeds per plant, weight of 1000 seeds, seed yield and protein percentage were significantly different under the influence of irrigation interruption stress. So that all the mentioned traits, without protein percentage, decreased under the influence of irrigation interruption. The percentage of protein also increased under the influence of irrigation interruption. Also, in this experiment, foliar spraying of growth stimulants showed a significant effect on the traits of number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod and seed yield. So that the maximum values of the above traits were obtained under the influence of yeast extract foliar spraying. The results of interaction effects were also significant regarding the number of heads per plant and the maximum amount was obtained under the influence of full irrigation and foliar spraying of yeast and seaweed extract.