Domestic sunflower defies drought: International seed companies are in shock

Native hybrid sunflower seed, which has been popularized in the Thrace Region, proved to be more resistant to drought and challenging international seed companies. Native sunflower is now being cultivated all around the country. With the support of Thrace Development Agency, the native and national hybrid sunflower, developed in Tekirdağ, Edirne, and Kırklareli, has started to spread nationwide. Last year, while the sunflower fields grown from seeds of some international foreign companies dried up, the native sunflower seed demonstrated its resistance to drought. This year, the trial areas were expanded, and the native hybrid sunflower seed planted in 20 provinces once again proved its superiority compared to foreign companies. Secretary General of Thrace Development Agency, Mahmut Şahin, inspected the native sunflower field in Süleymanpaşa district of Tekirdağ, observing the drought resistance of the native sunflower firsthand. ‘This shows how successful we have been on this journey,’ said Secretary General Mahmut Şahin. Thrace Development Agency, along with 38 seed companies, stock exchanges, and universities in the Thrace Region, started the R&D studies of Turkey’s first native hybrid sunflower in 2017. As a result of these studies, with the help and permission of God, we introduced the first native hybrid sunflower to Turkey in 2021. When we first started, planting was done in approximately 10,000 to 25,000 hectares of land in only 3 provinces of our Thrace region. The next year, due to good performance, we increased it to 40,000 hectares. Last year, there was a significant drought. Despite the drought, our performance, oil rates, and productivity were good; therefore, many companies’ seeds were affected by the drought, resulting in poor yields. However, our performance, oil rates, and productivity were good despite the drought and difficulties last year, so this year, our native and national hybrid sunflower seed was introduced in about 20 provinces, starting from Thrace and spreading to the entire Marmara region, including Çanakkale, Balıkesir, Sakarya, Kocaeli, Istanbul, as well as Samsun and Tokat in the Black Sea region, Eskişehir in Central Anatolia, and Ankara, Adana, and as of the 2nd of October, Şanlıurfa and Diyarbakır. We are currently touring with our farmers in the Thrace region, trying to receive feedback from them. As you can see, very beautiful and large heads have appeared. We see that we achieve these results in our other provinces as well. This shows how successful we have been on this journey. In the coming years, we plan to expand the cultivation of native sunflower in 40-50 provinces of Turkey. Currently, approximately 120 tons have been sold in about 300,000 hectares nationwide.’ Young farmer Alperen Uğuzlar also stated, ‘We planted the native product this year, and we are quite satisfied. If it is destined next year, we will try to plant this variety in all our fields.’ Trakya Seed Board Chairman Birol Tarar stated, ‘Despite the drought, we are seeing much better results. Many farmers have bought this product, and after purchasing it, they said, ‘We did not expect such good performance.’ They claim to obtain results that are not inferior but more efficient than the seeds they purchased from most international companies. We continue our efforts to enter the international market.’