Response of Sunflower (Helianthus Annuus L) to Plant Spacing

Agriculture is an important sector of Sudan economy and is the backbone of growth, poverty reduction, and sustainable development. Sunflower has become an important crop for both farmers and consumers in Sudan, fits well in the local cropping system and is considered the most important cash crop of the country. The experiment was conducted in the Experimental Farm, University of Kassala (New Halfa) of Sudan, to investigate the influence of cultivars and planting Spacing on plant growth and yield of Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L). It consisted of two cultivars (pannar-735 and Damazin-1) and three plant spacing’s (10 cm, 20 cm and 30 cm). Treatments were arranged in a factorial randomized complete block design (RCBD), in three replications. The results revealed, the cultivar, pannar- 735, early flowering, significantly highest hundred seed weight, seeds number per disc, seed yield (g/plant) and final yield (3.00 ton/ha). The Intra-row spacing of 30 cm had a thicker stem diameter, a highest number of seeds per head, 100-seed weight, seed yield per plant and final seed yield (3.34 ton/ha). The study revealed that the sunflower hybrid pannar-735 and plant spacing 30 cm apart is the best for New Halfa Eastern of Sudan.