Safflower productivity depending on microferti-lizer application

In 2022–2024, we studied the effect of fo-liar application of micronutrient fertilizers on the produc-tivity and seed quality of the safflower variety Alexandrit in the conditions of the forest-steppe of the Middle Volga region. The research was carried out on the experimental field of the Penza Research Institute of Agriculture. The foliar application promoted the increase of preservation of safflower plants. The highest rate of plant preservation (83.4 and 83.2%) during the growing season was ob-served in the variants with the use of AgroVerm and Isagri Vita fertilizers. The highest responsiveness of the crop was observed with the foliar application of Isagri Vita fertilizer, the use of which contributed to the for-mation of the highest seed yield – 1.70 t/ha, which sig-nificantly (by 0.15 t/ha) exceeded the control variant. This is confirmed by the maximum values of yield struc-ture elements. The highest values of plant productivity (9.14 g) and thousand-seed weight (41.56 g) were ob-tained in this variant. In addition, the use of Izagri Vita fertilizer contributed to the increase of oil content of saf-flower seeds up to 27.09%, which exceeded the control by 3.46%. Spraying the plants with Cytovit and Megamix contributed to the increase of linoleic acid content by 4.3 and 2.0%, respectively, in comparison with the untreated variant. The application of AgroVerm led to a decrease in linoleic acid concentration up to 77.5%, application of Citovit contributed to a decrease in oleic acid content in safflower oil up to 9.3%. In general, safflower is characterized by high responsiveness to the increase in the level of intensification of agrotechnology by foliar application of microfertilizers, which leads to yield increase.