A few weeks ago, we sowed the sunflowers, as we’ve been showing you in the videos posted on Instagram and YouTube. The main change this time is that we have switched seed brands and started using Syngenta.
As we have mentioned in previous blog posts, sunflower cultivation in our region is a fairly marginal crop. Hardly any farmers grow sunflowers because we rotate with pulse crops. We continue to keep it because it gives us an extra crop and because it means we can spend more time working on these fields where we sow sunflowers. What’s more, we have more options for controlling weeds. Another problem with growing sunflowers is that in our area the summer is very dry and there is practically no rain from sowing until harvest. That is why we switched to a different variety and tried SY Irisa AR and SY Marítimo AR. These seed varieties are notable for their good yields under water stress, so we’ll keep you updated on how our crop is progressing.
Another point worth noting is that, before heading out to the field to sow the seeds, we carried out some preparatory work at home using Syngenta’s Seed Selector tool. This tool helped us to select the seed variety best suited to the conditions on our fields (agronomic and climatic conditions). A free and very user-friendly tool that we really liked and think is very useful.
If we take a closer look at the two varieties grown, we can highlight the following about each of them:
- High-yield hybridLinoleic variety.
- Excellent emergence vigour.
- High yield and good oil content.
- It is the earliest-flowering hybrid among the herbicide-tolerant varieties (Express™ and Clearfield®).
- High tolerance to both Imazamox (Clearfield®/Clearfield® Plus) and Tribenuron methyl (ExpressTM system) herbicides.
- Flowering: Early.
- Physiological maturity: Early.
- Resistance to Jopo: Very high.
- Resistance to downy mildew: Very high.
- Drought tolerance: Very high.
- Germination vigour: Very high.
- Height: Medium.
- The first A.I.R.™ high-oleic variety on the market.
- A highly productive hybrid in all growing conditions, performing particularly well under drought and heat stress.
- Strong emergence vigour.
- Good oleic acid content.
- High tolerance to Veriticilium.
- Flowering: Medium.
- Physiological maturity: Medium.
- Resistance to Jopo: Very high.
- Resistance to downy mildew: Very high.
- Drought tolerance: Very high.
- Vigorous emergence: Very high.
- Height: Tall.
- Oil content: Medium-high.
And finally, we’ll mention a few details about the A.I.R.™ technology featured in the two varieties we’ve sowed. This technology is notable for providing strong tolerance to herbicides containing imazamox/imazapyr and tribenuron-methyl, enabling better control of all weed problems. It therefore offers flexibility in the application window for these herbicides, keeping a wide range of weeds and broadleaf weeds under control.
