Introduction of alternative oil plants in production on small farms

Abstract

According to research results to date, under our agroecological conditions alternative oil plants can be successfully grown in flatlands and hilly regions up to 500 m altitudes. The six described plant species (safflower, false flax, castor bean, oil poppy, cucurbita and linseed), although they belong to different families, have the common characteristic that they contain over 40% of oils in their fruits or seeds. These plant species utilize water rationally, have xeromorphic characteristics and tolerate draught, i.e. elevated temperatures resulting from global warming. Production costs compared with realized yield and the price for the obtained grain, give a gross financial result higher than for most agricultural crops grown on larger surfaces, from 54,000 dinars per hectare for false flax production, to 209,250 dinars per hectare for oil poppy production. The financial result is in fact even better if the value of byproducts is also taken into account; therefore, it is fully justified to recommend to our farmers to designate certain areas for growing these alternative oil species