Safflower Brings More Colours in Farmer’s Life - Success Story on Safflower Cultivation

Abstract

Safflower is an annual oil plant belonging to the Compositae family that can be grown as a summer or winter crop. The seeds are composed of between 20 and 45% oil and 15-20 % protein, and the food value of the protein derived from the seeds is high. Safflower oil is odorless and quite rich in linoleic acid from unsaturated oil, which prevents the formation of high cholesterol in the blood and also it is a rich source of vitamin E. Safflower flower is used as source for dyes or for medicinal purposes. There are both spiny and spineless types of safflower, and the oil contents of the spiny types are higher than those of the spineless types. Global safflower sowing area is 7,82,641 ha, its production is 6,47,374 tons, and the average yield is 8,271 kg ha⁻¹.