Sunflower: From Cortuso’s Description (1585) to Current Agronomy, Uses and Perspectives
Vittoria Giannini,
Carmelo Maucieri,
Teofilo Vamerali,
Giuseppe Zanin,
Stefano Schiavon,
Davide Matteo Pettenella,
Stefano Bona,
Maurizio Borin
Affiliations
Vittoria Giannini
Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment—DAFNAE, University of Padua, Agripolis Campus, Viale dell’Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, Italy
Carmelo Maucieri
Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment—DAFNAE, University of Padua, Agripolis Campus, Viale dell’Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, Italy
Teofilo Vamerali
Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment—DAFNAE, University of Padua, Agripolis Campus, Viale dell’Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, Italy
Giuseppe Zanin
Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment—DAFNAE, University of Padua, Agripolis Campus, Viale dell’Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, Italy
Stefano Schiavon
Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment—DAFNAE, University of Padua, Agripolis Campus, Viale dell’Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, Italy
Davide Matteo Pettenella
Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry (TESAF), University of Padua, Agripolis Campus, Viale dell’Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, Italy
Stefano Bona
Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment—DAFNAE, University of Padua, Agripolis Campus, Viale dell’Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, Italy
Maurizio Borin
Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment—DAFNAE, University of Padua, Agripolis Campus, Viale dell’Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, Italy
The sunflower was introduced in Europe (in Spain) in the 15th century, and later in Italy in the second half of the 16th century by Giacomo Antonio Cortuso who was the head of the Botanical Garden in Padua. He and Andrea Mattioli published a detailed description of the species. The sunflower was mainly used for ornamental and medicinal purposes in the following two centuries. In the early 1800s, its cultivation area expanded as a consequence of two new, divergent uses and breeding programs: oilseed production and seed consumption. Nowadays, sunflower is cropped for many uses, mainly food, feed, and biodiesel. Beyond the global interest in this crop, it is extremely difficult to predict its cultivation and productivity in the short/medium term because of the current geopolitical and climate change scenarios. In this last perspective, sunflower cropping should foresee the integration of (i) crop breeding for improving quali-quantitative traits and biotic and abiotic stress tolerance; (ii) agronomic practices to increase the resilience of this crop through anticipated sowing dates and scheduled irrigation according to its phenological phases; and (iii) exploration of new cultivation areas towards higher latitudes.
