Reserves of soil productive humidity are the key to high yield of sunflower

Abstract

Currently, there is a warming climate. An increase in air temperature leads to an increase in the physical evaporation of water from the soil and the transpiration of plants. As a result, the study of the question of whether the reserves of natural soil moisture supply will be able to reveal the potential of sunflower in conditions of extreme farming is very relevant. In addition to the natural moisture supply of the soil, the yield of sunflower is also influenced by such factors as precipitation, hybrids (varieties), mineral nutrition, irrigation, etc. The paper analyses the data of average annual air temperatures and spring moisture reserves for the period 2006 – 2024 and found that on average for the analysed 15 years, the climatic conditions of our region can provide a sunflower yield of no more than 2 t/ha. Spring soil moisture reserves showed a weak correlation with sunflower yield (r = 0.145), which means that this factor has only a minor influence on yield formation. The correlation strengthens (r = 0.298) if not only spring moisture reserves but also precipitation for April-May are taken into account. However, even in this case, the influence of moisture availability remains average. The average level of correlation (r = 0.505) is reached when April-July precipitation is added to spring moisture reserves. This confirms that moisture supplied during critical phases of sunflower development (June-July) plays a more important role in yield formation than spring moisture reserves alone. Knowing the spring reserves of productive moisture in the soil and the amount of precipitation for the months of April to July, it is possible to predict the yield of sunflower.