Published in Scientific Papers. Series A. Agronomy, Vol. LXV, Issue 2
Written by Victorița MARIN, Viorel ION
Sunflower is a major oil crop whose oil is very important in human nutrition as well as for a range of other uses. Grain yield is determined by the plant genetics and it is conditioned by a series of factors among which are counting as important ones the row spacing and plant density. Therefore, find the optimum row spacing and plant density according to cultivated sunflower hybrid and to growing conditions are of interest for sunflower growers. The aim of this paper is to present the results obtained with respect to the sunflower grain yield at different row spacing and plant densities in the specific growing conditions of Romania. Research was performed under field conditions at four sunflower hybrids under different row spacing (70, 60, and 50 cm) and plant densities (50,000, 60,000, and 70,000 plants/ha). The field experiments were located in four locations in East, South-East and South of Romania in three years (2019, 2020, and 2021). The obtained data showed that under favourable growing conditions for sunflower plants, especially under good water plant supply conditions, the highest grain yields are obtained at row spacing of 70 cm, while under less favourable growing conditions for sunflower plants, the narrower rows (at 60 cm and 50 cm) seem to provide better plant growth and finally higher grain yields. Plant density has to be correlated with the growing conditions of the sunflower plants. Thus, the better growing conditions are the higher plant density should be, as to put into value the available growing factors. In the case there is no correlation between the plant density and growing conditions, the plants density too high becomes a limitative yielding factor.
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