The Effect of Cropping Pattern and Different Levels of Nitrogen on Morphological Characteristics, Photosynthetic Pigments and Nutritional Elements of Sunflower Seed (Helianthus annuus L.)

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of crop arrangement and different levels of nitrogen on the morphological characteristics, photosynthetic pigments, and nutrients of sunflower seeds, as a split plot experiment in a RCBD design with three replications in 2021. The main plots included five different patterns of spatial arrangement (square, normal rectangle, wide rectangle, triangular, and mixed cultivation systems). Different levels of nitrogen chemical fertilizer (urea) in three levels (application of 100, 75, and 50% of the plant's fertilizer requirement) were placed in sub-plots. The results showed that the maximum leaf width (40.3 cm), leaf area index (4.64), number of leaves (29.2), stem diameter (3.95 cm), and plant height (177.3 cm) were obtained from the treatment of triangular planting arrangement. In addition, the triangular planting arrangement and then the square planting arrangement had the highest content of chlorophylls and carotenoids compared to the other planting arrangements, and the lowest content of chlorophylls and carotenoids were observed in the wide rectangular planting arrangement. Moreover, the results showed that the maximum protein, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium of sunflower seeds were obtained in the triangular planting arrangement (17.15, 2.98, 0.54, and 1.73%, respectively), and no significant difference was observed in the triangular planting arrangement between different levels of nitrogen. Generally, the triangular crop arrangement by improving the growth characteristics of sunflower resulted in maximum grain yield and 50% reduction in urea consumption, because the yield of sunflower in the mentioned treatment did not show a significant difference with the application of 100% urea fertilizer; Therefore, the triangular cultivation arrangement is introduced as the best cultivation system for sunflower.