Breeding value of safflower in arid conditions of the Northern Caspian

Low and unstable yields of the main oilseed crops do not create interest for their large-scale cultivation in conditions of the Northern Caspian - A strakhan region. For this reason, gross harvest of oilseeds is reducing significantly creating a vegetable oil shortage. Currently, safflower cultivation is relevant due to high drought resistance and quality indicators of safflower oil. 24 collection samples of safflower were studied on light chestnut soils of the Lower Volga region in 2019-2021. The experiments on safflower cultivars from seed collection of Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry were carried out at the experimental site of Precaspian Agrarian Federal Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Influence of the main abiotic and biotic environmental factors on morpho-biological and economic characteristics of safflower was determined. Based on the results obtained, the following promising samples having breeding value as a starting material for creation of new cultivars were identified: Gila, Shahalli-260, Tsambuli, Shirkas, Talan, Centr 70, Moldir, Nurlan, Aleksandrit, Shifo, Sinaloa-90. Productivity and oil content of the selected cultivars exceeded the indicators of cv. Astrakhan 747 (standard) by 0.43…1.06 t/ha and 1.75…3.02 %, respectively.