The possibility of growing confectionery sunflower under the conditions of organic production system

Abstract

Sunflower belongs to the genus Helianthus, which comprises a large number of species. One species is the cultivated Helianthus annuus L, with two types - oil and confectionery sunflower type. Confectionery low-oil protein type is used in human nutrition and as bird food. The main aim of confectionery sunflower breeding is the increase in yield, content and quality of protein, decrease in seed oil content and improvement of seed oil quality, with reduction in hull content. In recent past, there has been a steady increase in global demand for organic foods because of the health risks posed by the conventional method of production. The aim of this research is to examine the effect of both organic and conventional production system on the protein content in seed, oil content in seed, 1000 seed weight, and total number of seeds per head of confectionery sunflower. Twenty-two confectionery NS hybrids, created and produced in the breeding program of IFVCNS, were set as parallel trials, under the conditions of the conventional production at the location of Rimski Šančevi,