Effect of maturation period on seed quality; optimum time for desiccation in sunflower (helianthus annuus l) genotypes

To harvest a sunflower crop, it is important to bring moisture content, i.e moisture level in leaves, stems, heads and seed, to a level that permits normal work of combine harvester. In 2003, an experiment was established at Rimski Šančevi experiment field to determine optimum time for desiccation of sunflower. The experiment included 10 parental components, which are grown at large area for F1 seed production. A comparative study showed that oil content, protein content and seed viability change with seed maturity. The experiment indicated that the values of oil and protein contents and seed viability stop increasing when the average seed moisture reaches 24%. This moment was concluded to represent the optimum time for desiccation of sunflower seed crop