Effect of plant density in yield and quality of two flax Cultivars (Linum usitatissimum L.)‎

Abstract EN

This experiment was conducted at Grdarasha Research Station of Agriculture College- Salahaddin University, Erbil/Iraq, during winter season 2013-2014 to determine the influence of row and plant spacing with flax cultivars and their interactions on yield and quality.

A factorial experiment was used based on randomized complete block design, with three replications, three row spacing; 10, 20, and 30 cm, three plant spacing within row; 4, 6, and 8 cm in addition to two cultivars; Local and Polish (Thorshansity 72).

Plants cultivated at 30 cm row spacing recorded the highest values of plant height (77.2cm), stem diameter (2.78mm), number of primary branches/plant (6.4), number of capsules/plant (39.1), seed yield (2.107 t ha-1) and oil content (22.8%).

Plants cultivated at 4 cm and 6 cm between tplants recorded the highest seed yield (1.981 t ha-1) and oil content (22.4%) respectively.

Thorshansity 72 cultivar produced the highest stem diameter (2.74 mm), number of primary branches/plant (7), number of capsules/plant (35.8), seed yield (1.782 t ha-1), and oil content (22.7%).

The best dual plant densities are (10 cm × 8 cm) and (20 cm × 6 cm) which produced the highest seed yield (2.240 t ha-1) and oil content (23.3%) respectively.

Thorshansity 72 cultivar produced the highest value of seed yield and oil content (2.188 t ha-1 and 24.0%) respectively when planted at 30 cm row spacing, the same cultivar produced the highest oil content (24.1%) when was planted at 6 cm plant spacing.

Thorshansity 72 cultivar produced the highest seed yield (2.402 t ha-1) when planted at (10 cm × 8 cm), while the same cultivar gave the highest oil content (26.8%) when planted at (20 cm × 8 cm).

Flaxseed cultivars yield and oil varied greatly in response to different plant densities with two and three-way interactions of factors.