Oilseed

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SUNFLOWER

Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is one of the four most important annual crops in the world grown for edible oil. In Pakistan although it was introduced as an oilseed crop 40 years back but its expansion in acreage and production is fluctuating due to various production and socio-economic constraints. Its seed contains 35-55% oil contents. Research work on this crop has shown that there is great potential of growing it under all the soil and climatic conditions in rainfed as well as irrigated farming system in different agro-ecological zones.

The area of adaptation for this crop are in the cotton belt (Vehari, Lodhran, Bahawalpur, Umerkot) and rice growing areas of Sialkot and Badin in Punjab and Sindh, respectively. The crop is grown in spring as well as in autumn. The average yield in Pakistan is 1.3 tons/ha. Almost 99% area is under hybrids imported by different multinational seeds companies. However, local hybrids are also available and area under them is increasing with the time. It has good prospects as intercrop with sugarcane, if suitable hybrids and production technology is available. During 2000-01, the area was 58998 ha and increased to 319743 ha in 2008-09 with production of 420487 tons and per hectare yield of 1315 kg.

Sunflower is an important oilseed crop and is successfully grown under different climatic conditions of the country, i.e., in the warm and harsh conditions of southern part of the country to mild and cool climate in the north. It has great potential to bridge the gaps between the production and consumption of edible oil.

Province wise area, production and yield (kg/ha) of sunflower in Pakistan

Year	Punjab	Sindh	NWFP	Balochistan	Pakistan
(Area in hectares)
2000-01	18267	37371	2814	546	58998
2001-02	21439	38530	613	2663	63245
2002-03	37290	63909	364	6154	107717
2003-04	84108	171305	89	177	255679
2004-05	56905	206386	178	536	264005
2005-06	75054	248979	472	577	325082
2006-07	90454	231660	349	604	323067
2007-08	152089	243973	524	720	397306
2008-09	64813	253713	527	690	319743
(Production in tonnes)
2000-01	24920	39737	3394	595	68646
2001-02	28877	40827	1335	2923	73962
2002-03	54885	66272	666	6708	128531
2003-04	122490	235683	171	188	358532
2004-05	86356	240516	241	537	327650
2005-06	122840	224198	654	583	348275
2006-07	156258	249775	579	612	407224
2007-08	324973	277326	794	801	603894
2008-09	130510	288393	812	772	420487
(Yield in kgs per hectare)
2000-01	1364	1063	1206	1090	1164
2001-02	1347	1060	2178	1098	1169
2002-03	1472	1037	1830	1090	1193
2003-04	1456	1376	1921	1062	1402
2004-05	1518	1165	1354	1002	1241
2005-06	1637	900	1386	1010	1071
2006-07	1727	1078	1659	1013	1260
2007-08	2137	1137	1515	1113	1520
2008-09	2014	1137	1541	1119	1315

Source: Agriculture Statistics of Pakistan, 2008-09

Sunflower Hybrids of Oilseed Research Program, NARC

Hybrid released	Institute	Year of release	Yield potential (kg/ha)
PARC-92E	NARC, Islamabad	1993	3949
SMH-9706	NARC, Islamabad	VEC	4587

Sunflower Hybrids Recommended under NUYT System

Hybrid	Institute	Year of release	Yield potential (kg/ha)
NK-265	Cargill	1991	3667
SF-187	Cargill	1991	4000
PI-6480	Pioneer Seeds	1991	3015
Hysun-33	ICI Pakistan	1993	4750

PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY OF SUNFLOWER

1. Irrigated Areas

Soil : Sandy to clay soil (pH 6.5 to 7.5)

Seedbed preparation: One deep ploughing with mould board plough followed

by cultivator and plank

Planting Time: Spring Crop Autumn Crop

Punjab

Attock, Rawalpindi and Gujrat 1^st Feb - 28^th Feb 1^st July � 25^th July

Sialkot, Gujranwala, Kasur, 25^th Jan � 15^th Feb 25^th July � 10^th Aug

Lahore and Sheikhupura

Mianwali, Sargodha, Jhang,Pak Pattan 25^th Jan � 10^th Feb 25^th July � 10^th Aug

Faisalabad, Sahiwal, Okara,

Khanewal, Vehari, Multan D.G.Khan 15^th Jan � 10^th Feb 25^th July � 10^th Aug

Bahawal Nagar, Muzaffar Garh,

Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan 10^th Jan � 5^th Feb 25^th July � 15^th Aug

Sindh

Southern Sindh 1^st Dec � 20^th Feb 25^th July � 5^th Aug

Northern Sindh 15^thDec � 20^th Feb 25^th July � 15^th Aug

Dobari Crop 1^st Nov � 28^th Feb

Baluchistan

Plain Areas (Naseer Abad Division) 15^thDec � 10^th Feb 25^th July � 15^th Aug

Hilly Areas (Quetta, Khuzdar, Noshki) 15^thMar � 20^th June

NWFP

Plain Areas (D.I.Khan, Bannu and Kohat) 15^th Jan � 28^th Feb 15^th July � 20^th Aug

Hilly Areas

Swat, Mansehra and other areas 1^st Mar � 30^th June

Seed Rate: 5-6 kg/ha

Method of planting: Row to row spacing = 75 cm

Plant to plant spacing = 25 cm.

Fertilizer: Nitrogen = 150 kg/ha (1/2 at planting + 1/2 at first irrigation)

Phosphorus = 60 kg/ha

Potassium = 60 kg/ha

Irrigations: 4-5 Spring crop Autumn Crop

1^st 25 days after germination 15 days after germination

2^nd 15 to 20 days after 1^st irrigation 10-15 days after 1^st irrigation

3^rd At the time of head initiation At the time of flower initiation

4^th At the time of flower completion At the time of seed setting

5^th 10-15 days before harvest

Weed Control: Successful weed control should include a combination

of cultural and chemical methods.

Harvesting: when the back of heads turn yellow and bracts brownish

Threshing: Dry for 4-5 days and thresh with thresher

Drying and Storage: For storage 9.5 % moisture is considered suitable.

Proposed crop rotations for sunflower:

Spring Crop (Irrigated areas) Autumn Crop ( Irrigated areas)

Cotton-Sunflower-Cotton-Wheat Sunflower-Wheat-Soybean-Wheat

Rice-Sunflower-Rice-Wheat Sunflower-Wheat-Groundnut

Potato-Sunflower-Potato-Potato Fodder-Sunflower-Wheat

Potato-Sunflower-Maize-Wheat

2. Rainfed Areas

Soil : Sandy to clay. soil (pH 6.5 to 7.5)

Seedbed preparation: One deep ploughing with mould board plough followed

by cultivator and plank

Planting Time: Spring Season Autumn Season

Punjab

Attock, Rawalpindi, Gujrat Mid Jan - Mid Feb Mid Jul - Mid Aug

Mianwali and Jhelum

D.G.Khan, Muzaffar Garh and Layyah Month of January Mid Jul to Mid Aug

Sindh

Dobari lands 1^st Nov � 31^st Jan

Baluchistan

Qeutta Khuzdar, Noshki 1^st Mar � 30^th Apr

NWFP

Hazara division 1^st Feb to Mid Mar 1^st Jul � 31^st Jul

D.I. Khan, Bannu Month of Jan Mid Jul � Mid Aug

Seed Rate: 5-6 kg/ha

Method of planting: Row to row spacing = 60 cm

Plant to plant spacing = 20 cm.

Fertilizer: Nitrogen = 120 kg/ha before planting

Phosphorus = 50 kg/ha before planting

Irrigations: 4-5 Spring Season Autumn Season

1^st 25 days after germination 15 days after germination

2^nd 15 to 20 days after 1^st irrigation 10-15 days after 1^st irrigation

3^rd At the time of head initiation At the time of flower initiation

4^th At the time of flower completion At the time of seed setting

5^th 10-15 days before harvest

Weed Control: Successful weed control should include a combination of cultural and chemical methods.

Harvesting: Harvest when the back of heads turn yellow and bracts brownish

Threshing: Dry for 4-5 days and thresh with thresher

Drying and Storage: For storage 9.5 % moisture is considered suitable.

Proposed crop rotations:

Spring Crop (Rainfed areas) Autumn Crop ( Rainfed areas)

Sunflower-Fodder-Wheat Sunflower-Wheat-Groundnut

Sunflower-Wheat-Maize-Soybean

Focal Person:

Dr. Muhammad Ayub Khan, PSO	warfanayub@hotmail.com
Tel:	051-8443685

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