Abstract
Confectionery sunflower production is about 80.000 Metric Ton in Turkey. Planted areas are mainly located in the Middle Anatolia region. Sunflower yield is lower (about 1200 kg/ha) due to lack of certified seed with production mainly under dry land conditions. Turkish confectionery farmers use village populations for seed, because there are no registered hybrids or open pollinated confectionery sunflower cultivars in Turkey. These village populations are usually degenerated and branched like wild types and susceptible to diseases and broomrape parasite (Ororbanche spp.). Turkish people like consuming confectionery sunflower and the preferred seed types are mainly white with grey stripes. Turkey confectionery production is not enough for domestic consumption. However, confectionery companies have very modern and large capacity processing factories and packaging units in Turkey. These companies are obtaining the confectionery seeds from domestic production and also by importing.
Key Words: Sunflower, Confectionery, Seed Type, Turkey
Introduction
Sunflower is produced mainly as an oil crop in Turkey and in the world. However; uses as confectionery, horticulture, silage, animal and bird feed are important and very common in the world. Although confectionery sunflower is produced many countries, it cannot be considered separately from oil type. Additionally, confectionery sunflower data both for production and consumption can not be found in most national or international organization statistics in the world.
Sunflower is produced both as confectionery and as oilseed in Turkey. However, confectionery sunflower production is not enough for Turkey consumption and domestic needs are supplied by importing similar type. Turkey is paying 4-5 million $ each year for confectionery seeds importing from the US, Israel, Argentina, Hungary, Canada, etc. (Gaytancioglu, 1999).
Turkey has one of the most modern and the largest capacity confectionery factories in the world. Factories are processing not only sunflower but also other confectionery crops such as pistachio, peanut, hazelnut, pumpkin etc. These processing companies are selling confectionery products in Turkey and are exporting to other European countries.
Confectionery sunflower seed types depend on the consumer preference in some countries in the world. Although the favored seed color is white with light grey stripes in Turkey, the black colored seeds are preferred by consumers in Balkan countries such as Serbia, Bulgaria, Moldova and Romania. The confectionery seeds preferred by Turkish people are usually bigger and longer and their 1000 seed weights are higher. Turkish people are one of the highest confectionery sunflower consumers in the world. Although some nations consume either in-shell or kernel, Turkish people prefer only in-shell as confectionery.
A- The Present Situation of Confectionery Sunflower Production in Turkey
Confectionery sunflower production is mainly in the Middle and East Anatolia Region of Turkey. Although confectionery sunflower is grown in irrigated fields in other regions, confectionery types are cultivated mainly under dry conditions in Turkey. However, confectionery sunflower is produced in very low density (such as 50 cm x 100cm) instead of fallow in almost 30 % of the planted areas due to the dry climate and lower precipitation.
Farmers are planting local varieties and village populations with different problems in Turkey. These populations are usually lower in seed quality, branching, and have taller height with small heads like wild types. The lower self-pollination is another problem in these village populations due to the lack of bee populations. Additionally, the appearance of different diseases such as Verticilium spp., Sclerotinia spp. and Rhizopus is very common in the planted areas. Broomrape parasite (Orobanche spp.) which significantly lowers seed yield is observed in many areas. Due to confectionery sunflower production in different scattered areas, the damage from birds, such as crow, sparrow and starling, is another factor reducing yield.
Turkey confectionery sunflower production between 1991 and 2003 is given in Table 1. Confectionery sunflower production and planted areas were doubled in the last ten years. However, confectionery yield was increased only slightly in the same period due to production mainly under dry conditions and planting village populations usually having lower yield capacity. Additionally, their yields did not increase because of not using certified seed.
Table 1: Turkey confectionery sunflower planted areas, production, and yield by years
(Anonymus, 2003).
Years | Planted Area | Production | Yield |
Ha | M Ton | Kg/ Ha |
1991 | 28401 | 32908 | 1158,7 |
1992 | 23345 | 26665 | 1142,2 |
1993 | 30872 | 38850 | 1258,4 |
1994 | 39220 | 36393 | 927,9 |
1995 | 45515 | 49228 | 1081,6 |
1996 | 56303 | 63534 | 1128,4 |
1997 | 51161 | 64480 | 1260.3 |
1998 | 47768 | 59596 | 1247,6 |
1999 | 71200 | 76304 | 1071,7 |
2000 | 77407 | 89318 | 1153,9 |
2001 | 73617 | 81403 | 1105,8 |
2002 | 69996 | 94043 | 1340.0 |
2003 | 64048 | 78922 | 1232.2 |
The Middle Anatolia Region (Ankara, Kirikkale, Konya, Aksaray, Kirsehir, Kayseri, etc.) has more than half of the confectionery planted areas (61%) and sunflower production (52 %) in Turkey (Table 2). The Mediterranean Region (K. Maras and Adana), 18 % area and 26 % production, and The Aegean Region Provinces (Denizli, Afyon and Izmir), 13 % both area and production, followed the Middle Anatolia region respectively (Figure 1).
Table 2: Turkey confectionery sunflower planted areas, production, and yield by Turkish
Provinces in 2003 (Anonymus, 2003).
PROVINCE | Area | Rank | Rate | Production | Rank | Rate | Yield | Rank |
Ha | % | M Ton | % | Kg/ Ha |
ANKARA | 13797 | 1 | 21,5 | 13343 | 2 | 16,9 | 967,1 | 28 |
K.MARAS | 11020 | 2 | 17,2 | 20483 | 1 | 26,0 | 1858,7 | 10 |
KIRIKKALE | 8255 | 3 | 12,9 | 4003 | 6 | 5,1 | 484,9 | 34 |
DENIZLI | 5259 | 4 | 8,2 | 7431 | 3 | 9,4 | 1413,0 | 15 |
BURSA | 3835 | 5 | 6,0 | 5412 | 5 | 6,9 | 1411,2 | 16 |
KONYA | 3503 | 6 | 5,5 | 3993 | 7 | 5,1 | 1139,9 | 21 |
AKSARAY | 3350 | 7 | 5,2 | 6579 | 4 | 8,3 | 1963,9 | 9 |
KIRSEHIR | 2365 | 8 | 3,7 | 2165 | 12 | 2,7 | 915,4 | 30 |
KAYSERI | 2182 | 9 | 3,4 | 3222 | 8 | 4,1 | 1476,6 | 14 |
SAKARYA | 2138 | 10 | 3,3 | 2437 | 11 | 3,1 | 1139,9 | 22 |
KARAMAN | 1830 | 11 | 2,9 | 1096 | 16 | 1,4 | 598,9 | 33 |
CANKIRI | 1785 | 12 | 2,8 | 1300 | 15 | 1,6 | 728,3 | 32 |
AFYON | 1675 | 13 | 2,6 | 2115 | 13 | 2,7 | 1262,7 | 18 |
ERZURUM | 1673 | 14 | 2,6 | 2676 | 9 | 3,4 | 1599,5 | 11 |
IZMIR | 1268 | 15 | 2,0 | 1782 | 14 | 2,3 | 1405,4 | 17 |
ESKISEHIR | 1177 | 16 | 1,8 | 2511 | 10 | 3,2 | 2133,4 | 5 |
BILECIK | 922 | 17 | 1,4 | 821 | 18 | 1,0 | 890,5 | 31 |
YOZGAT | 850 | 18 | 1,3 | 911 | 17 | 1,2 | 1071,8 | 25 |
CORUM | 447 | 19 | 0,7 | 665 | 21 | 0,8 | 1487,7 | 13 |
KUTAHYA | 432 | 20 | 0,7 | 518 | 22 | 0,7 | 1199,1 | 20 |
SIVAS | 381 | 21 | 0,6 | 798 | 19 | 1,0 | 2094,5 | 6 |
NEVSEHIR | 373 | 22 | 0,6 | 355 | 25 | 0,4 | 951,7 | 29 |
MUGLA | 200 | 24 | 0,3 | 760 | 20 | 1,0 | 3800,0 | 1 |
ADANA | 200 | 23 | 0,3 | 220 | 26 | 0,3 | 1100,0 | 23 |
NIGDE | 170 | 25 | 0,3 | 187 | 27 | 0,2 | 1100,0 | 24 |
BINGOL | 168 | 26 | 0,3 | 378 | 24 | 0,5 | 2250,0 | 4 |
SANLIURFA | 150 | 27 | 0,2 | 450 | 23 | 0,6 | 3000,0 | 2 |
BOLU | 20 | 28 | - | 30 | 28 | - | 1500,0 | 12 |
USAK | 20 | 29 | - | 25 | 29 | - | 1250,0 | 19 |
ANTALYA | 5 | 30 | - | 5 | 32 | - | 1000,0 | 26 |
KARS | 3 | 31 | - | 8 | 31 | - | 2666,7 | 3 |
YALOVA | 3 | 32 | - | 3 | 33 | - | 1000,0 | 27 |
BURDUR | 1 | 33 | - | 2 | 34 | - | 2000,0 | 7 |
IGDIR | 1 | 34 | - | 2 | 34 | - | 2000,0 | 7 |
TOTAL | 64048 | | | 78922 | | | 1232,2 | |
Confectionery sunflower yield is usually lower in The Middle Anatolia provinces (Ankara, Kirikale, Kirsehir, Karaman, Cankiri and Nevsehir) due to low plant density and dry conditions. However, confectionery sunflower is cultivated mostly with irrigation in some eastern provinces having higher yield such as K. Maras, Erzurum, Sivas, Aksaray, etc. On the other hand, higher seed yields were obtained without irrigation in some western provinces such as Bursa, Sakarya, Izmir and Kutahya due to higher precipitation during the vegetation period.
B- The Present Situation of Confectionery Sunflower Seeds in Turkey
Confectionery sunflower farmers do not get higher yields even under irrigated conditions, due to not using certified and high quality seed. Actually, there were no registered confectionery hybrids or open-pollinated cultivars until today in Turkey. Farmers plant different village populations, called Alaca, Inegol, Kibris, etc. depending on seed color or type. Due to using the same seeds each year, the confectionery seeds are degenerated as branched and are susceptible to diseases like wild types (Kaya, 2002). Additionally, confectionery sunflower farmers lose money when harvesting seeds having different size.
Kaya et al. (2001) collected 83 village populations from different parts of Turkey and observed very large variations and unacceptible types in seed and other characteristics and observed foliar and head diseases. They observed that head diameters ranged between 7 cm and 33 cm, plant height between 82-215 cm, 1000 seed weight between 49-168 g., hectoliter weight between 242-431 g., kernel length between 11-23 mm and kernel width between 5 and 9 mm in these populations planted under dry conditions.
Confectionery sunflower breeding research has been initiated and accelerated on a national basis both in Trakya and the Aegean Agricultural Research Institute in the last years. Both population improvements and hybrid breeding works are conducted at these institutes. Additionally, some private seed companies brought some hybrid cultivars via introduction and tested then under different conditions in 2003.
Although the first Confectionery Sunflower Seed Standard was prepared by Turkish Standard Institute (TSE), this is not being initiated and implemented now. The desired seed type is determined by large confectionery seed companies and the consumer preference is also changing depending on years. In addition to the production of bleached seed color with grey stripe types grown mostly in Turkey, a very large amount of seed are being imported from other countries, mainly Dakota (short length with grey stripes) and Nevada (longer seed with grey stripes) types.
C- The Future Prospects of Confectionery Sunflower in Turkey
Confectionery sunflower seed in shell should ideally be at least 8-9 mm in length, width 2.5 cm, kernel / shell ratio 50:50, 1000 seed weight 80 g, and oil content lower than 30 %. Additionally, confectionery seeds should have a lower cadmium rate, higher protein, and higher vitamin E content to increase the nutritional value of the seed and shelf life. (Hofland and Kadrmas, 1989; Lofgren, 1997; Jovanovic et al., 1998). Therefore, developed confectionery sunflower cultivars should have higher yield capacity, larger seeds and the desired seed quality characteristics mentioned above.
Although confectionery sunflower production and market is very large, there are no certified and registered seeds and cultivars grown in Turkey. Therefore, farmers cannot obtain higher yields and incomes from confectionery production in spite of using all agronomic practices such as fertilizer, water, etc. Due to the urgent need of the certified seed by confectionery sunflower farmers, confectionery breeding research in both public institutes and private seed companies should be accelerated. Hybrids or open-pollinated cultivars existing in the other countries and having similar desired seed types in present the Turkish market could be introduced and registered by private seed companies. Additionally, village confectionery populations planted largely by farmers should be improved immediately using basic population breeding techniques. Confectionery sunflower plant density research should also be conducted seed size being influenced significantly by plant density.
In the oil type sunflower production and market, all standards for production, processing, and registration have been initial and are being utilized without any problem. Farmers could sell their products easily for oil type both to dealers or the national stockyard. However, the confectionery market is very limited and farmers cannot sell confectionery seed in the bazaar. There is no farmer association for confectionery, like there exists for oil type producers and there are no subsidies by government like oil type in Turkey. Therefore, confectionery seed and market standards, production brochures, processing manuals, etc. should be prepared like in other countries. The Turkish government should support confectionery farmers and in both public research and the private sector to create improved confectionery sunflower seed.
Conclusions
The Turkish confectionery sunflower market is very large and improvements are in their initial phase. Certified seed, organization, production, processing, packaging, seed standards, cultivar development, and other research needs are existing problems in the market. Turkish confectionery farmers are very open to new developments. Additionally, they are producing confectionery sunflower seeds by renting lands in some neighbor countries such as Ukraine, Moldova, and Bulgaria. If the problems are solved and their seed needs are produced sufficiently in Turkey with desired quality, companies could supply enough seed for Turkey. Furthermore, they could export confectionery seed products to European and other neighbor countries.
References
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