Influence of sowing density on seed yield and profitability of oil gourd cultivation

Posljednjih godina u Hrvatskoj je sve popularniji uzgoj uljne tikve čije su sjemenke bogate uljem, vitaminima i proteinima, a koriste se za preradu u vrlo kvalitetno ulje dok se pogače koje ostaju nakon prešanja sjemenki koriste za brašno ili kao stočna hrana. Prosječni prinosi uglavnom su ispod europskog prosjeka što je uzrokovano sjetvom u nepovoljnim uvjetima i izvan optimalnih rokova sjetve, sortimentom te gustoćom sklopa. Istraživanje o utjecaju gustoće sklopa sjetve na prinos sjemenki i ekonomsku isplativost uzgoja uljne tikve provedeno je 2017. godine na OPG-u Miroslav Alić u blizini Ivanić-Grada. U istraživanju je uzgajana sorta 'Gleissdorf Ölkurbis', a sjetva je obavljena u tri gustoće sklopa osigurane razmacima: 0,7 m x 0,7 m, 1,4 m x 0,35 m i 2,1 m x 0,23 m. Tijekom vegetacije praćen je broj izniklih biljaka i broj biljaka po hektaru, a nakon berbe obavljena su mjerenja: visine, promjera i mase ploda te mase mokrih i suhih sjemenki. Rezultatima mjerenja utvrđeno je kako je najbolji razmak sjetve uljne tikve 0,7 m x 0,7 m kojim je ostvaren sklop od 15 222 biljaka/ha te je postignuta najbolja prosječna masa mokrih (136,55 g) i suhih (77,55 g) sjemenki. Također, ekonomskom analizom utvrđeno je kako je uljna tikva ekonomski isplativa kultura za uzgoj.In recent years in Croatia there has been an increase in popularity of cultivating the oil pumpkin, whose seeds are rich with oil, vitamins and proteins, and are processed to high quality oil, while oilcakes left after pressing the seeds are used as a flour or as a livestock feed. Average yield is in most cases lower than the European average, which is caused by sowing in unfavorable conditions and outside of optimal sowing times, sort and sowing space density. Research of influence of sowing space density on seed yield and profitability was conducted in 2017 at OPG Miroslav Alić near Ivanić Grad. Cultivar used in research was 'Gleissdorf Ölkurbis', and the sowing was done in three different inrow spacings: 0.7 m x 0.7 m, 1.4 m x 0.35 m and 2.1 m x 0.23 m. During vegetation the number of emerging plants and the number of plants per hectare were tracked, and after the harvest the height, diameter, mass of fruit, and the mass of wet and dry seeds were determined. The results showed that the best spacing between rows for oil pumpkin is 0.7 m x 0.7 m which resulted with 15 222 plants/ha, and gave the best average mass of wet (136.55 g) and dry (77.55 g) seeds. Also, economic analysis showed that production of oil pumpkin is profitable