Sunflower Power!
​
Product Description
Certified organic sunflower seeds, sold and distibuted by a Canadian company called "the Cottage Country Gardener"
Application
When planting, sunflowers should be placed at a depth of 3-5 cm and with a row width of 60-90 cm (OMAFRA, 2009). Sunflowers are a hardy crop capable of growing in sand clay loam soils, at a pH of 6-7.5 (OMAFRA, 2009). Sunflowers can grow to approximately 6 feet, allowing for large biomass accumulations at the end of the growing season (Alloway, 2008). Sunflower seeds can be planted by hand, by a corn planter or by a grain drill, and are ready to harvest when the seeds are hard and dry, at approximately 120 days (OMAFRA, 2009). Sunflowers will begin to germinate at temperatures of 6 ÌŠ C, but temperatures of 16 ÌŠ C to 26 ÌŠ C are optimal for continued growth (Alloway, 2008). In Nepal, the average temperature in January is 9 ÌŠ C, and in July the average temperature is 20.5 ÌŠ C (World Weather, 2016). Given this information sunflowers can be planted at any time of the year in Nepal, without getting in the way of Nepalese farmers planting their food crops such as maize, beans and rice. Once the seeds are harvested, the shoots and leaves of the plants can be returned to the earth by tilling them under and allowing them to decompose and release zinc and other nutrients to the soil.
Sunflowers are a hardy crop capable of growing in sandy-clay loam soils, at a pH of 6-7.5 (OMAFRA, 2009). Sunflowers belong to the family of Asteraceae, in the genus Helianthus (Miller and Mazurak, 1958). Sunflowers can be used to increase soil zinc levels in Nepal because the shoots and leaves contain a concentration of zinc of approximately 69 parts per million, which can be incorporated into the soil at the end of the growing season, from decomposition of microorganisms, heat, and other chemical components of the soil (Alloway, 2008). Sunflowers also have a very deep tap root, approximately 5-7 feet deep, that can utilize and pull up nutrients in the soil that other crops cannot, increasing the plants resilience to drought and other harsh climatic conditions (Alloway, 2008). Almost half of the worlds soils are deficient in zinc, and the people in Nepal can benefit from planting sunflowers as a cover crop because it will increase soil zinc levels (Fageria, 2012), thus providing increased yields and profit to Nepalese farmers.
Picture reference: WIX image