Mediterranean farmers have a really limited choice for winter crops to put in rotation with cereals, thus creating big challenges for weed and disease management. Crop diversification has undisputable environmental benefits and plays a central role in the agroecological transition toward sustainable and resilient farming systems. Among other crop candidates, safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) is recently attracting the attention of Mediterranean farmers, due its broad environmental suitability, low input needs, high plant vigor, also in marginal soil conditions, and tolerance to low temperatures. Thus, in the whole Mediterranean basin, safflower could be grown with a winter cycle, differently than sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.). The availability in the market of high-oleic safflower varieties tremendously enlarges the applications of its oils, easily meeting the needs of the domestic bio-based industry. Aiming at evaluating the feasibility of high-oleic safflower as a winter oilseed crop in the Mediterranean region, a multi-year and multi-location study has been carried out, across multiple growing seasons (2019–2021), at eight locations across Emilia-Romagna (ER) and Tuscany (TU) regions (Italy), traditionally devoted to winter cereal cultivation. In each region, the locations were chosen as representative of optimal, mean, and marginal conditions. The trials were managed as on-farm experiments by local farmers, to define safflower suitability to available equipment and practices. All trials were rainfed and carried out under low input agronomic management and using mechanical weed control. The safflower seed yield was not affected by growing region (grand mean: 1775 kg DM ha^‐1), while 1000-seed weight and seed oil content were significantly influenced by growing environment. In particular, safflower produced significantly heavier seeds in Emilia Romagna (40.8 vs. 38.2 g, ER vs. TU, respectively, P ≤ 0.05), while seed oil content was higher in Tuscany (TU vs. ER, 40.3 vs. 36.1% DM respectively, P ≤ 0.05). Safflower confirmed its compositional stability with oleic acid representing > 75% of total fatty acids, but, again, some differences were revealed between regions, with ER having significantly higher oleic acid content than TU (78.8 vs. 75.9%, ER vs. TU, respectively). High oleic safflower, grown in winter, confirmed to be an interesting opportunity for Mediterranean farmers who are willing to differentiate their rotations while producing an oilseed crop with several biobased applications and able to increase local production of vegetable oil and protein.

地中海农民在冬季作物与谷物轮作方面的选择非常有限，因此给杂草和疾病管理带来了巨大挑战。作物多样化具有无可争议的环境效益，并在农业生态向可持续和有复原力的农业系统转型中发挥着核心作用。在其他候选作物中，红花 ( Carthamus tinctorius L.) 最近吸引了地中海农民的注意，因为它具有广泛的环境适应性、低投入需求、高植物活力、也在边缘土壤条件下以及对低温的耐受性。因此，在整个地中海盆地，红花可以在冬季种植，不同于向日葵（Helianthus annuusL.)。高油酸红花品种的上市极大地扩大了红花油的应用范围，轻松满足国内生物基产业的需求。为了评估高油酸红花作为地中海地区冬季油料作物的可行性，已经在艾米利亚的八个地点进行了跨多个生长季节（2019-2021 年）的多年和多地点研究。罗马涅 (ER) 和托斯卡纳 (TU) 地区（意大利），传统上致力于冬季谷物种植。在每个区域中，选择位置作为最佳、平均和边际条件的代表。这些试验由当地农民作为农场试验进行管理，以确定红花对可用设备和实践的适用性。机械除草。红花种子产量不受种植区域的影响（平均：1775 kg DM ha ^-1 ），而千粒重和种子含油量则受种植环境的显着影响。特别是，红花在Emilia Romagna 生产的种子明显更重（分别为 40.8 对 38.2 g，ER 对 TU，P  ≤ 0.05），而托斯卡纳的种子含油量更高（TU 对 ER，40.3 对 36.1% DM分别，P ≤ 0.05)。红花证实了它的成分稳定性，油酸占总脂肪酸的 75% 以上，但同样，区域之间也存在一些差异，ER 的油酸含量显着高于 TU（78.8% 对 75.9%，ER 对 TU，分别）。冬季种植的高油酸红花被证实对地中海农民来说是一个有趣的机会，他们愿意在生产具有多种生物基应用的油籽作物并能够增加当地植物油和蛋白质产量的同时区分轮作。