The Effect of Potassium Sulfate Fertilizer and Milk Thistle (Silybum marianum L.) Weed Density on Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) Yield

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

M Mostafaee ¹

M Jami Al-Ahmadi ¹

S. V Eslami ¹

M. H Sayyari Zahan ²

¹ Department of Plant Production Engineering and Genetics, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Birjand, Birjand, Iran

² Department of Plant Production Engineering and Genetics, Soil Engineering Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Birjand, Iran

10.22067/jcesc.2025.94297.1412

Abstract

Introduction
Given that weeds are opportunistic plants that grow faster than crops and absorb available nutrients more easily and better, and as a result, they are considered strong competitors for crops. Weeds are opportunistic plants that grow faster than crop plants and absorb available nutrients more easily and better, and as a result, they are considered effective competitors of crops. Therefore, balanced use of inputs, especially fertilizers, can play an important role in controlling weeds growth. Hence, the use of nutrients to reduce the effect of competition between weeds and crops has also been considered in various studies. In other words, increasing plant growth through proper nutrition leads to stronger crop plants with more shading, and increases the competitive power of crops in using environmental resources such as water and light, and this leads to their superiority over weeds. There is little information in literatures about competition between safflower and its relative weeds, such as milk thistle. Thus this research was aimed to compare yield and yield components of these plants under different potassium fertilizer and weed densities.
Materials and Methods
To investigate the effect of weed density and amount of potassium fertilizer on growth characteristics and dry matter allocation in safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) under competition with milk thistle (Silybum marianum L.), an experiment was conducted in March 2023 at the Research Farm of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Birjand. The experiment was done as a factorial arrangement based on a randomized complete block design with two treatments and three replications. The experimental factors were different levels of potassium (0, 34, 68, and 136 kg K₂O ha^-1, which corresponds to 0, 75, 150, and 300 kg potassium sulfate ha^-1) and milk thistle density at four levels (0, 4, 8, and 16 plant m^-2). At harvest time, yield and yield components of both crop and weed were measured. Finally, statistical analysis of the data was performed using SAS 9.1 and comparison of means was performed based on the FLSD test at 5% probability level.
Results and Discussion
The results showed that with applying 34 and 68 kg K₂O ha^-1, safflower yield increased more than that of milk thistle, compared to the control. Further increase in potassium sulfate after that, although it also increased safflower yield, was more in favor of milk thistle, which showed a higher percentage increase compared to the control. In both safflower and milk thistle plants, the highest yield was obtained by applying 136 kg K₂O ha^-1, so that the grain yield at this potassium level was increased by 124.2 and 141.4 percent for safflower and milk thistle, respectively, compared to the control. The results also showed that increasing potassium application caused a greater increase in the traits of capitulum diameter, number of seeds per capitulum, and seed weight per capitulum of milk thistle than safflower, compared to the control. Furthermore, an increase in weed density led to a drastic reduction in seed and capitula weights and also grain yield of safflower. For example, grain yiled of safflower at 16 milk thistle m^-2 was about 41 percent lower than control (no-weed).
Conclusion
In general, it can be concluded that potassium application at all tested levels increased grain yield and yield components in both safflower and milk thistle, with the highest yield achieved at 136 kg K₂O ha⁻¹. Safflower consistently outperformed milk thistle across all potassium levels, showing a stronger response to increasing potassium fertilizer. Overall, it seems safflower appears to have a higher ability to absorb potassium at lower levels of potassium fertilizer application than milk thistle, and high potassium application is more beneficial to milk thistle. Therefore, adjusting fertilizer application rates should be considered in fertilizer management in safflower fields.

Keywords

Luxury consumption

Number of capitula

Plant nutrition

Seed weight

Weight of capitula

Subjects

• Crop yield

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Authors retain the copyright. This is an open access article distributed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0)

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