Helianthus annuus L.

Family : Compasitae

 Helios Sun
 Anthus flower

Heliotropism (solar tracking ) mechanism

Flower moves towards sun

Heliotropism
Sunflowers in the bud stage exhibit heliotropism. At sunrise, the faces of most
sunflowers are turned towards the east. Over the course of the day, they move to
track the sun from east to west, while at night they return to an eastward orientation.
This motion is performed by motor cells in the pulvinus, a flexible segment of the
stem just below the bud. As the bud stage ends, the stem stiffens and the blooming
stage is reached.
Sunflowers in the blooming stage are not heliotropic anymore. The stem has frozen,
typically in an eastward orientation. The stem and leaves lose their green color.
The wild sunflower typically does not turn toward the sun; its flowering heads may
face many directions when mature. However, the leaves typically exhibit some
heliotropism.
 Originated in Southwestern America or Mexico
 Introduced in Europe in 16th Century
 In 18th Century in Russia & 1960 in Pakistan
 Oil in seeds 25-45 %
 Fed to animals, birds, used in confectionary etc
 Oilcake contains 35% proteins
 Good feed, free from toxins
 Oilseed deficiency can be covered as Pakistan
producing only 16 % of our country
requirement, rest 84 % is foreign import
 Short duration crop
 Allelopathic effects for weed control
 Stalk can be used as fuel wood
 Fits well in cropping system without any
competition with major crops
 Temperate crop & High Adaptability
 Tolerance -5 to 40 oC
 Normal range of tolerance 8- 35 oC
 Best suitable range 20-25 oC
 110-125 frost free days, pH 6.5-8.0
 Acidic & water logged soils unfit
 Saline soils retard germination and
deteriorate oil quality
 Two crops i.e. Spring & Autumn
 Seedbed Preparation
 Deep plowing with mould board plough
once
 3 plowings and planking with last
plowing
 Leveling for even distribution of moisture
& nutrients etc
 Spring crop: First week of January till End March
 Autumn Crop: First Week of July till End August
 2 - 2.5 kg/acre depending upon plant and row spacing
 Plant to plant distance: 20-25 cm
 Row to Row distance: 60-75 cm
 Sowing is done by cotton drill at depth of 5-8 cm
 60:40:25 kg/ace NPK
 Half N as well as full P&K before sowing
 Half N at first irrigation
 In Barani areas apply full doses of NPK at
sowing time
 IRRIGATIONS
 Late vegetative, flowering & seed development
are critical stages
 First at 25 DAS, thereafter 15-20 days
intervals depending on weather
 Total water requirement 350-400 mm
 Thinning is one of essential operations
 Abnormal & diseased plants removed
 Weeds should be removed at early stages
 Earthing up after plants attain height of 30 cm
to provide additional strength to plants so that
plants can hold flower
 Aphids, whiteflies
 Cutworms, Caterpillars & Birds
 Sclerotinia wilt & Rot
 Charcoal Rot
 Verticillium Wilt
 Alternaria blight
 May / June Spring crop
 October / November Autumn Crop
 Heads removed but not stored in big heaps so
that all heads are dried equally
 Sun dried and threshing either by hand or
thresher
 Seeds dried up to 8-10 % moisture
 Average gain national yield 1300-1500 kg/ha
(13-15 Munds/Acre)
 Could be obtained 3500 kg/ha (35

Munds/Acre)
 Potential 5000 kg/ha (50 Munds/Acre)

CULTIVARS
 Hysun –33, T-40318, S-278, SF-0046 & SF-177

 NK Armoni, NK-265, SMH-9606, 9607,

 Parsan-1, Pioneer-6424 & 6435

 Suncross-42
American Giant Hybrid‘ 'Arnika'
'Autumn Beauty’ 'Aztec Sun'
'Black Oil’ 'Dwarf Sunspot'
'Evening Sun‘ ‘Kong Hybrid'
'Large Grey Stripe’ 'Lemon Queen'
'Mammoth Russian‘ 'Mongolian Giant'
'Orange Sun’ 'Peach Passion'
'Skyscraper’ 'Soraya‘
'Taiyo’ 'Tarahumara'
'Teddy Bear’ 'Titan’
 Non-traditional crop
 Availability and cost of seed
 Production technology
 Exhaustive crop
 Marketing
 Seed availability
 Marketing smooth
 Dissemination of information/technology
 Sowing harvesting implements
 Oil extraction units
 Encouragement of farmers
 Introduction in rainfed areas