Breeding 101 Review of Sunflower Research in Ethiopia Haile Kefene and Elias Uragie Agricultural Development Bureau of Oromiya, P.O.Box 8770, Addis Ababa; ‘Southern Ethiopian Region, Awasa Research Center, P-0-Box 6, Awassa,, Ethiopia Abstract Sunftouer Ls one of the non-indigenous oitscads in, Ethiopia which be adapted ¢xom 800 to 2400 m.a.4.2- and pergonne GeE2 under varying Sock and SLinatie condtstons of the, county. 1h paper is, thenepore, leapea to Lia torake bulckiy the adaptation Se ee ee eee eae Breeding activities undertaken 40 40% necommended three maturity groups = ric ‘2, NSH-25; jprtennediote : fuaentaro, Improved and Late varieties ussian Black, Hesa, and Pop- 158) for commanciak production in etna June is found to be optimum planting 5806 an 800° negions. Pkant eee ean 4 #& ao sO 6S. 000 and 93 1900 3 io eed dressing with Metakaxyl at the rate 2.199 aifkg of seed was Sean 25 be renee eT IED doung rthden, one of the hagon diseases, and June planting xeduced its iu Recentky, x00t— innot nenatode 12 teponted #9 abfect aunttover preduction ‘axound Awa4ta, areas and. hy! Super 530 showed cenrtain Level of Agrican bolkworm £4 the most serious insect pest in Ethiopia and the variety "Elladono” showed good toLenance. ‘Introduction Susflover (Helianthus, aumaus L.) tanks with soybean rapeseed and proidnat oso is, Sagas Le) Important azwual off crops in the fared. (FICK 1989, Gee 1992). This is targely dus to the efforts of plant breeders in inproving seed Sield, oil content and Fa doen of the crop to a wide: range of ‘climmtic conditions (HIRUY 1996), “In Ethiopia, sunflower is one of the eight nost important oif' crops farge! fy aTowe, in Anasa eteasa (w area A a good production potential in Beles and -Dedessa (North—Western) regions (HIRUY 1990, SOLOMON 1988, HAILE and 1993, HAILE 1994), Though the crop fas-high potentiat~to becone competent oil crop in other parts of the country, mich progress was not achieved: in the inprovenent program This paper attempts to summrize past research activities results obtained soBreeding 102 Breeding Adaptation trials The adaptation trial was conducted in various agre-ecological zones of the country to identify suitable areas for sunflower production, Based on the results of adaptation trial, HIRUY (1990), and HAILE and MEKONEN (1993) reported that sunflower in Ethiopia, is adapted to altitudes ranging from below 800 to above 2400 ma.s.f, but highly suited to 1300 to 2600 ma.s.f, It can be growa in a wide range of soil types with pH ranging from 5,5 to 8.0, Hence, its production cat be extended to these areas to alleviate the oif shortage in the country. Germplasm collection and evaluations During the Cast ten years about 600-700 germplasm collections were inported From different countries (USA, Russia, Yugoslavia, Romnia,ond Italy) through the International Research Developrent Center (IDRC) of Canada and being evaluated at different Locations. Additionally, some focal collections were fe in early 1980’ Promising and high yielding introductions vere mintained and tested under multifocational trials for further selection, Most advanced wmterials were classified as nediumto fate mturing types with high oil content, However, most of the mteriafs were fost due to improper ond lis that resulted from lack of knowledge of the bre approaches in sunflower {HAILE and MEKONEN 1993). The desired mterials can be obtained from the original suppliers and the evaluation vorks can be continued if the problem of skifled wan power in the field of sunflower breeding is alleviated, Varietal development ‘The Sunflower Inprovenent Program in Ethiopia wis started in the fate 1960s with the min, objective of developing productive, oif rich varieties having stable performnnce under different ecological conditions of the country. Since then, three varieties, viz., Russian Black, Hesa and Pop-158 were released, These varieties are (ate mturing types often faced misture stress or dannged by frost before they méture (HIRUY 1990), In 1989/90, two early varieties; nanely, N.S.H-2 and N.S.H-25, and tuo other intermediate types: ae > Sat teovoved Ruslan Black, fave beon, identified from mss and recurrent selection programs as better performing varieties and advanced to verification fevel for release (ALEMI and SOLOMON 1990, HIRU 1990). However, the release of these varieties was fuspended for the fact they did not met the requirenents of t! National Variety Release Committee of Ethiopia. Agronomy One of the mor bottle neck factors limiting sunflower production is inappropriate agrononic practices. Agronomic research activities undertaken to tackle the problemare reviewed below, Planting date and density In sowing date trials conducted at Awasa, Arsi-Negefle and Bako higher yields of sunflower varieties was obtained when it is sown in:Breeding 103 June than in July or August (HIRUY 1990, SOLOVON 1988, TENAW 1990), The studies'on plant population revealed that 44 000-53 000 plants fo” with respective inter- and intra-spacing of 75 and 25 cm was found to be optimum for Cate mturing varieties while 53 000-38 000 plants ha’ vas optimum for early varieties, However, TENAW (1990) Teported that there were no significant differences in higher and Cover density plantings at Ansa and it was suggested to be so due to compensation effects. Weed control A variety of weeds including Polyqonum nepolenss, finsoga arviflora, Nicandra physalodes, Taget muta, Plantaqo Canceolata and Amrantius hvbridus were reported t0 be the most dominant needs in sunflower fiel in Ethiopia, Yield reduction due to weeds was reported to be about 58% (TENAW and BEYENESH 1992) and weeds yere teported significantly to affect head and stem diameters, plant stond and Codging (TENAW1991), Tuo hand weedings with wore emphases at seedling stage, were found to be optimum in controlling weeds. Tuo chemicals, viz., Alachlor at 5 kg product/ha and Pendinethalin at 3 fg product/ha gave sound control of weeds in sunflower (BEYENESH and TENAW 1992, HIRUY 1990), Fertilizer applications The miltilocational trials were conducted both with and with out fertilizers since 1980s. Most of the trials showed no response to fertilizer application,.The results of fertilizer trials conducted in sunflower production fie(ds at Awasa, Herero and Sheneka indicated that there were no response to nitrogen and phosphate fertilizer applications, However, it wos suggested to start application as the need arises, Crop protection Major diseases and their control Downy wii (dew (] mpphiora hatstedit), sfomard head rot ferotinia sclerotium), Trust cinia fielionthi) and Ceaf blight (Fusarium eduisetit and Sclerotinia spp.) are the most prevatent diseases of sunflower in Ethiopia AM et af, 1985). A part of focal collections and introductions has been screened for downy mildew Tesistance and some of the introductions appeared to possess high level of resistance. Mtalaxyl at the rate of 2.199 ai/kg seed was found to be effective in controlling downy ‘mildew. the cultural practices, June sowing reduced its incidence. rAM, at, al. 1985, HIRUY 1990), In recent years, root-knot nenmtode MeCicdoayne spp) is reported to affect hybrid sunflower production art Avasa areas, Certain hybrids were screened for root-hnot nenntode and the hybrid Super 530 vas found to show certain level of resistance (MESFIN 1992), Major insect pests and their control 28 insect pests recorded to be associated with sunflower, African bollworm is the most serious insect pest in Ethiopia, A range of varieties have been screened for resistance to this insectBreeding 104 pest and the variety "Eliodoro" showed certain Cevel of toferance against African boflvorm (HIRUY 1988). Summary Regardless of these efforts mde by the sunflover research team, the yield of sunflower in Ethiopia remined Cow due to (ack of high yielding and adaptable varieties, sub-optinal agronomic practices, ond Prevalence of disease and insect pests. The problem of low yields can be tackled by developing high. yietding varieties through introduction and selection from genetically diverse sources of germplasm or through hybridization of different fines occas by selection, in fact through continuous efforts. To facilitate this, the establishnent of superior parental stocks is a prerequisite. Moreover, developnent of synthetic varieties from the wider genetic base materials should be considered since they are superior to other types. Further identifications and tackling of major constrains (wanagenent practices and diseases) limiting sunflower production, such ‘as liplestipation of effect of crop, rotation on diseases, insects and weeds, assessing effect of misture stress, devising petegrated Giseases and yeed control methods in Ethiopia should also fe considered, Table 1. Sunmry of sunfloagr research-activities undertaken in Ethiopia, 19805-1995. ney eet oad Bastien Spesifity Hack of he TE UU Raptation trial Potential areas Adentitied 19808 ‘Wider range Some are non~sunflover 7 rey tt dase enti Sy Te 1.3 orem Putin REIS wptatad torsos test of ema are et ss16 $990 STOP uh aiuto a te EP ER cate “Pranting tn Jona vas a rian deoaity HES 000 6 2.3 Weed survey Biajoe weed Saunt fied Ef deus sseeegent 208 ows antes, 8 Hess cn Has (sr Frtactm 2.6 tortiitzers Ro "test/of eavestizere SOBs tare? 3.2 Controt wettedBreeding 105 References Alem Kidanu and Sofowon Eshete. 1990, Developnent of synthetic varieties in Ethiopia~Candidate for release, Oil crops Newsletter, No. 7:49-51, IDRC, Canada, N, 1989, Sunflower. PP. 301-318. In: G, Robbelen, R.K. and A, Ashri i G.. Downey, . r cae Oil Crops of the World. MGraw Hill Pub. Co, New York, U.S.A. Haile Kefene and MeRonen Dif6o, 1993, Review of sunflower research in Ethiopia : Past experiences and future plans, Oif Crops Newsletter, No. 10:101-104, IDRC, Canada, Fick, Haile eit 1994, serefic diverity of | aurora sutt Loner He ‘ianthus annuus L,) varieties their performmce for o: and seed yields in Ethiuopia, MSc, thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, Atennya thiversity of Agriculture, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia, july 1994, Hiruy Belayneh, 1988, Reviewof the 1987 highland oil crops research in Ethiopia, Oil crops Newsletter No.5:12-14, IDRC, Canada, Hiruy BeCaynef, 1990, Progress in sumflower research in Ethiopia, PP, 102-105, In : A. Omran (ed.), Proc. of the joint 2' porkshop of ‘sesame “and sunflover subnetwork held in Cairo, Egypt. IDRC, Canada, Skoric, D, 1992, Achievenents and future directions of sunflower breeding. Field Crops Res, 30:195-230. Solowon Eshete, 1988, Sunflower research achievenents in Ethiopia. , 96-102, In: A, Omran (ed.), Proc, 4! Oil Crops Networkshop held at Njoro, Kenya, IDRC, Canada, Teklennriam W/Kidon, Asfaw Tulu, and Msfin Tesera, 1985. A review of research on oif crops in Ethiopia, PP, 291~311. In: Tsedeke Abate, (ed.). Proc, of the First Crop Protection Symposium, IAR, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Tenaw Workayefiu, 1990, The response of inproved sunflower variety i different planting dates, Oil crops Newsletter, No, 7:43- » , ‘a. Tenaw Workayefiu and Beyenesh Z/Michael, 1992, Agronony and weed research in Ethiopia, PP, 115-124. In: Proc, of the First National Oilseeds Workshop. IAR, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Mesfin Tesera. 1992. Sunflower diseases research: Status and future trends in Ethiopia, PP, 169-173. In: Proc, of the First National Oilseeds Workshop. IAR, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Acknowledgenent The authors would like to acknowledge the International Development Research Center (IDRC) of canada for the financial support of this project,