Performance of some oilseed and confectionary-type sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) varieties in the Aegean region of Turkey

Vegetable oils and fats are vital components of the human diet because they are an important source of energy. In 2008 according to the production data sunflower was grown in Turkey on an area of 577,958 ha and 992,000 metric tons of the seed were harvested (Anonymous, 2010). Because of the gap in vegetable oil production in Turkey, sunflower is one of the alternative and leading oilseed crops that can be used to increase the vegetable oil production in the country. Growing sunflower as a crop in the Aegean Region is one of the possibilities to increase the production. The main objective of this study was to identify oilseed hybrids and open-pollinated confectionary varieties that could be grown with satisfactory yield performance in the Aegean Region. The experiments including oilseed and confectionary types of cultivars were conducted separately during the first crop-growing seasons of 2008 and 2009 on the experiment field of the Aegean Agricultural Research Institute in Menemen, Izmir (Turkey). The experiments were conducted in a randomized complete block design with four replications. Oilseed hybrids and open-pollinated confectionary sunflower candidate varieties were used in the study as the material. An adaptation study was undertaken for the characters of seed yield, seed oil content (%), 100-seed weight, plant height, head diameter, seed length, seed width, hull percentage (%), seed color (white, black and intermediate), days to flowering, and days to physiological maturity. The results indicated that the statistically significant differences were found among the sunflower varieties for the characters in question. In the oilseed variety experiments, the highest seed yield (572 kg/da) and the lowest seed yield (343 kg/da) were obtained in 2009 from the varieties ETAE-Y-TM-2007-5 and Armada, respectively. In the confectionary variety experiments, the highest seed yield (563 kg/da) and the lowest seed yield (202 kg/da) were produced in 2009 by the varieties ETAE-D1-2-B2 and ETAE-Ç-P-1-2, respectively.