Cooperative Extension Service Communications and Technology Department 3354 1000 E. University Ave. Laramie, WY 82071 (307) 766-6342 • fax (307) 766-3998 • www.uwyo.edu

 

For Immediate Release

Story Contact:

Andrew Kniss: (307) 766-3949

 

Contact: Steven L. Miller, Senior Editor

Phone: (307) 766-6342

E-mail: slmiller@uwyo.edu

Archived News Site www.uwyo.edu/agadmin/news/news.htm

 

Date: Feb. 6, 2006

 

UW research shows only two irrigations needed for sunflowers

            Sunflowers can be a water-efficient alternative to crops like sugar beets and corn in years when producers know irrigation water will be limited, a University of Wyoming College of Agriculture study found.

            Andrew Kniss, a research scientist in the Department of Plant Sciences, said research outlined in Irrigation management in sunflowers, B-1166, demonstrates an economical sunflower crop can be grown with only two well-timed irrigations.

            The study was conducted by former research scientist Craig Alford and Stephen D. Miller, associate dean and director of UW’s Agricultural Experiment Station.

            Researchers determined watering sunflowers at the plant’s R-1 stage, when a terminal bud forms a miniature floral head rather than a cluster of leaves, and the R-6 stage, when flowering is complete and the ray flowers are beginning to wilt, increases yield and raises oil content 3.5 percent. Because oil content factors heavily into the price received for the crop, the difference has a large economic impact, said Kniss.

            Kniss said persistent drought conditions in the West prompted the research. “We know we can grow sunflowers in a dry land setting,” he said, “but we didn’t know exactly how to manage available irrigation to maximize sunflower yield.”

The publication can be downloaded free at http://www.uwyo.edu/CES/PUBS/B1166.pdf, or copies may be obtained by e-mailing the College of Agriculture’s Resource Center at bixbyd@uwyo.edu, calling the center at (307) 766-2115, or writing to the University of Wyoming, College of Agriculture, Department 3313, 1000 E. University Ave., Laramie, WY 82071.

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