THE EFFECT OF DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ON YIELD AND OIL RATES OF SAFFLOWER (CARTHAMUS TINCTORIUS L.)

` Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) is an important vegetable oil plant for human consumption and alternative bioenergy source. Also, this plant is used for the evaluation of fallow and marginal land areas in the world. This study was carried out to determine the yield traits of 8 safflower cultivars (Yenice, Dincer, Remzibey, Balci, Linas, Ayaz, Olas and Asol) in two marginal locations (Kirsehir and Kirikkale) in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey in 2015. According to the results, yield and oil rates of safflower cultivars varied significantly in different ecologies with respect to yield and oil rate parameters. Results showed that plant height, head diameter, number of seeds per head and 1000-grain weight varied between 54.09 - 81.00 cm, 2.05 - 2.33 cm, 16.27 - 31.03 and 36.00 - 46.74 g, respectively. Crude oil rate and crude oil yield ranged from 27.93 - 38.91% and 394.8 - 744.3 kg ha(-1). Dincer variety had the highest seed yield with 2.08 t ha(-1), followed by Linas cultivar with 1.85 t ha(-1) for both environmental conditions. In marginal areas, Remzibey (2.07 t ha(-1)) and Yenice (2.06 t ha(-1)) cultivars also produced higher yields nearly similar to those of Dincer and Linas cultivars. To conclude, Dincer and Linas cultivars can be suggested for both dry and marginal environmental conditions, while Remzibey and Yenice cultivars can be offered for salty marginal conditions.