Effect of Water Stress on Quantitative and Qualitative Characteristics of Yield in Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)

To determine the effects of water deficiency in reproductive growth stages of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) a field experiment was conducted as split-plot arranged in a Randomized Complete Block Design with four replications in 2004-05 of Islamic Azad University research field of Zahedan, Iran. In this experiment, there were 4 levels of irrigation, S0: complete irrigation, S1: halted irrigation at squaring, S2: halted irrigation at 50% flowering, S3: halted irrigation at grain filling as main plot, and cultivars in 3 levels, V1: Zaria, V2: Alstar, V3: Azargol as sub factor. The result of this study highlight that irrigation treatments was significant on plant height, seed number of head, 1000 grain weight, yield grain, oil yield and oil percent. Most of grain yield, oil and oil percent were at complete irrigation. Experiment cultivars was different together from grain yield, oil yield, stem diagonal, seed number of plate, 1000 grain yield, plate diagonal, plant height, number of leaf and harvest index. The Azargol was better characteristics to other cultivars. In this experiment cultivars showed different reaction at halted irrigation treatments.