Safflower the Climate Smart Crop for Arid and Semi-arid Lands

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) is a neglected and underutilized multipurpose oil seed crop that is climate smart. The crop is drought, saline, and extreme temeprature (-14-43°C) tolerant. Safflower is the most drought tolerant oilseed crop that can produce good seed yield containing high quality cooking oil in arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) affected by salinity and exacerbated by scarcity of rainfall due to climate change. Global warming is predicted to increase the frequency of droughts, floods, and heat waves. Climate change may also affect the habitat range of pests and pathogens, and high temperatures may increase pathogen spread, therefore requiring development of new crop cultivars or growing crops that are adaptable to various climatic conditions such as safflower. Safflower is a multipurpose crop grown to produce natural dyes, high-quality edible and industrial oil, pharmaceuticals, biodiesel, and biogas. The crop can further be used as a cut flower, leafy vegetable, and livestock feed. The objective of this study was to elucidate safflower genotypes performance under the ASAL conditions of southern Botswana. The results showed that genotypes and growing season significantly (P < 0.05) influence yield components, seed yield and seed oil content of safflower. The results also showed that safflower can be grown in the arid and semi-arid conditions of Botswana, and planting can be coincided with the rain season for dryland farming. It was concluded that safflower has the potential to become an industrial crop that can improve food security, incomes, livelihoods, and alleviate poverty of many people in ASALs if effective and specific support policies, technological inputs, and pricing and marketing systems are put in place. Keywords: Botswana, climate change, drought, multipurpose oil crop, salt and heat tolerant crop, safflower