Effect of Time of Nitrogen Application on Growth and Yield Components of Safflower

One of the main problems of safflower cultivation in Sudan is the lack of information dealing with its production, mainly cultural practices. The present work was carried out, to investigate the effect of time of nitrogen application (TNA) on growth and yield of safflower under irrigation conditions of South Omdurman region, Sudan. The study was conducted in two consecutive winter seasons (2009/2010 and 2010/2011) at the Demonstration Farm of the Faculty of Agriculture – Omdurman Islamic University, Alfitaihab, Sudan. Four TNA were used, namely, at sowing (T1), and then after 15, 30 and 45 days from sowing (denoted as T2, T3 and T4, respectively). The time of nitrogen application was randomly assigned in a randomized complete block design with three replicates. The growth parameters studied include: plant height, number of leaves/plant, plant fresh and dry weight. The first three parameters were taken 8 weeks after sowing. Yield and yield components studied were: days to start and to 50% flowering, disc weight/plant, number of seeds/plant, 100-seed weight, seed weight /disc, seed weight /plant and seed yield/unit area. The findings of the study indicated that, TNA significantly affected number of leaves/plant and plant fresh weight during 2010, whereas plant height, plant dry weight and days to start and to 50% flowering were not significantly affected by time of N application. Application of N 45 days from sowing (T4) resulted in a significantly lower number of leaves/plant as compared to T1, T2 and T3 treatments. On the other hand, both T1 and T4 during the 1st season gave significantly higher plant fresh weight than T2 and T3.