Abstract
Results are given from a three-year (2015–2017) study on productivity of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) varieties Center 70, Akmai, Irkas and flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) varieties Severnyi, Kustanaiskiy Yantar and Karabalykskaya 7 bred in Kazakhstan. Studies were conducted according to the following tillage techniques: zonal (1 subsoil tillage to the depth of 8–10 cm + 2 subsoil tillage to 10–12 cm and loosening to 25–27 cm), minimum (spraying with herbicide + 1 subsoil tillage to the depth of 8– 10 cm and direct seeding) and no-till (spraying with herbicide + direct seeding). The field experiment was conducted on dark-chestnut soils in the North Kazakhstan dry steppe (Akmolinsk Region) with a sharply continental climate. The minimal technique was found to be most effective in growing non-traditional oilseed crops. Among the safflower cultivars, Center 70 exhibited the yield by 1.3–2.7 centners per hectare higher than other cultivars; among the flax cultivars, Severnyi was remarkable for its yields of 0.5–2.8 centners per hectare higher than those of other varieties. The safflower cultivar Center 70 and flax cultivar Severnyi proved to be economically sound, when cultivated according to the minimum tillage technique, with profitability levels of 70.0–134.4 % and 122.7%, respectively, that was 5.3–45.2% and 22.4–71.9 % higher than in other cultivars.