Productivity potential and yield gaps of safflower cultivars in Andhra Pradesh.

Abstract

Safflower, (Carthamus tinctorius L.) is one of humanity's oldest oilseed crops grown traditionally for its flowers for dyes and oil for culinary and industrial use. It is a hardy crop grown on residual moisture during winter season in black clayey soils. In India, safflower has been cultivated in 2.95 lakh ha and produced about 1.89 lakh t. with a productivity of 642 kgiha. Its cultivation is mostly confined to Maharashtra and Karnataka. In Andhra Pradesh (AP), Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Bihar it is cultivated to limited extent. In Andhra Pradesh, the crop was cultivated in 13,000 ha and produced 6,000 t. with a productivity of 462 kg/ha and is confined to Rangareddy, Mahabubnagar, Adilabad, Nizamabad, Medak, Kurnool and Anantapur (Damodaram and Hegde, 20 I 0). In order to show the performance of improved technologies in the farmers fields, the frontline demonstrations(FLDs) were conducted during the years 2006-07 and 2008-09 with an objective of increasing the productivity potential and economics of improved cultivars and find out yield gaps, constraints and expectations under rainfed condition. The details are presented as below.