The less commonly known oilseed crop, safflower, will be in the spotlight when world experts descend on Wagga Wagga for the 7th International Safflower Conference to be held from Monday 3 to Thursday 6 November. Conference convenor Ms Sue Knights said safflower offers enormous potential in drought conditions and the conference will feature a visit to trial crops at Coleambally to demonstrate its suitability to the Riverina. “The conference is themed ’Safflower: unexploited potential and world adaptability’ and will encompass growers, marketers and researchers as an opportunity to undertake critical industry development on this underutilized crop,” she said. Hosted by the Australian Oilseeds Federation, the program features speakers from India, USA, Spain and the Charles Sturt University EH Graham Centre’s Dr Rod Mailer who will speak on ‘Quality evaluation of safflower cultivars’.