1. FIELD PREPARATION
Plough once with tractor or twice with iron-plough or three to four times
withcountry-plough till all the clods are broken and a fine tilth is obtained.
2.APPLICATION OFFERTILIZERS
i. Spread 12.5 t/ha of FYM or compost or composted coir pith evenly on
the field before the last ploughing and incorporate in the soil byworking
a country plough.
ii. Apply NPK fertilizers basally as per soil test recommendations. If
soil test recommendations are not available,follow the blanket recommendation
of 40:20:20 kg NPK/ha for both irrigated and rainfed crops.
iii. Azospirillum: Soil application - Mix 10 packets (2000 g)/ha of inoculant
with 25 kg FYM and 25 kg soil and apply before sowing.
3. APPLICATION OF MICRONUTRIENTS
a. Mix 12.5 kg/ha of micronutrient mixture formulated by the Department
of Agriculture, Tamilnadu with enough sand to make total quantity of 50kg/ha.
b. Apply the mixture over the furrows and top two thirds of the ridges
before sowing.
c. Do not incorporate the mixture in the soil.
i. To overcome manganese deficiency, foliar spray of 0.5% MnSO4 on 30,
40 and 50th day.
ii.For zinc deficiency, apply 25 kg/ha ZnSO4 as basal, or 0.5% ZnSO4
spray on 30,40 and 50th day.
4.FORMING RIDGES AND FURROWS
a. Form ridges and furrows 6 m long.
b. Form the ridges 60 cm apart for BSH 1 and MSFH 1 and 30 cm apart for
K2 and others.
c. Use bund-former or ridge plough to economise and
d. Form irrigation channels across and ridges according to the topographyof
the field.
5.SEED RATE
Use 15 kg per ha for varieties except CO 1 the seed rate is 30 kg/ha.
Select good quality seeds.
6.SEED TREATMENT
Soaking seeds in 2% ZnSO4 for 12 hrs and shade drying recommended, for
rainfed sowing.
i. Treat the seed with Trichoderma @ 4g/kg. This canbe done just before
sowing. It is compatible with biofertilizers. SUCH SEEDS SHOULD NOT BE
TREATED WITH FUNGICIDES.
ii. Treat the seeds with Psudomonas at 2 g/kg of sed.
iii. Treat the seeds 24 hours prior to sowing.
iv. Azospirillum: Use 3 packets (600 g)/ha of inoculant for treating
seeds using rice kanji as binder. Dry the treated seeds in shade for 15
minutes and sow immediately.
v. Moist hydration for 24 hours in moist gunny bags followed by drying
and seed dressing with Thiram @ 2g/kg to enhance field emergence.
vi. Seed dried to 8-9% moisture content, treated with Thiram @ 2g/kg
and packed in polylined (300 gauge) cloth bag can store upto 9 months
with 70% germination.
7.SOWING
i. Place the seeds at a depth of 3 cm along the furrows in which the
fertilizer mixture is placed and cover with soil. Put two seeds per hole.
ii. Irrigate the crop according to the different growth stages. Regulate
irrigation according to the following growth phase.
Pre-sowing irrigation; Life irrigation; 20th day after sowing; Early
bud development , Flowering-2 irrigations and seed development-2 irrigations;
Flowering period is critical.
8.GAP FILLING AND THINNING
Thin out seedlings leaving only one healthy and vigorous seedling in
each hole on the 10th day of sowing.
9.WEED MANAGEMENT
ii. Hoe and hand weed on the 15th and 30th day of sowing and remove the
weeds. Allow the weeds to dry for 2-3 days in the case of irrigated and
then give irrigation.
10.WATER MANAGEMENT
Irrigate immediately after sowing followed by an irrigation on 4-5th
day and later at intervals of 7 to 8 days according to soil and climatic
conditions, seeding, flowering and seed development stage (ie) two weeks
before and after flowering.
11. SPRAYING NAA
i. Spray the hormone Napthalene Acetic Acid (NAA) at 20 ppm concentration
(280 g NAA in 625 litres of water per ha) on the 30th and 60th day of
sowing.
ii. Use a high volume sprayer and give a thorough coverage of the entire
plant.
iii. Do not use brackish water.
12.PEST MANAGEMENT
a. Spray Neem kernal extract 5% the 30th day to control leaf caterpillars
and leaf weevils.
b. Hand pick the Helicoverpa larvae and destroy.
13.DISEASE MANAGEMENT - HEADROT
a. Spray Psudomonas in case of intermittent rainfall at the head stage,
directing the spray to cover the capitulum.
b. Repeat bio-fungicidal application after 10 days if humid weather continues.
c. Alternaria leaf spot and wilt: Spraying Psudomonas
d. Charcoal rot: Spot drench Psudomonas
14. IMPROVING SED SET BY MECHANICAL MEANS
a. During the mid flowering phase ,improve pollination by:
i. Mid rubbing of the capitulum with the hand covered with soft cloth
or
ii. Rubbing two flowers face to face gently.
b. The mid-flowering phase are: 58 to 60 days of planting for long duration
varieties.
i. 45 to 48 days of planting for short duration varieties.
c. Do this operation inthe morning hours between 9 and 11 AM when pollen
shedding is high.
d. Keeping bee hives at the rate of 5/ha improves seed setting.
15.JUDGE WHENTO HARVEST
Observe the bracts on the backside of the capitula. When they turn yellow,
the heads harden andthe crop is ready for harvest.
Bird damage: Use of reflective ribbons scares the birds effectively and
thus prevents loss ofgrain.
16.HARVESTING
i. Cut the capitula (flower heads) only
ii. Thresh and clean
a. Immediately after harvest, dry the heads in the sun for 3 days.
b. Spread the heads in thin layer and give turning once in 3 hours.
NOTE: Do not heap or store the heads before drying properly as mould
fungi will develop and spoil the grain quality.
a. Thresh using a mechanical thresher, or beat with a stick and separate
the grains.
b. Wionnow and clean the seeds
c. Dry the seeds again in the sun for another two days
e. Stoire in gunny bags.
IV. SEED TECHNOLOGY
1. SOWING
April-August. Use seeds retained by 12/64" (4.7 mm) diameter, round
perforated sieve or BSS 5 x 5 wire mesh sieve for EC 101495, for other
varieties, use 9/64" (3.5mm) diameter, round perforated sieve or
BSS 5 x 5 wire mesh sieve and winnow to eliminate chaffy, light and broken
seeds.
If the seeds are fresh (1 to 5 month old) germination will be low due
to dormancy. Hence, they should besoaked in aqueous solutionof Etherel
at 300 ppm for eight hours in air tight plastic container or inaqueous
solution of Potassium nitrate at 0.5 per cent concentration for 16 hrs
in open plastic container. Wash and air dry the seeds. Slurry treat with
Psudomonas 2 g/kg.dissolved in 5 ml of water per kg of seed before sowing.
2.SPACING
Adopt a spacing of 45 x 30 cm.
3.MANURING
Apply N P K 60:45:45 kg/ha. Foliar application with 0.25% micronutrients
at 4th melanin growth stage is recommended for increased seed setting.
4.HARVESTING
Harvest when the drooping peduncular receptacle turns lemon or pale yellow
in colour and at this stage the seed moisture content will be 25 per cent
and the seeds will be black in colour. Cut and dry the heads immediately
until the seeds contain 15-16 per cent moisture and the nseparate the
seeds with a mechanical thresher or manual labour and pre-clean.
5.GRADING
Use a sieve with 9/64" (3.6 mm) diameter round, perforated or BSS
7 x 7 wire mesh sieve. Remove broken seeds.
6.STORAGE
For short period upto 6 months, dry the seeds to 7-8% moisture content
and store ina cloth bag. For long period beyond 10 months, dry the seeds
5-6% molisture content and store in H.D. Polythene, 700 gauge. thick bag.
NOTE: Heat-seal the bag.
Sunflower hybrid seeds dried to 8% moisture content and stored in cloth
and 100 gauge polythene bag upto 9 months with germination percentage
of more than 72.
Soaking sunflower achenes in very dilute solution of Sodium dihydrogen
phosphate (104M) for 2 hours followed byh drying back to original moisture
content (8%) effectively controls the deterioration process in all sunflower
hybrids particularly in low vigour CMS parental lines.
7. SEED TREATMENTS
Treat the seeds with Psudomonas 2gr/kg before sowing
8. HYBRID SUNFLOWER BSH 1
For the production of Sunflower hybrid Seed (BSH 1), a planting ratio
of (4:1) four lines of female parents and one line of male parent is recommended.
Hand pollination at flowering to increase the seed set percentage and
yield potential is recommended.
The best time for production is Mayto August for perfect synchronisation.
Application of 90:90:40 kg NPK/ha is optimum to get higher yield.
Hydration-dehydration treatment of 5 monthsold seeds using Disodium phosphate
(10 4M) prolonged the shelf life upto one year.
For KBSH 1 and LMMRSH 3 hybrid the optimum planting ratios are 1:8 and
1:6 respectively.
9.HYBRID SUNFLOWER BSH 3
For seed production of hybrid sunflower BSH 3, a planting ratio of 1:6
is optimum.
For KBSH 1 the optimum planting ratio is 1:4. In this variety, the male
parent lags behind the female parent by 7 days under Coimbatore conditions
and hence themale parent can be sown seven days ahead of female parentfor
synchrony of flowering.
