High-oleic sunflower gains popularity in Western Ukraine

In recent years, there is a trend towards an increase in sunflower sown areas in Western Ukraine. In addition, the demand for high-oleic sunflower is growing significantly among producers, SuperAgronom.com writes.

"In Western Ukraine sunflower is hardly a popular crop, although in recent years it intensively gains in terms of sown areas. It is especially noticeable in Khmelnytsky and Ternopil regions, where high-oleic sunflower is actively introduced to the crop rotation system. Producers are motivated by bonus payment and its production is profitable even if the yield is not too high. Indicators reached in this region, of course, we are not yet equal to those in eastern regions. Still, there are farms producing 4.5-5 t/ha. For example, one of our clients harvested 5 t/ha," said Oleg Kuzchenko, Head of the Western region at Bizon-Tech.

It is forecasted that the sunflower areas in the region will increase next season. However, there will be a certain deficit of high-oleic sunflower seeds as seed companies could not foresee this increase.

"Seeds procurement was planned at the current level, and the areas under the high-oleic sunflower will remain unchanged. Sunflower is a high-margin crop and its presence in western regions is growing," noted the expert.

Sunflowerseed production in Ukraine in 2019/20 is forecasted at 15.5 mln t, 3% higher from the 2018/19 season. Oilseed crop harvest in 2019/20 is the highest in the last three production seasons.