Sunflower Crops

Fig. 2 Semifield tunnels built over a sunflower crop...

Mahli, CS. 2000. Timings of operations to control damage by rose-ringed parakeets to maturing sunflower crops and their relationship with sowing times. International Pest Control 42(31 86-88. 

Fig. 4.3. Sunflower crop. (Photograph courtesy of Bruce Fritz, USDA, ARS.)...

Miller, J.F. and Gulya, T.J., Inheritance of resistance to race 4 of downy mildew derived from interspecific crosses in sunflower, Crop Sci., 31, 40-43, 1991. 

Toward the end of the nineteenth century, improved Russian cultivars were introduced in the Balkans leading to the expansion of sunflower crops. The crop did not reach northern Europe owing to the lack of cultivars adapted to cold climates. 

Sunflower crops cultivated in North America are derived from seeds introduced by eastern European immigrants toward the end of the nineteenth century hence, the name Russian Peanuts. Russian emigrants in the United States and Canada grew strains such as Giant or Mammoth Russian in gardens for the production of edible seeds. These served as a base for the development of improved cultivars for commercial production. The cultivated area in the United States reached 200,000 acres in 1968 most of which was destined to the production of seed for manufacture of food for human consumption, and to the bird meal market (4). 

Crop rotation requirements for sunflower plants are no different from those of other crops. Plant breeders do not generally recommend short-sequence rotation for sunflower crops. Monoculture or a short-sequence rotation tends to increase the number of soil borne diseases that affect the plants. Appropriate crop rotation reduces insect damage, improves weed control, disease control, and improves yield (Balmey et al. 1997). However, crop rotation does not reduce infestation from migratory insects. 

The sunflower crop can suffer from a number of diseases. The commonly known diseases are downy mildew, rust, verticillium wilt, scelerotinia wilt, head rot and phomposis. Plant pathologists have identified a number of genes in wild sunflower varieties that can provide resistance to these diseases in the developed hybrids. However, no single gene can offer the resistance to all of these diseases. Researchers are continuously working to incorporate improved resistance traits in the hybrids. 

Castro-Tendero, A. J. and Garcia-Torres, R. (1996). SEMAGl - An expert system for weed control decision making in sunflowers. Crop Protection, 14,543-8. 

Assays carried out in Marechal CSndido Rondon, Parana, Brazil, with sunflower make clear worker honeybees that hoarding nectar are more frequent (mean 228 honeybees/capitulum) than pollen foragers (0.40 honeybees by capitulum) in anthesis period and schedule of higher visitation in the crop (Chambo et al., 2011). Other experimental results make clear more frequency of nectar foragers than px)llen foragers in sunflower crop (Paiva et al., 2002 Teixeira Zampaeron, 2008). 

Fig. 1. Daily sums of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR, MJ m day l) in sunflower crop at the experimental field Rimski an-cevi, Novi Sad.

Urie, A.L. (1985) Inheritance of high oleic acid in sunflower. Crop Sci. 25, 986-989. 

Fem dez-Martmez J, Munoz J, Gomez-Amau J. Performance of near-isogenic high and low oleic acid hybrids of sunflower. Crop Sci 1993 33 1158-63. 

Barontini, F., Simone, M., et al., 2015. Pilot-scale biofuel production from sunflower crops in central Italy. Renewable Energy 83, 954—962. 

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