SAFFLOWER
IMPROVEMENT
PROGRAMME
AT
THE
NIMBKAR
AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE (NARI)
Nimbkar
Agricultural
Research
Institute
(NARI),
E-mail: nariphaltan@gmail.com
INTRODUCTION
1. Background
Safflower,
Carthamus
tinctorius L. is a member of the family Compositae or
Asteraceae. It is
cultivated mainly for its seeds, which yield edible oil. Traditionally,
the
crop was grown for its flowers, used for coloring and flavoring foods
and
making dyes. The medicinal uses of flower in
Table
1: Safflower uses
|
Plant part |
Product |
Uses |
|
(1) Seed |
i) Quality edible oil containing
polyunsaturated fats ii) Meal left after oil extraction |
Associated with lowering of
blood cholesterol Used as animal feed |
|
(2) Flowers |
i) Natural
food
and
cosmetic
coloring
(Carthamin
dye)
ii) Dyes
(Carthamidin
and
carthamin) iii) Medicines |
Gives yellow to bright
orange color to food products and cosmetics such as lipsticks Give crimson, rose, pink or
light pink color to cotton yarn Extract of florets contains
amino acids, minerals and vitamins and is used in treatment of many
illnesses such as menstrual problems, cardiovascular disease and pain
and swelling associated with trauma as well as in tonic tea |
|
(3) Whole plant |
i) Tender
shoots
and
thinnings
or
nippings ii) Dried stalk or straw |
Used for preparing a
nutritious vegetable or grazed Used as a fodder similar to cereal straw or as fuel for biomass gasifiers to produce energy and char for soil conditioning |
Safflower
is
one
of
humanity’s
oldest
crops,
but
has
remained
a minor crop with
world seed
production around 600,000 t per year. Over 60 countries grow safflower,
but
one-third the production takes place in
Traditionally
in
Despite
its
reputation
as
a
drought-tolerant
and
hardy
crop,
the
research carried
out at
NARI in the late 1960s showed that safflower gives good response to
management
practices such as irrigation, fertilizer application and pest control.
For
example the application of one or two irrigations to safflower crop at
critical
growth stages could boost the seed yield by as much as 50 percent.
Likewise the
use of recommended fertilizers and timely management of pests also had
similar
effects on seed yield in safflower. Since 1975, NARI has been a center
under
the All
For
last
35
years,
NARI
has
been
working
to
popularize
safflower among farmers as a
pure
crop to be grown under 1 to 3 irrigations depending on availability of
water.
2. Highlights
of work
done at NARI
I) Development
of
spiny
and
non-spiny
varieties
and
hybrids
of
safflower
giving high
seed
yield, oil content and having inbuilt tolerance to wilt for minimal
irrigation
Table
2. Characteristics of safflower varieties/hybrids released by NARI
|
Sr.
No. |
Name of cultivar |
Year of release and recom-mended region of production |
Average seed yield (Kg/ha) |
Increase in seed yield over check (%) |
Oil content (%) |
Characteristics |
|
1. |
Nira (Spiny
variety) |
1986 |
1576 |
24 Bhima |
31.5 |
Early maturing, aphid-tolerant and widely adapted. |
|
2. |
NARI-6 (Non-spiny variety) |
2000 All India |
1074 |
20 JSI-7 |
35 |
High oil containing, tolerant to foliar and wilt diseases. Produces dark red flowers. |
|
3. |
NARI-NH-1 (First non-spiny hybrid in the world) |
2001 All |
1936 |
10 A-1 |
35 |
High oil containing, tolerant to foliar and wilt diseases. |
|
4. |
NARI-H-15 (Spiny hybrid) |
2005 All |
2201 |
19 NARI-NH-1 |
30 |
Early maturing, tolerant to aphids and wilt. |
|
5. |
NARI-38 (Spiny variety) |
2007 All |
2038 |
9 A-1 |
31 |
First wilt-tolerant variety
released for commercial production in |
- Development
of thermosensitive genetic male sterility (TGMS) system in safflower. TGMS lines in safflower show 100% sterility
during winter and complete fertility when grown in summer. The average
minimum
and maximum temperatures during reproductive phase of safflower were
recorded
to be < 13 to 320C respectively in winter and > 21 and
390C
respectively in summer. The TGMS-based hybrids irrespective of the
season they
are grown in, exhibit complete fertility.
- The best
TGMS hybrid recorded an increase of 45% in seed yield over the
CMS-hybrid check
MRSA-521 under rainfed conditions during winter 2007-08.
- Safflower
varieties in pipeline consist of varieties giving high seed yield along
with high
oil content in seed (37-40%) and inbuilt tolerance to wilt.
- Safflower
genotype viz. 238-14-2 and fasciated derivatives of an interspecific
cross
between C. palaestinus and C. tinctorius
were
identified as expressing apomixis. The apomixis in safflower was
observed to be
aposporic, pseudogamus and facultative in nature. Efforts are underway
to
determine the frequency of apomictic plants in the said genotypes for
their
possible utilization in safflower improvement.
- Ten spiny
and three non-spiny genetic male sterile lines have been developed from
two
different genetic male sterility sources identified at NARI. In
addition to
these, six dwarf male sterile lines have also been developed. These
make it
possible to identify male sterile (MS) and male fertile (MF) plants at
about
40-45 days after sowing, making roguing out of MF plants relatively
easy.
- Technology for the production of seeds of
spiny and non-spiny safflower hybrids based on genetic male sterility
system has also been developed.
- Developed cytoplasmic male sterility
systems in safflower through mutagenesis with streptomycin treatment
and by interspecific crossing.
- Studied genetics of flower yield and its
components in safflower in order to develop varieties and hybrids
producing high petal and seed yield.
II) Development of suitable technology for growing
safflower under limited irrigation
Highest
seed
yields
could
be
obtained
when
-
Safflower
was
planted
in
the
first
week
of
October.
-
Plant
population
of
about
100
thousand/ha
was
maintained.
-
Fertilizer
containing
60
Kg/ha
N
(in
split
doses)
and 30 Kg/ha P2O5
was applied to the crop.
-
Two
irrigations
-
first
at
elongation
(35
days
after sowing) and second
at flowering stage (75 days after sowing)
were applied, in addition to
a pre-sowing irrigation.
-
Crop
was
protected
against
diseases
such
as
alternaria
leaf spot and
wilt and insects such as aphids and heliothis.
III) Studies on safflower flowers (florets) and
popularization of safflower florets as a herbal health tea
A safflower capitulum (head) is nothing
but an
inflorescence containing many florets arranged in several circles (Fig.
2).
Safflower flowers are known to possess many medicinal properties for
curing
several chronic diseases such as heart disease, hypertension, male
sterility,
female infertility, respiratory diseases etc.
In addition to their medicinal uses
safflower flowers
are also highly nutritious. In order to determine nutritiveness and
suitability
of safflower flowers of Indian cultivars for human consumption, flowers
of
non-spiny variety NARI-6 and non-spiny hybrid NARI-NH-1, developed at
NARI were
analyzed for biochemical composition at CFTRI, Mysore. The flowers of
both the
cultivars were found suitable for human consumption and were highly
nutritive.
Their biochemical properties are furnished below:
Table
3. Nutritional composition of
flowers
of safflower variety NARI-6 and
hybrid NARI-NH-1
|
Nutritive parameters |
NARI-6 |
NARI-NH-1 |
|
Total sugar, % by wt. Protein, % by wt. Potassium, mg/100 g Calcium, mg/100 g Magnesium, mg/100 g Iron, mg/100 g Sodium, mg/100 g Manganese, mg/100 g Zinc, mg/100 g Copper, mg/100 g |
7.36 12.86 3992.00 558.00 207.00 55.10 1043.00 4.34 2.88 4.73 |
11.81 10.40 3264.00 708.00 142.00 42.50 17.00 4.70 2.60 1.10 |
Table
4. Amino acid composition of flowers
of
non-spiny safflower hybrid NARI-NH-1
|
Sr. no. |
Amino acid |
(g %) |
|
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. |
Aspartic acid Glutamic acid Serine Glycine Histidine Arginine Threonine Alanine Proline Tyrosine Valine Methionine Cysteine Isoleucine Leucine Phenylalanine Lysine Hydroxyproline |
5.09 9.78 6.02 6.97 2.27 5.72 4.78 8.66 8.96 2.81 6.77 1.49 0.18 5.63 8.63 5.28 5.35 5.63 |
- A simple and
easy to use method of color extraction from safflower flowers has been
developed and the suitability and concentrations of dye required to
color sweets
and snacks have been determined.
- A pleasant tasting safflower tea, using
safflower flowers as the main ingredient mixed with other aromatic
herbs to enhance its aroma and quality for mass acceptability has been
developed.
- Dried safflower flowers are being sold as
herbal health tea in 25 g packets. They can be mixed with regular tea
or a pure extract can be made. It has a
very attractive colour and pleasant flavour.
- Pharmacological investigations of
safflower tea were carried out to study efficacy and safety of
safflower tea, when given as an add-on therapy in patients suffering
from mild hypertension by Dr. U. M. Thatte, Associate Professor,
Department of Clinical Pharmacology at BYL Nair Charitable Hospital and
T. N. Medical College, Mumbai. The study concluded that the addition of
safflower tea (three cups a day) to the ongoing antihypertensive
monotherapy successfully reduced the blood pressure in patients of mild
hypertension. It was observed that in safflower-treated group, the
percentage decrease in blood pressure was more between day 0 and day 15
as compared to that between day 15 and day 30. This may be attributed
to one or more of the three reasons :
- The compliance of the patient might have
decreased from day 15 onwards due to cumbersome method of tea
preparation. The ready to dip sachets can be an alternative.
- Patients might have developed tolerance.
In this case the dose of safflower may need to increase after day 15.
- The safflower may have lost potency after
day 15. It is therefore recommended to conduct stability testing after
regular time intervals.
It was felt that collecting florets and
selling them
should be able to give good remuneration to farmers. However, spiny
nature of
the plant was a hindrance to flower collection. For this reason,
non-spiny
varieties and hybrids were bred at NARI. In addition to 2000 to 2500 Kg
seed,
the hybrids were found to yield 200 to 250 Kg petals per hectare. This
should
give a net profit of about Rs. 30 to 35,000/- per hectare to the
farmers from the
non-spiny safflower hybrids. From spiny safflower hybrids, farmers get
a net
profit of about Rs. 15 to 20,000/- per hectare. For farmers to get
extra income
from the petals, we have developed a battery-operated knapsack type
petal
collector (Fig. 3). This will enable them to increase their net profit
from
spiny hybrids to Rs. 25,000/- or more per hectare. These net profit
figures
also compare favorably with those from other winter crops such as wheat
or
gram, which give a net profit of about Rs. 25 to 30,000/- per ha.
During last two years we have sold about
60 Kg petals
as herbal tea on an experimental basis. The response from the consumers
has
been quite positive.
ONGOING R & D PROGRAM
- To
develop spiny and non-spiny safflower varieties and hybrids giving high
seed
yield and oil content with inbuilt resistance to wilt.
- To determine critical temperatures
inducing male sterility and fertility in thermosensitive-genetic male
steriles in safflower in order to identify suitable agro-ecological
zones for seed production of TGMS-based hybrids and the maintenance of
TGMS lines.
- To perfect the cytoplasmic male sterility
systems to develop CMS-based hybrids in safflower.
- Development of agro production technology
to grow safflower under limited irrigation.
- Management of safflower diseases.
SERVICES OFFERED
·
NARI can help
in procurement of bulk quantities of safflower petals (florets).
- NARI can supply seed material of high seed
and flower yielding, spiny and non-spiny safflower varieties/hybrids.
- NARI can transfer parental material of
newly developed spiny and non-spiny hybrids to interested parties on
royalty basis.
- NARI promotes herbal health tea prepared
from dried florets of safflower.
- NARI can provide petal collectors for
purchase and also transfer its technology to interested buyers.
Acknowledgements
The major source of funding to safflower
improvement
at NARI for over 35 years and continuing till to date has been from
Indian
Council of Agricultural Research,
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Safflower staff
1. Dr.
Vrijendra Singh, Senior Breeder
2. Mr. M. B.
Deshpande
3. Mr. S. V.
Choudhari
4. Mr.
Abhijit Ranaware
December
2008