Parbhani SAU's safflower variety can hold key for crop's revival

Indian Express

06-05-2025

Vasantrao Lad (60) had all but given up on kardi (as safflower is known in Marathi) — from whose seeds vegetable oil is extracted — several years ago. 'It really did not make sense. The yields were very low,' he said. But this season, his entire 40-acre holding near the town of Manwath in Parbhani was under this lesser-grown oilseed.
'After talks with agriculture scientists of the local Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth, I decided to try out the variety, developed by them. The results were amazing. On an average, my yields were around 7-8 quintals an acre. The seeds were premium quality and, on an average, I commanded a price of Rs 5,200 per quintal,' he said. Lad, in fact, moved from wheat as the staple rabi crop to safflower. 'It made more sense,' he said.
Although touted as one of the oldest known oilseed, safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) has slowly fallen out of commercial farming for more than one reason. Farmers like Lad said they decided to go for crops like wheat in the rabi season instead of safflower in the past as the per acre yields of the latter were very low.
Sold as a premium cooking oil, mostly in boutique cold pressed oil, the seed is used for medicinal purposes also. India produces 35,000-45,000 tonnes of safflower seeds annually. Also for farmers like Lad, the biggest advantage was that the thorny nature of the crop kept it safe from wild animals. Crop loss due to wild animals like wild boar or deer is a serious problem for growers of chana or wheat but safflower is resistant to this, thanks to the thorny nature of the crop. But extremely low yields had seen farmers wean away from the corp.
But this problem is being resolved with the Parbhani-headquartered Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth helping farmers like Lad to go back to the crop through their recently released oilseeds variety. Indra Mani Mishra, Vice-Chancellor of the university, said their variety has seen oil content of the seed increase up to 35 per cent. 'Research is on to increase the oil content to around 40 per cent,' he said.
For farmers in the arid region of Marathwada in Maharashtra as well as Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, kardi holds many advantages. Its water requirement is much lower than other rabi crops like wheat or gram. Lad said this crop also has a lower requirement of nutrients and is sturdier than most other crops. 'With minimal nutrients and water we can grow this crop,' he said. But the biggest advantage which Lad and other farmers spoke about is the thorny nature of the crop, which prevents animals from damaging it.
Crop loss due to wild animals is a serious problem for growers of wheat, maize, gram etc. The prevalence and seriousness of the problem can be gauged from the fact that numerous Members of Parliament (MPs) have raised the issue from time to time. Maharashtra Payment of Compensation for Loss, Injury or Damage Caused by Wild Animals Act, 2023 stipulates payment of damages in case crop is damaged by wild animals.
Mishra said the university has developed what he said was a 'seed to seed' mechanisation plan. This would allow farmers to ensure complete mechanisation of the crop even during harvesting. 'By making some changes in the combined harvesters used for wheat, this crop can be harvested thus saving on labour also,' he said. With the official release of this variety, Mishra said this would help growers as well as the country reduce its dependency on imported edible oil.