Sunflower Production Technology

Abstract

Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L) is the fourth important oilseed crop in the world next to soybean, groundnut and rapeseed. In India, sunflower was released for commercial cultivation in 1972 and currently it is an important oilseed crop and its oil is considered as premium because of its high poly unsaturated fatty acid content with high level of linoleic acid and absence of linolenic acid. From a mere 15 thousand hectares in 1972-73, its area had reached up to 2.7 million hectares in 1993-94. Currently, it is grown in an area of 1.81 million hectares with a production of 1.16 million tones (2008-09). As per the latest estimates 3.35 lakh tonnes of sunflower was harvested from 5.20 lakh ha with a procutivity of 643 kg/ha in 2015-16. Compared to the world average productivity of about 1320 kg/ha, the national average productivity of 639 kg/ha is low due to its production under sub-optimal agro-ecological conditions. However, the crop has high realizable productivity potential in the country with the adoption of available improved production technologies. Improved sunflower production technologies are available for realising higher productivity and monetary returns to the farmers. Major fluctuation in cultivated area of sunflower is directly influenced by prevailing market prices whereas fluctuations in productivity are due to biotic and abiotic stresses. The magnitude of variation in productivity can be buffered by adopting sound package of practices resulting in stabilizing the sunflower production in the country. The latest technologies developed by IIOR, Hyderabad trough its AICRP network and the recommendations for different regions and situations are presented as Package of Practices.