The sunflower head is not a single flower as the name implies. Rather, it's made up of up to 2,000 individual flowers. Some recently developed cultivars with drooping heads appeal to growers because they reduce bird damage and losses from some plant diseases.
Sunflowers grow well in a wide range of soil types-from sands to clays-and thrive in full sun. This annual plant is one of the few crop species that originated in North America.
Commercially available sunflower varieties contain from 39 to 49 percent oil in the seed. Sunflower oil, extracted from the seeds, is generally considered a premium cooking oil because of its composition, flavor and cooking properties. Sunflowers also have additional end-uses as livestock feed or silage. The price of sunflower oil typically prohibits its widespread use in industrial applications, but it has been used for products such soaps and detergents.
Pioneer began sunflower research in 1983, with its first research station in Argentina. Within a year, Pioneer expanded sunflower breeding into Minnesota and California. The focus in Woodland, California, was to acquire germplasm and to support research networks for the Australia and Europe markets. Woodland remains a major producer of sunflower seed for international markets.
Today, Pioneer has 12 research stations for sunflower and sells seed in North America and Europe markets.
At a glance…
Sunflowers can be used to extract toxic ingredients, such as lead, arsenic and uranium from soil.
Sunflowers can be used as a silage crop. It can also be used as a double crop after early-harvested small grains or vegetables, an emergency crop, or in areas with a season too short to produce mature corn for silage.
85 percent of the North American sunflower seed is grown in North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota.
Traditional breeding combined with extensive field testing and leading-edge genetic technologies produces sunflower hybrids with superior production and food processing characteristics. Product development highlights include:
Germplasm Enhancement – Expanding the elite sunflower germplasm base allows Pioneer Hi-Bred to develop hybrids with increased yield potential, improved disease and pest resistance, improved stress tolerance and better end-use characteristics for a wide range of maturities.
Extensive Testing – Each year, Pioneer sunflower researchers plant more than 100,000 test plots to evaluate the yield potential of experimental products.
Improving Yield – Researchers are dramatically increasing the number of hybrid combinations tested for yield, and that helps us improve agronomic traits such as emergence, root and stalk strength, seedling vigor and fast drydown.
Oil Content and Quality – Pioneer is in a leadership position in the development of high oleic sunflower hybrids that offer end-users an oil with superior processing characteristics.
Disease and Pest Resistance – Products are being developed with resistance to Phoma, Sclerotinia, downy mildew, Alternaria and Phomopsis. Additional research is directed toward developing resistance to the parasitic weed, broomrape, which is a major problem in many regions of Europe.
