Intra-Row Spacing and Variety Interaction Effects on the Yield Performance of Sunflower (Helianthus Annuus L.) in Calabar

There is an increasing interest in Sunflower production in Nigeria as a substitute oil crop to complement oil palm and soybean. Two year field experiments were conducted at the Teaching and Research Farm of the University of Calabar to evaluate the interactive effects of intra-row spacing on sunflower varieties, using a 3 x 4 factorial experiment consisting of four spacing regimes (75 x 25, 75 x 30, 75 x 35 and 75 x 40 cm) and three sunflower hybrids (SSL 807, 806 and 803) in randomized complete block design having three replications. The 40 cm intra-row spacing resulted in the highest yield of sunflower seeds (3.95 t ha-1), while SSL 806 and 803 were statistically similar in yield (3.44 and 3.05 t ha-1). The interaction between SSL 806 at 75 x 40 cm gave the best achene yields (5.61 t ha-1). Therefore variety SSL 806 is a more promising variety for production in Calabar.