Seed yield response of Holy thistle (Cnicus benedictus L.) to different amounts of nitrogen and plant density

Subject Areas : Crop Production Research

Mohammad Karimi ¹ , مجید آقا علیخانی ² , Ali Mokhtassi-Bidgoli ³

1 - Master's student of the Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
2 - دانشگاه تربیت مدرس دانشکده کشاورزی
3 - Associate professor of the Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.

Received: 2024-11-23 Accepted : 2024-11-23 Published : 2024-11-23

Keywords: Autumn cultivation, Chemical fertilizer, Holy thistle (Cnicus benedictus L.), Population ,

Abstract :

In order to investigate the response of the growth and seed yield of the holy thistle (Cnicus benedictus L.) to the plant density and nitrogen rate, an experiment was conducted in the research farm of the Faculty of Agriculture of Tarbiat Modares University. Experimental treatments were arranged in split plots based on randomized complete block design with three replications. The investigated factors in this experiment included four nitrogen rates (0, 50, 100 and 150 kg. ha-1) as the main factor and four plant densities (100, 150, 200 and 250 thousand plants per hectare) as sub factor. At the time of physiological ripening, fresh and dry weight of stem, leaf, seed yield and yield components and harvest index were determined. The results showed that density × nitrogen interaction effect was significant for all measured quantitative traits except the number of sub-branches per plant and the seed number per plant. Nitrogen fertilizer had a significant effect on the disk number per plant and seed number per disk. In total, the density treatment of 10 plants per square meter caused the highest seed yield and yield components in most nitrogen rates. Based on this, for the seed production of holy thistle in order to develop the cultivated area of this valuable medicinal plant, it is suggested to avoid dense cultivations, which are usually recommended to produce the maximum vegetative body of the plant, because according to the findings of this research, the intensification of inter-species competition in density higher than 10 plants per square meter will cause a significant decrease in seed yield.