New Sunflower Genotypes Obtained at NARDI Fundulea - Connection to a Sustainable Agriculture

Maria Joiţa-Păcureanu^1,2, Gabriel Popescu², Florin Gabriel Anton¹, Laurenţiu Ciornei²,
Victor Petcu^1,2, Ioana Todirică², Simona Simion², Amalia Străteanu²

¹National Agricultural Research and Development Institute Fundulea
²Center for Study and Research for AgroForestry Biodiversity
“Acad. David Davidescu”, Bucharest

Keywords: sunflower, climate change, adaptation, performant genotypes.

 Abstract: Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) crop is grown for its edible oil but also for its achenes (confectionery types), both commonly used in human food.
After being obtained first sunflower hybrids with high oil content, area cultivated with sunflower crop has increased over the world.
Sunflower is an important source of oil and protein necessary for development of healthy humans. By producing sunflower the main gains a possibility to use oil and proteins in different forms.
With ongoing climate change, sunflower, as a spring crop, could be more exposed to the direct effect of heat stress and to different drought scenarios, resulting in severe yield losses, oil content decrease and alteration of fatty acids composition.
The oil concentration in sunflower (whether linoleic or oleic varieties) is valued above the contribution of genotype, of environment but also of the crop management.
By using a very various and valuable germplasm, there have been obtained valuable inbred lines, having very good characteristics.
In the present and future climate context, sunflower cropping offers a wide range of option for attenuating or preventing the negative impacts of climate change. Adaptation through crop management (early sowing), breeding (earliness, stress tolerance etc.) and shifting growing areas could be introduced, assessed and combined at field level.
During early growth stage, sunflower plants can withstand temperatures in the -3.3 to 3.8 degrees of temperatures for short period. As the plants develop through the vegetative stages, they become progressively more sensitive to frost. There have been identified resistance or tolerance of young sunflower plants to overnight freezing temperatures.
It has been obtained an important genetic progress, regarding the productivity, also different agronomic and physiological traits and adaptation to the biotic and abiotic factors.
The performance of new genotypes gathering most of these characteristics are presented.