Pesticide applications have significantly increased safflower seed yields when treatments were made twice to late-planted, irrigated safflower. Severe bud damage and blasting often occurs because plant bloom and bud development is not underway until July or August, and the higher summer populations of lygus bugs and flower thrips feed on and injure the buds.

These studies were conducted under project 1565 with the assistance of John Campbell, Nurseryman at the Davis campus. Cooperators were: Dr. Paul F. Knowles, Department of Agronomy and Range Science, U.C., Davis; Pacific Oilseeds, Inc., Woodland, California; and several chemical companies which donated chemicals.