Long-term influence of cultural practices on sunflower yields in commercial production in Serbia

Abstract

Sunflower is one of the main crops in Serbia, with average acreage of 200000 ha. Economic difficulties associated with the transition have caused significant reduction in sunflower yields. The aim of this paper was to compare results from experiments and commercial production in order to identify the shortcomings, emphasize and quantify the definite average perennial influence of cultural practice implementation quality and timing on sunflower yields. This will enable sunflower growers to determine the relative effects of particular cultural practice on yield and thereby potentially increase the profitability. During 1994-2002 Institute of field and vegetable crops Novi Sad, conducted annual surveys among sunflower growers to gather data on sunflower growing technology used in Serbia. The interviewed growers hold 6.0-20.5% of the total sunflower acreage. This sample size should be sufficient to obtain a realistic picture of the used cultural practices. We also believe that the nine-year period is long enough for a reliable estimate of average long-term effect of applied cultural practice.