Sunflower seed quality and yield in relation to environmental conditions of production region

Abstract

Seed quality is a complex character that is determined by a large number of parameters. Because of this, knowing the interrelationships among these parameters is of utmost importance, not only from the point of view of plant selection but also from the standpoint of crop production itself. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of production season and production region (i.e., environmental conditions) on quality parameters and yield of sunflower hybrid seed. The study was conducted on the seed of the hybrids NS-H-111 and Rimi that had been produced at sites located in Serbia and Ukraine. The following traits were studied: germinability, 1000-seed weight, husk content, protein content, and seed yield per hectare. All of the studied parameters were affected the most by the genotype itself. Germinability ranged from 87.75% in NS-H-111 produced in Serbia to 95.50% in Rimi produced in Ukraine. The 1000-seed weight was greatly influenced by the production area. All of the studied factors individually produced highly significant differences in husk content, which ranged from 20.35% in NS-H-111 to 31.40% in Rimi. Seed protein content was highly significantly affected by all the factors studied. On average, genotype had the greatest effect on seed yield as well, with the difference in yield between the hybrids (833.0 kg) being highly significant. On the average, looking at the production season and area, differences were observed with regard to seed yield, but those were not statistically significant.