Introduction to the Special Issue Sunflower

Abstract

This is anOpe Sunflowers are grown on an increasing area in the world (over 28 million hectares in 2021, with a production of over 50 million tons (NSA) and its importance in human and animal nutrition is therefore increasing. As a result, more attention is paid to the issue of growing and processing sunflowers and all aspects of production that affect yield and quality. This is especially influenced by the large increase in sunflower prices on world markets in 2021, which will certainly continue in 2022, due to the war in Ukraine and the fact that production in Russia and Ukraine accounts for over 54% of world production. Investments in sunflower production are now becoming more profitable, but on the other hand, the price of all inputs, especially fertilizers, is also growing rapidly. This edition of OCL deals with a wide range of current topics, among which, new discoveries dominate in the field of breeding, cultivation in the conditions of global climate change and the fight against diseases, parasites and pests of sunflower. The basis of any breeding program is genetic resources. The activities of three gene banks, in USA, France and Serbia, are described in detail, supplemented by data from seven other countries (Terzić et al., 2020). Exploitation of heterosis for seed, oil yield and quality it is still in the focus of breeders (Ahmed et al., 2021). In assessment of phenotypic variability among INTA (Argentina) sunflower lines, authors demonstrated the need for more in-depth study of genetic variability to be used as a predictor of heterosis in sunflower (Dominguez et al., 2021). The high yield is ultimate goal but the compact habitus of sunflower plants (erectoid lives) is not a determining factor in the development of productivity of sowings with a high plant density (Bushnev et al., 2021). Researchers are apparently increasingly focusing on the impact of global climate change, especially high temperatures and drought. Authors (Berton at al., 2021) provided untargeted and targeted metabolomic data of sunflower leaves under water deficit. They constitute a valuable resource for the community to study the adaptation of crops to drought and the metabolic bases of heterosis. Innovative cropping systems based on low-input management, organic farming, soil and water conservation practices, intercropping, double-cropping, and/or agroforestry, so as new sunflower ideotyping are being investigated (Debaeke et al., 2021). In some regions of Ukraine, edaphoclimatic factors account for 34 to 58% of the variation