Effect of sowing time on water consumption and sunflower yield in Donbass region

N.N. Timoshin, N.V. Reshetnyak, A.V. Baranovsky, N.A. Melnik, O.V. Mazalov, I.V. Sigidinenko

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Abstract. The key to developing highly productive agrocenoses for sunflower, the main oilseed crop grown in the Lugansk People’s Republic on an area of 300,000–310,000 hectares, is optimal moisture supply. Accelerating global warming and increased aridity have also impacted the region, where the average annual air temperature has risen by 1.8 degrees Celsius over the past 30 years, reaching 9.8 degrees, and by 1.4 degrees during the summer, reaching 22,3 degrees. Successfully adapting sunflower cultivation techniques to arid climates requires a review of key agricultural practices, including sowing timing.
Aim. The aim of the study is to investigate the impact of hydrothermal conditions on the water consumption and productivity of the sunflower hybrid “Komandor” throughout the growing season, at different times of sowing.
Materials and methods of research. Field experiments were conducted on ordinary chernozem soil in a field crop rotation system at the Department of Agriculture and Plant Growing at the Lugansk State Agrarian University from 2016 to 2025. The following sowing dates were studied: early (first ten days of April), mid-season (first ten days of May), and late (first ten days of June). Mineral fertilizers (background – N40P60K30) were applied in the fall before plowing. Sunflower yield at all sowing dates had the most significant correlation with productive moisture reserves at sowing (r = 0.604-0.845) and during flowering (r = 0.799-0.893), with the amount of precipitation during the growing season (r = 0.792-0.854), during flowering (r = 0.730-0.863), medium and strong inverse correlation (r = -0.495…-0.880) with the average air temperature during the growing season and with the number of hot days at air temperature ≥30 ℃ (r = -0.579…-0.829).
Results. The advantage of early sowing is evident in terms of a slightly higher average yield (1.97 t/ha), increased reserves of productive moisture at planting (149.5 mm) and flowering (66.9 mm), 50 mm (28.4 %) more precipitation during the growing season, 477 m³/ha (15.5 %) more total water consumption, and a 1.9 °C (9.1 %) lower average air temperature during the growing season compared to the average sowing time (the first ten days of May). Crops sown in the first ten days of June had the lowest moisture supply and yield.
Conclusions. Thus, the yield of the Komandor hybrid sunflower is influenced not only by the available moisture reserves prior to sowing (r = 0.604-0.845), the total precipitation throughout the growing season (r = 0.792-0.854) and precipitation during the critical flowering period (r = 0.730-0.863), but also by the timing of sowing. The most favorable sowing conditions occur during the first ten days of April.

Keywords: sunflower, climate warming, precipitation, temperature, moisture availability, water consumption, yield, correlation

For citation. Timoshin N.N., Reshetnyak N.V., Baranovsky A.V., Melnik N.A., Mazalov O.V., Sigidinenko I.V. Effect of sowing time on water consumption and sunflower yield in Donbass region. News of the KabardinoBalkarian Scientific Center of RAS. 2026. Vol. 28. No. 2. Pp. 51–65. DOI: 10.35330/1991-6639-2026-28-2-51-65

©   Timoshin N.N., Reshetnyak N.V., Baranovsky A.V., Melnik N.A., Mazalov O.V., Sigidinenko I.V., 2026

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Information about the authors

Nikolay N. Timoshin, Candidate of Agricultural Sciences, Head of the Department of Agriculture and Crop Production, Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education “Lugansk State Agrarian University named after K.E. Voroshilov”;
1, LNAU territory, Artemovsky district, Lugansk urban district, Lugansk, 291008, Russia;
nauka_nis_lg@mail.ru, rector@lnau.su, SPIN-code: 2430-9178
Nikolay V. Reshetnyak, Candidate of Agricultural Sciences, Associate Professor, Department of Agriculture and Crop Production, Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education “Lugansk State Agrarian University named after K.E. Voroshilov”;
1, LNAU territory, Artemovsky district, Lugansk urban district, Lugansk, 291008, Russia;
Zemledelie2016@yandex.ru, SPIN-code: 9335-4746
Alexander V. Baranovsky, Candidate of Agricultural Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Agriculture and Crop Production, Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education “Lugansk State Agrarian University named after K.E. Voroshilov”;
1, LNAU territory, Artemovsky district, Lugansk urban district, Lugansk, 291008, Russia;
Lnau_sorgo2011@mail.ru, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2098-0889; SPIN-code: 9133-9230
Natalya A. Melnik, Candidate of Agricultural Sciences, Head of the Department of Plant Biology, Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education “Lugansk State Agrarian University named after K.E. Voroshilov”;
1, LNAU territory, Artemovsky district, Lugansk urban district, Lugansk, 291008, Russia;
Zemledelie2016@yandex.ru; SPIN-code: 4744-2870
Oleg V. Mazalov, Postgraduate Student, Department of Agriculture and Crop Production, Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education “Lugansk State Agrarian University named after K.E. Voroshilov”;
1, LNAU territory, Artemovsky district, Lugansk urban district, Lugansk, 291008, Russia;
Zemledelie2016@yandex.ru;
Irina V. Sigidinenko, Postgraduate Student, Department of Plant Biology, Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education “Lugansk State Agrarian University named after K.E. Voroshilov”;
1, LNAU territory, Artemovsky district, Lugansk urban district, Lugansk, 291008, Russia;
Zemledelie2016@yandex.ru

Funding

The study was performed without external funding.