Determination of Cross-Pollination Ratio in Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) Using Different Experimental Designs

This study was carried out to determine cross-pollination ratio in safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) using various experimental designs during summer seasons of 2012-2013. Two safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) cultivars having two different characters (spiny and spineless) were used as the study material. The cultivars with spiny (Balci) was used as a donor and spineless cultivar (Yenice) was used as a receptor. The results demonstrated that average cross-pollination ratio ranged between 1.12% and 7.71%. The highest cross-pollination ratio was obtained from third experimental design that receptor and donor plants were mixed in 10 rows with 50 cm row space, while the lowest ratio was in north direction of forth experimental design, which receptor plants were sown in south and north directions. Average cross- pollination ratio was 3.49% in Ankara conditions. There were differences among the experimental designs in respect to crosspollination. The results of this research showed that cross-pollination ratio decreased when distance between donor and receptor plants increased.