The high oleic sunflower has a high potential for industrials use (oleochemistry and biodiesel). A sustainable development of agriculture can be achieved through the production of high oleic sunflower oil for use in green chemistry. In such a way will it be possible to create secure jobs in agriculture as well as in new industries, especially in rural communities.

Biodiesel as an alternative diesel fuel obtained by transesterification of vegetable fats and oils, using alcohol in the presence of a catalyst, has some advantages such as reduced emissions of unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, sulfates, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and particular matter, but its drawback, of being more prone to oxidation than petroleum-based diesel fuel, can cause the fuel to become acidic (cause fuel system corrosion) and to form insoluble gums and sediments and consequently increase its viscosity. In this study, in order to increase the stability of biodiesel based on high oleic acid sunflower oil against oxidation process during the storage and distribution, different percents [0.01%, 0.02%, 0.05%, 0.1%, and 0.2% (w/v)] of maize flour contaminated by mycotoxins, thus useless for human consumption, were added as natural antioxidants. The antioxidant effect increased with concentration up to an optimal level. Above the optimal level, the increase in antioxidant effect with its concentration was relatively small. Oxidative stability of biodiesel was determined using two parallel methods, the Schaal oven storage test (at 70°C) and the Rancimat method (at 110°C). The induction times obtained by the Rancimat method were more similar to the values determined by the oven test. The highest protective effect was observed in samples containing 0.1% (w/ v) of added antioxidants.

The object of study were 8 divergent sunflower inbred lines and 15 F1 hybrids, which were analyzed for mode of inheritance, gene effects, combining ability and components of genetic variance for oleic and linoleic acid content. Mode of inheritance was estimated on the basis of a test of significance of mean values of F1 hybrids in relation to the parents' mean (Borojević, 1965). Combining ability was determined by the method line × tester (Singh and Choud hary, 1976). The inheritance of oleic and linoleic acid contents varied in the F1 generation. Dominance, partial dominance, intermediacy and heterosis were found. The inbred lines HA-22 and RHA-N-K exhibited highly significant positive GCA values for the content of oleic acid, the lines HA-74 and RHA-C-B for the content of linoleic acid. The inbred lines HA-22 and RHA-C-B exhibited highly significant negative GCA values for the content of oleic acid, the line RHA-N-K for the content of linoleic acid. All F1 hybrids exhibited non-signifi cant specific combining ability (SCA) for the two characteristics. Prevalence of additive gene action was observed in the control of inherit ance of oleic acid content. The non-additive component, i.e., dominance and epistasis, prevailed in the control of inheritance of linoleic acid content.

The objective of this research was to check possibilities of combining imidazolinone resistance with mutations for seed oil quality characters in sunflower. An imidazolinone resistant line HA425 (ImrImr) with normal fatty acid and tocopherol compositions was used as female after hand emasculation. An imidazolinone susceptible inbred line VK876 with high oleic content and changed tocopherol composition (OlOl tph1tph1 tph2tph2) served as male. Linkage test in the F2 and F3 generations has shown the Imr gene for imidazolinone resistance to be independently inherited from the high oleic mutation Ol, high β-tocopherol mutation tph1 and high γ-tocopherol mutation tph2. Recombinant genotypes have been selected for development of inbred lines.

Six mutant cms HA 89 lines, cms PI 432513 from a native American vari ety, and the French cms PET1 in an HA 89 background were compared in replicated yield trials at Fargo, ND and Casselton, ND in 2003 and 2004. Data collected included lodging %, days to flower, days to maturity, plant height, head diameter, yield, test weight, seed moisture content, and oil concentration. Differences among the eight cms lines for lodging, days to maturity, head diameter, yield, and oil % were not significant. The other traits were significant among lines, but most of them were not significantly different from cms HA 89, with a maximum days to flower of 2 days later, plant height up to 9 cm taller, test weight from 2.8 kg/hl less to 1.2 kg/hl more, and 1000 seed weight from 2.6 g less to 6.0 g more. The six new cms lines are therefore considered agro nomically equal to the French cms PET1. F1 hybrids of these eight cms lines pollinated with oilseed restorer, RHA 274, and confectionery restorer, RHA 294, were also evaluated in separate yield trials. A similar interpretation for the parental cms lines can be made for the hybrids. The use of one oilseed restorer RHA 274, and one confectionery restorer RHA 294 contributed to the significant differences in days to flowering, plant height, test weight, 1000 seed weight, and oil %. However, the F1 deviations involving the new cms lines from cms HA 89 are within the acceptable levels of most breeding programs. Based on our results, the seven new cms appear equal to, if not better than, the French cms PET1 cytoplasm for hybrid sunflower production. Since new restoration lines will not be required, the new cms lines could be quickly utilized by the sunflower industry.

Lowered genetic variability in the cultivated sunflower and use of interspecies hybridization in sunflower breeding were the main reasons to establish the wild species collection. Wild species were collected during collecting trips performed jointly by researchers from Novi Sad and Fargo from 1980 to 1991. A total of 917 accessions were gathered. Different numbers of species (1-37) and populations (52-384) were gathered in each trip and wild sunflower habitats were inspected in 6-21 US federal states. Presently, there are 21 perennial and 7 annual species in the collection, represented by 447 accessions. The perennial species are grown in quarantine fields (311 accessions) and kept in tem porary seed storage at +4° (163 accessions). Annual species are sawn each year and 136 accessions are kept in temporary seed storage. Seed reserves vary from a few seeds to several thousand per accession and all of them were produced in the period between 1998 and 2004. Several problems were encountered in the course of the establishment, maintenance and utilization of the collection: 1. Occasional errors in species determination during collection trips were caused by the presence of natural hybrids, heterogeneity of natural populations and differences in ploidy within the same species; 2. The local continental climate caused loss in material due to winterkill and inability of some species to complete the vegetative cycle; 3. Perennial species were difficult to grow because of low seed viability; 4. Low self-fertility or complete self sterility precluded seed production and renewal of seed reserves; 5. Wild species were difficult to utilize as a source of desirable genes because of their cross incompatibility with cultivated sunflower. The collection of wild sunflower species has mostly been used for development of disease resistant or tolerant genotypes, new cms and Rf genes and for breeding of special-purpose hybrids.

Since 2000 a research is in progress on wild sunflowers in Argentina, comprising naturalized H. annuus and H. petiolaris populations, and their relationship with cultivated sunflower. The study includes morphological, phenological, biochemical and molecular aspects, addressed to explain dispersal and adaptive processes and gene flow within sunflower crop. We present here a summary of results obtained during the last five years.

The present investigation has been undertaken to introgress desirable traits from wild sunflowers to cultivated sunflower. Using conventional methods of crossing, backcrossing and selection, several pre-bred lines with altered plant architecture, high yield and oil content, maturity duration and inbuilt tolerance to major biotic stresses have been developed from crosses involving diploid annuals. These recombinant interspecific inbred lines are being utilized in the national sunflower network program for development of inbred lines and heterosis breeding. The pre-bred lines were characterized through cytological and molecular techniques using sunflower specific SSRs. Diploid perennial and hexaploid species have been utilized in the program aimed at introgression of resistance to A. helianthi through various ploidy manipulation procedures. The utility of the prebreeding material in the sunflower network program in India is presented.

Highly variable populations of wild sunflower species were crossed with CMS cultivated lines. Variability was determined by measuring plant height and evaluating the type of branching. Mode of inheritance was tested by comparing the 27 hybrid populations against parents. Differences among parents in the observed traits were significant. All modes of inheritance for plant height were present in the F1 generation. Heterosis was most frequent, followed in decreasing order by partial dominance, dominance and intermediacy. More than one mode of inheritance for plant height occurred because of the large variability in wild species and poligenic inheritance of the characteristic. All F1 populations were fully branched, with or without the central head. The wild type of branching was found in F1 because the wild parent dominated in genetic control of that trait over the cultivated one.

Effects of additive and dominant genes and their interactions on the inheritance of hectoliter weight in 10 sunflower hybrids developed by crossing five inbred lines derived from the synthetic NS-S-1 were analyzed in 2001 and 2002. The linkage among the expected progeny means was tested using the scaling tests method (Mather, 1949), while the estimates of gene effects and mode of inheritance were made by generation mean analysis (Mather and Jinks, 1982). The additive-dominant model was not adequate for all crosses from the two years. In the hybrids for which the model was not adequate, epistatic gene effects were important in the inheritance of the studied characters. In the first year of study, duplicate epistasis between dominant increasers was expressed in crosses C2 and C9, while duplicate epistasis between dominant decreasers occurred in crosses C5 and C6. In the second year of study duplicate epistasis between dominant increasers was expressed only in the cross C5, while duplicate epistasis between dominant decreasers occurred in crosses C1, C4, C6, C7 and C10. In the crosses C1, C3, C4, C7, C8 and C10 in the first year and in the crosses C2, C3, C8 and C9 in the second year of investigation the type of epistasis could not be determined, because the values of the non-fixable components (dominant and dominant × dominant) were insignificant.

Oil yield is a major characteristic of each sunflower hybrid (Škorić et al., 2005). To be able to develop new high-oil sunflower hybrids by the method of interspecific hybridization, it is necessary to have information on mode of inheritance and combining abilities of inbred lines used. When selecting pro spective lines as components of future hybrids, it is important to know correlations between yield components on one side and oil content on another. Seven new divergent cytoplasmic male sterile lines (A) developed by inter specific hybridization, three Rf-restorer lines used as testers and 21 F1 hybrids have been subjected to the line × tester analysis. Significant differences have been obtained in mean values for all characteristics under study. Significant differences were found between A lines and R lines on one side and their F1 hybrids on the other in oil content, plant height, head diameter, total number of seeds per head, 1000-seed weight and seed yield per plant. The line NS-GS-4 exhibited a highly significant positive GCA value for oil con tent. The line NS-GS-5 had a highly significant negative GCA value for oil con tent. The hybrid NS-GS-6 × RHA-R-PL-2/1 had a highly significant positive SCA value for oil content. Non-additive component of genetic variance played the main role in the inheritance of oil content, as indicated by the analysis of variance of combining abilities and the analysis of components of genetic vari ance. Further confirmation was the ratio GCA/SCA for oil content in the F1 generation which was smaller than unity (0.33). The highest average contribution to the expression of oil content (77.3%) was exhibited by the A lines. Highly sig nificant negative correlations were found between oil content on one side and head diameter, total number of seed per head, 1000-seed weight and seed yield per plant on the other.

Broomrape presents serious problems to sunflower production in Bulgaria. This leads to considerable losses expressed, on the one hand, in yield decrease, and on the other in lower quality of the obtained produce. Further more, the parasite forms new, more virulent races which overcome the resist ance of the varieties and hybrids commonly used in production. With a view of limiting the parasite’s distribution and decreasing the losses it causes, it would be preferable to know the distribution area of the individual races, and the rate and percent of broomrape attack. The results from this investigation showed that at the present moment there are three races of the parasite in Bulgaria races D, E and F. Race E had the widest area of distribution among them. It was widespread in all sunflower production regions of the country. Three Orobanche sources, Morava, Tsarevets and Byala-2, overcame the resistance of the line P-1380 (Or-5), i.e., this is a new race for Bulgaria - race F (Bulgaria). It was registered during the growing seasons of 2003 and 2004 and it had limited distribution in individual fields of central-northern Bulgaria. An insignificant portion in the Orobanche population belonged to race D which was isolated from two samples only.

Phomopsis has been described in Yugoslavia (Muntañola-Cvetković et al., 1980) as a fungus responsible of the reduction of sunflower yields. However, during the last two decades in Argentina, Phomopsis was not considered as a limiting pathogen of sunflowers fields. At the XI International Sunflower Conference held in Mar del Plata, Argentina, in 1985, a paper of Mihaljčević was presented on the pathogenesis of Phomopsis isolates from wild sunflower. In 1992, National University of Entre Ríos (UNER) carried on a special project on the disease. This report discusses the occurrence of two natural infections recorded during three seasons (2003-2005) in two neighboring locations, one in the central-eastern Argentina (Gualeguay) and another in Uruguay (Mercedes), which are separated by the Uruguay River. The aims of this study were:

a. To determine and register the spreading of Phomopsis in field conditions.

b. To observe the distribution of the disease.

c. To determine whether hybrids posses genetic tolerance to this pathogen.

d. To make a contribution to sunflower disease map in South America.

As a result of observations under field conditions, we can say that in Uruguay severe attacks of Phomopsis are decisive for sunflower yield reduction. The behavior of commercial hybrids was: tolerant - 27%, intermediate - 30%, susceptible - 43%. The distribution of Phomopsis is increased. In Argentina, the presence of Phomopsis is low or null.

Effect of harvest date on seed viability has been examined in 3 different sunflower genotypes. Harvesting started 7 days after fertilization. It was done 10 times, at 3-4-day intervals. Seed moisture was determined before each harvest. Trials were conducted in India and Serbia. Seed viability was determined 3 months after the harvest. Genotype ranking regarding seed viability, was not the same in the two locations; higher average seed germination was registered in Serbia. There were no significant increases in seed viability once the average seed moisture at the time of harvest reached 41% (India) and 48% (Serbia). Differences existed between the locations in minimum and maximum daily temperatures. Regression analysis showed that highest seed germination rates were reached when seed moisture content at harvest went below 32%, in most cases when seed moisture reached 22-23%.

Field experiments were conducted during 1980-2004 at Agricultural Research and Development Institute from Fundulea (Romania) on a leached chernozem soil, well drained, formed on loess, with 33% clay content and 2.8% organic matter in the arable layer. The paper presents aspects regarding the influence of different soil tillage methods (moldboard plow, chisel, paraplow, disking), fertilizers and track by track successive passings of tractor (from 1 to 3) prior to seedbed preparation on sunflower yield under dryland conditions. The developed modern crop production technologies should be improved in response to concerns about environmental impacts of agriculture towards cropping intensification reduction. In this context, choice of a good soil tillage method management is an important decision to improve grain yield and quality. Continuous implementation of optimal rates of fertilizers (from different chemical types or manure) helps us to obtained more efficient sunflower cropping systems. The wheel pressure induces a soil compaction down to 40 cm depth, emphasized by an increase of bulk density and a decrease of total and air porosities below the minimum level needed for normal crop development. The plant height and leaf area were reduced by compaction, as a result of deteriorated soil conditions for root growth. The root biomass was lower by 16-33% in compacted soil as compared with non-compacted one.

To harvest a sunflower crop, it is important to bring moisture content, i.e., moisture level in leaves, stems, heads and seed, to a level that permits normal work of combine harvester. In 2003, an experiment was established at Rimski Šančevi experiment field to determine optimum time for desiccation of sunflower. The experiment included 10 parental components, which are grown at large area for F1 seed production. A comparative study showed that oil content, protein content and seed viability change with seed maturity. The experiment indicated that the values of oil and protein contents and seed viability stop increasing when the average seed moisture reaches 24%. This moment was concluded to represent the optimum time for desiccation of sunflower seed crop.

Sunflower breeding programs in the Republic of Croatia have over 30 year tradition and they have been realized only at the Agricultural Institute Osijek. At present, the program is realized within the framework of the scientific research project “Breeding of hybrid sunflower for high grain yield and quality”, that is partially sponsored by Ministry of Science, Education and Sport of the Republic of Croatia. Main goal is creation of superior hybrids with high grain yield (above 5 t/ha), oil content (above 50%) and high and stable oil yield. Special attention is given to creation of lines with emphasized tolerance to dominant pathogens and creation of hybrids with short vegetation (110 to 120 days). Until now, results of work are 12 approved hybrids (Osječanin, Fakir, Olio, Orion, Podravac, Slavonac, Sunce, Gordan, Miro, Šokac, Favorit and Apolon), which have considerably contributed to sunflower production increase in Croatia. Also, two sunflower hybrids of the Agricultural Institute Osijek (Fakir and Olio) have been approved in the Republic of Slovakia. Future work in breeding is directed to intensifying phytopathological investigation in laboratory and the use of a biotechnological method, which will contribute to higher efficiency of the breeding program.

Inside a panorama of a spectacular grain production in the last 10 years in Argentina, sunflower crop participates with an annual production of more than 3,500,000 t. During that period, many advances were made in the improvement of diseases resistance: Verticillium wilt, downy mildew and head rot. Also, oil yield per hectare continued to increase. The new hybrids have new qualities, for example imidazolinones resistance, which allows farmers to keep yields, although the soils destined to sunflower are minor quality of those destined to corn and soybean.