SUNFLOWER’S POTENTIAL TO EXPAND IN EAST GRIQUALAND

Maize, which is a monocotyledonous plant, has long been grown successfully in East Griqualand for grain and silage production. However, farmers in the area have been limited in their options for profitable dicotyledonous summer crops that they can grow in rotation with their maize.

This is primarily because East Griqualand, which straddles the border between KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, has milder summers, with fewer heat units, than much of the rest of South Africa’s grain production areas.

However, due to developments in breeding, sunflower is showing promise for this particular purpose, according to Corné van der Westhuizen, Pannar Seed’s marketing agronomist in North West.

“In the north-west regions of South Africa, where sunflower is common, production is usually planned around a farm’s primary maize grain crops. For this reason, the yield and quality of sunflower harvests there are generally below full potential,” says Van der Westhuizen.

Sunflower production planning, he