Cultivating early and productive sunflower is an option for off-season in the Cerrado

By combining precocity with productivity, the BRS 323 sunflower cultivar is increasingly being used by rural producers as a second crop cultivation option in the Cerrado, generally planted in February. “I harvested the sunflower here on the farm 40 days before the off-season corn”, says the consultant at the Santa Brígida farm, in Ipameri (GO), Roberto de Freitas. “We experimentally planted this variety for two consecutive harvests, obtaining productivity of up to 2.360 kg/ha in a range of four hectares. In this 2018/20019 harvest, we invested in technology and planted commercially”, he reports. 

The four hectares initially planted at Fazenda Santa Brígida turned into 98 ha in this harvest and the harvest will be carried out at the end of June. “Sunflower cultivation is growing in our region. I consider this a great option for crop diversification. And the seed from the BRS 323 cultivar also has the advantage of being 42% cheaper”, says the farm consultant, who also monitors sunflower crops on other properties in the region. In total, around 450 ha of the Embrapa hybrid were planted. 

“By using the BRS 323, the producer can anticipate the harvest by up to 20 days, as it can be harvested 100 days after sowing”, stated Embrapa Cerrados researcher Renato Amabile, coordinator of the Central-West region of the National Network of Sunflower Research. According to the expert, the growing choice of farmers for this crop is not free. “What is happening now is the result of years of research work. We developed seeds that are more resistant to dry climates and more appropriate management techniques which, combined with the market potential, contributed to awakening the interest of producers in the region in the product. BRS 323 is the only resistance option on the market to root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne javanica)”, explains Amabile. 

Embrapa’s sunflower cultivation research 

The cultivar was obtained from the sunflower breeding program, coordinated by Embrapa Soja (Londrina/PR), in partnership with other Embrapa units, such as Embrapa Cerrados (Planaltina/DF). “To ensure the expansion of this crop in a stable and competitive manner, the availability of cultivars with suitable characteristics to suit different production systems is essential. This expansion is closely linked to genetic improvement, since the soil and climate conditions in Brazil are different from those found in countries that have a sunflower tradition and, consequently, the introduced genotypes need to be adapted”, explained Amabile. In 2019, Embrapa launched its new hybrid, the BRS 422, to meet the growing demand for sunflowers and Brazilian rural society.

Sunflower culture

Originally from North America, sunflower is the fourth most planted oilseed in the world, accounting for 13% of all vegetable oil produced. In Brazil, the cultivated area in the 2018/2019 harvest was 65,8 thousand hectares, with productivity estimated by Conab (National Supply Company) at 1.763 kg/ha. The state of Mato Grosso is the largest producer in the country, with around 40 thousand ha and Goiás with 21 thousand ha. Sunflower seeds can be used to extract high-quality oil for human consumption or as raw material for biodiesel production. The cake or bran, obtained from the extraction process, has a high protein value and is used in the production of animal feed.