Laboratory-field studies of the effectiveness of the impact of sorting seeds by size on the yield of safflower

Abstract

One of the promising crops for the arid conditions of eastern Ukraine is dye safflower. But the technology of its cultivation in Ukraine has not been sufficiently developed. There are no clear recommendations for production on terms, methods, sowing rates and requirements for sowing material, including the fractional composition of crop seeds. Sorting of seed material by size is a well-known component of the preparation of highquality seed, the effect of which on safflower yield has not yet been fully studied.
To determine the regularities of the formation of the productivity of dye safflower, depending on the size of the sown seeds, laboratory - field studies were carried out.
To check the effect of seed size on safflower yield, three fractions were sorted: large seeds (fraction coming off the sieve with round holes 5.0 mm in diameter, which was 18.24% of the starting material mass), medium (fraction coming off the sieve with round holes 3, 0 mm, which accounted for 58.21% of the weight of the starting material), small (fraction passing through a sieve with rectangular holes 3.0 mm wide, which was 23.55% of the weight of the starting material).
Based on the growth and development indicators of the crop, the structure of the yield and the yield obtained when growing safflower seeds of various fractional composition, it was found that the most optimal is the use of the middle fraction of safflower seeds in sowing. Such seeds had the highest yield rate, with sufficiently high growth rates and productive qualities, and the best rate of plant survival.