Castor

•    Developed and released 21 varieties and 14 hybrids.
•    Evaluated and identified a number of germplasm for agro-economic and resistance to biotic stress.
•    Identified region-specific remunerative cropping systems.
•    Recommended region-specific ideal sowing date, fertilizer doses, irrigation schedule and other cultural practices.
•    At Mandor, it is recommended to apply 20 kg S/ha through gypsum to castor under irrigated conditions in Rajasthan, wherever the available soil S status is low to medium to get higher seed yield and returns.
•    In Saurashtra region of Gujarat (Junagadh), it is advantageous to sow castor after seed priming with 1% NaCl for 3 hours to get higher seed yield and returns.
•    Apply 20 kg S/ha through gypsum to castor under irrigated conditions in Rajasthan and Gujarat, wherever the available soil S status is low to medium to get higher seed yield and returns.
•    Sow simultaneously castor + mungbean (1:1) intercropping system in north Gujarat under assured irrigation.
•    Spray spinosad 0.018% or indoxacarb 0.015% to control castor defoliators and capsule borer in Andhra Pradesh and spray profenophos 0.05% to control these pests in Tamil Nadu.
•    At Mandor,  it is recommended to intercrop normal planted castor with one or two rows  mungbean  to get higher net returns (Rs.56540/ha and Rs.54974/ha) and BC ratio (3.58 and 3.44) without adversely affecting castor yield.
•    For effective and economic management of wireworm in castor, seed treatment with carbaryl 50 WP or carbosulfan 27.18 DS or imidocloprid 70 WS @ 5g/kg seed or thiamethoxam 70 WS @ 3 g/kg seed has been recommended in Saurashtra region of Gujarat (Junagadh).
•    It is recommended to spray acephate 0.05% or dimethoate 0.03% or endosulfan 0.07% for effective and economic control of thrips in castor in Saurashtra region of Gujarat (Junagadh).
•    Produced 441.9 q. breeder seed and conducted 1309 FLDs during last 5 years.


Sunflower

•    Developed ad released 18 varieties and 31 hybrids.
•    Evaluated and identified a number of germplasm for agro-economic and resistance to biotic stress.
•    Identified region-specific remunerative cropping systems.
•    Recommended region-specific ideal sowing date, fertilizer doses, irrigation schedule and other cultural practices.
•    Thinning, fertilizer and weeding are the most critical components limiting sunflower production at most of the centres.
•    In groundnut + sunflower (3:1) intercropping system at Coimbatore and Raichur, apply recommended NPK to groundnut on area basis and recommended PK and 50% N as basal or top dress to sunflower for higher production and profits.
•    Dual seed inoculation of Azospirillum and Azotobactor along with 50% of recommended N can save up to 50% (i.e. 30 kg N/ha) requirement and provide higher profits at Coimbatore and Dholi.
•    Avoid rabi sorghum succeeding sunflower in Andhra Pradesh and Marathwada region of Maharashtra.
•    Productivity of rabi sunflower can be improved succeeding kharif legumes like mungbean or urdbean in Marathwada region of Maharashtra. For sunflower succeeding kharif legumes, apply 60 kg N/ha under irrigated conditions for realizing optimum seed yield.  
•    In northern part of Karnataka, sunflower productivity in rabi season can be increased succeeding kharif cowpea.
•    For the control of defoliators viz., Spodoptera, Trichoplusia in sunflower in southern Karnataka, apply profenophos @ 0.05% or chlorpyriphos @ 0.05%.
•    For management of defoliators and head borer in Marathwada region of Maharashtra, apply profenophos @ 0.05% or chlorpyriphos @ 0.05% or endosulphan @ 0.07%.
•    Produced 206.81 q. breeder seed and conducted 491 FLDs during last four years.

Safflower
•    Developed and released 28 varieties and 5 hybrids
•    Evaluated and identified a number of germplasm for agro-economic and resistance to biotic stress.
•    Identified region-specific remunerative cropping systems.
•    Recommended region-specific ideal sowing date, fertilizer doses, irrigation schedule and other cultural practices.
•    For chickpea + safflower (3:1) and coriander + safflower (3:1) intercropping systems in Telangana region (Tandur) of Andhra Pradesh under rainfed conditions, apply 100% recommended dose of fertilizer of main crop (chickpea/ coriander) and 50% recommended dose of fertilizer of safflower based on area occupied by each in the system to get higher yield and returns.
•    In Vidarbha region (Akola) of Maharashtra, weed control followed by thinning are the most important constraints for enhancing the productivity of safflower under rainfed conditions.
•    In Vidarbha (Akola) region of Maharashtra, seed treatment with Azotobactor or Azospirillium or their combination could effectively substitute 50% of recommended N amounting to 12.5 kg/ha under rainfed conditions.
•    In Vidarbha region (Akola) of Maharashtra, application of cycocel @ 500 ppm either at flower initiation or at 50% flowering could increase the seed yield of safflower by 15% under moisture stress conditions.

•    In scarcity zone (Solapur) of Maharashtra, application of 100% recommended P to both chickpea and safflower is essential to record higher returns from the cropping system.
•    In Marathwada region of Maharashtra, it is possible to replace fertilizer P application by seed treatment with PSB + FYM 5 t/ha for soybean when 100% recommended P is applied to safflower without any adverse effect on the system productivity.
•    For the management of safflower aphid, application of thiamethoxam (25WG) 0.005% or imidacloprid (17.8%) 0.0045%, twice at 15 days interval was observed to be very effective and economical in Malwa Plateau of Madhya Pradesh.
•    Produced 368.9 q of breeder seed and conducted 922 FLDs