A COMPARISON OF GROWTH AND YIELD PRODUCTION OF THREE TURKISH SUNFLOWER VARIETIES IN MOGADISHU, SOMALIA

Abstract

Sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) are one of the most significant annual crops that are produced all over the globe for extracting edible oil from the plant's seeds. This study investigated and compared the growth and yield output of three Turkish sunflowers (Metinbey, Deray, and Reyna) cultivated in Somalia-Mogadishu. As well as to choose a high-yield variety of sunflowers that is ecologically adapted to Somalia's environment and to determine the morphological characteristics of these three imported sunflower crops. The experiment was conducted at the Research Center of the Faculty of Agriculture at Zamzam University of Science and Technology. The experiment began at the beginning of the winter (Jiilaal) season in January- 2018 and continued until July of the same year. In terms of morphological characteristics, Metinbey demonstrated the best among the varieties, followed by Reyna, which displayed promptly; nevertheless, Deray recorded the lowest morphological parameters among the varieties. Regarding yield and yield components, the Reyna variety was documented as having the best yield and yield components among the varieties. The Deray variety followed this, while the variety of Metinbey was documented as having the lowest yield and yield component among the varieties.