Basic Information - Genetics, Genomics and Breeding of Crop Plants - page 28

sunflower moth Homoeosoma nebulella , compared to unimproved cultivars
(Fick 1989). The largest group of local cultivars was known as “Zelenka”,
with “Cherenyankia”, “Fuksinka”, and “Puzanok” also widely grown. The
first cultivars developed in the USSR were introduced early in the 20th
century. “Kruglik A-41” and “Zhdanovsky 8281” were among the more
popular cultivars grown. Kruglik A-41, introduced in 1927, was among the
first cultivars with significantly higher oil percentage, confirming that
sunflower could in fact be improved for this trait.
The creation of the oilseed type of sunflower is usually credited to the
research program of V.S. Pustovoit. Achene oil percentages among Soviet
cultivars increased from less than 300 g/kg in the early 1900s to over 400 g/
kg during the 1930s and to over 500 g/kg by the early 1960s. “Peredovik”
and “Armavirsky 3497” were two of the most widely grown cultivars in the
USSR, each accounting for about 1.2 million hectares of production in 1966.
Peredovik, which was introduced in 1960, also was grown extensively in
the USA, Canada, Europe and other parts of the world prior to the
introduction of hybrids. The open-pollinated cultivar Peredovik was licensed
in Canada in 1964. It had a yield similar to the widely grown cultivar
“Advent”, but averaged 436 g/kg oil compared with 328 g/kg for Advent
(Putt 1965). The high oil content of Peredovik greatly increased the efficiency
of the processing operation, and interest in sunflower as a crop increased
significantly. Peredovik is a very widely adapted cultivar, high in oil content,
of medium height and maturity, moderately resistant to rust ( Puccinia helianthi
Schwein) and Verticillium wilt ( Verticillium dahliae Kleb.), and resistant to
broomrape ( Orobanche cernua Loefl.), and the European sunflower moth.
Cultivars that have been developed relatively recently include “Sputnik”,
“Voshod”, and “Mayak” with very high oil percentages and “Progress”
and “Novinka” with disease resistance transferred from H . tuberosus ; and
“Pervenets” with high oleic acid concentration (Fick 1989).
Open-pollinated cultivars were not without problems including
uniformity of height, flowering, maturity, and dry-down rate after maturity.
Effective use of insecticides required head uniformity and flowering, as
well as non-shattering of achenes at harvest, all of which occur when plants
mature unevenly. Differential plant height also causes harvest problems.
Open- pollinated cultivars were often susceptible to many of the prevalent
diseases, and also lacked autogamy, and if grown in areas that lacked bees
for pollination, yields were seriously reduced. These problems, as well as
the possibility of hybrid heterosis providing increased yields led to a search
for a hybrid sunflower.
The first hybrid sunflower cultivars were introduced for commercial
production in Canada in 1946 (Putt 1962). “Advance”, and later “Advent”
and “Admiral”, were grown for most of the oilseed production in that
country during the 1950s. These hybrids were produced by natural crossing