International Journal of Environment and Climate Change

An experiment was carried out at Regional Agricultural Research Station, Polasa, Jagtial in Northern Telangana Zone during rabi (winter season), 2023-2024 where the performance of zero tillage safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) was tested under different irrigation schedules and nutrient levels. The experiment was executed using a factorial randomized block design with 15 treatment combinations, with three replications. The treatments consisted of two factors i.e., factor-1 included irrigation schedules-; I₁: Irrigation at rosette and flower initiation stages, I₂: Irrigation at rosette and seed development stages, I₃: Irrigation at branching and flower initiation stages, I₄: Irrigation at branching and seed development stages and I₅: No irrigation (residual moisture) and factor-2 included nutrient levels, S₁: 75% Recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF), S₂: 100% RDF and S₃: 125% RDF. The results revealed that irrigation at branching and seed development stages(I₄) reported significantly highest seed (1199 kg ha^-1), stalk yield (4724 kg ha^-1) and yield attributing traits viz.; number of heads plant^-1(22.5), number of seeds head^-1(23.4), seed weight plant^-1(19.8 g), 100-seed weight (7 g), whereas the lowest yield were observed with no irrigation (residual moisture) (I₅) treatment. Among different nutrient levels, application of 125% RDF (S₃) resulted in the highest seed (1105 kg ha^-1) and stalk yield (4429 kg ha^-1) and yield attributing traits viz.; number of heads plant^-1(21.4), number of seeds head^-1(22.6), seed weight plant^-1(19.5 g), 100-seed weight (6.7 g) over 75% RDF (S₁). Among different treatments, irrigation at the branching and seed development stages combined with the application of 125% RDF gave the best results.