Sunflower production: Hybrids versus open pollinated varieties on dry land

Abstract

Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is an important oilseed crop. It was grown on more than 20 million ha in the world in 1997, of which over one million ha were in West Asia-North Africa (WANA) countries, where Iran grew 60,000 ha and Syria 50,000. There is potential for substantial increase in sunflower area and production on dry land if optimum management practices are applied. An important management consideration is choosing a high yielding, good quality variety that will maximize seed yield and minimize seed costs. This study investigated the influence of hybrids and open pollinated varieties on yield and other agronomic traits of sunflower. Ten hybrids and eleven open pollinated varieties were compared, under rainfed conditions (Jindiress) and with minimum supplementary irrigation (Tel Hadya, ICARDA Aleppo, Syria) in 1993. Soil at Tel Hadya is red clay loam characterized as Calcixerollic Xerochrept (Inceptisol), Chromic Calcixeret (Vertisol); at Jindfiress, the soil is Calcixerollic Xerochrept (Inceptisol). All of them are thermic and clayey to very fine clay. At both stations, equally good and statistically similar yields were obtained with hybrids and varieties. The average yield of the 21 cultivars was 2,207 kg/ha at Jindiress and 2,080 kg/ha at Tel Hadya. The average yield of the 11 OPVs was 2,073 kg/ha and that of the 10 hybrids was 2,220 kg/ha, which was similar. Thus, less costly OPVs can be used instead of costly hybrid seed. Farmer can also produce their own seed with little training; the cost will be one fourth of that of hybrids, which are imported and seldom available on time. In the absence of hybrids, F2 seed is resorted to by farmers which reduces the yields considerably. The rainfall during 1993 was lower than the long-term average; it was 277 mm (TH) and 417 mm (Jindiress). The information obtained are important to farmers, allowing them to maximize economic returns from rainfed areas by using limited supplementary irrigation in lowrainfall locations and during dry years.