Modern (Morden)
One of the earliest open-pollinated sunflowers in India, released in 1978. It is short (90–100 cm), early (80–82 days in kharif) and low-yielding, but you can save its seed.
Quick facts
- Crop
- Sunflower
- Type
- Open-pollinated
- Season
- Rabi
- Maturity period
- Kharif 80–82 days, rabi 85–88 days
- Seed rate
- Varieties: 7 kg/ha rainfed, 6 kg/ha irrigated (Tamil Nadu guide for sunflower varieties; no separate rate is published for Morden)
- Expected yield
- 6–8 q/ha average, 12–15 q/ha potential
- Suitable soil
- Loam
- Disease resistance
- Susceptible to Alternaria leaf blight — no built-in resistance
- Release
- Released 1978 by the AICRP (Sunflower) centre, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru, for all sunflower-growing states. Introduced from the Morden Research Station, Manitoba, Canada.
Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.
About this variety
Morden, written Modern in some seed lists, is an open-pollinated sunflower released in 1978 by the AICRP (Sunflower) centre at the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru, for all sunflower-growing states. Its name comes from the Morden Research Station in Manitoba, Canada, whose germplasm it descends from. ICAR-IIOR gives an average seed yield of 6–8 q/ha and a potential of 12–15 q/ha, with 34–35% oil. It flowers in 52–56 days in kharif and 54–58 days in rabi, and matures in 80–82 days in kharif and 85–88 days in rabi. The plant is short at 90–100 cm with a 13–15 cm head, and hull content is 32–34%.
Should you pick this variety?
Choose Morden if you cannot afford hybrid seed every season, or you have a short window: it is the earliest of the five sunflowers here in both seasons, and the only one whose seed you can save. The price is yield, which is less than half of KBSH-44's average and far below LSFH-171's rainfed 18–19 q/ha. If you can buy hybrid seed and have normal rains or irrigation, a hybrid such as KBSH-44 or LSFH-171 will earn you more per hectare.
Sowing & cultivation
- Sowing timeIn Tamil Nadu, irrigated hybrids are sown June–July, October–November, December–January and April–May. Other states follow their own kharif and rabi dates
- Seed rateVarieties: 7 kg/ha rainfed, 6 kg/ha irrigated (Tamil Nadu guide for sunflower varieties; no separate rate is published for Morden)
- Spacing45 cm between rows, 30 cm between plants
- Sowing methodPut 2 seeds per hole at 3 cm depth along the furrow, then thin to one healthy seedling on day 10
- IrrigationIrrigate before sowing, then a life irrigation, then on day 20, at early bud, twice at flowering and twice during seed filling. Flowering is the critical stage
- FertilizerIrrigated variety: 60:30:30 kg N:P2O5:K2O per hectare. Rainfed variety: 40:50:40. Add 12.5 t/ha FYM before the last ploughing
Pest & disease considerations
Advantages & considerations
Why farmers may choose it
- Open-pollinated, so you can save and re-sow your own seed instead of buying hybrid seed every season.
- The shortest sunflower here at 90–100 cm, and the earliest: 80–82 days in kharif and 85–88 days in rabi.
- Fits a tight window between two crops, or a late sowing where a hybrid would not finish.
Things to consider
- The yield is low. The average is 6–8 q/ha, about half of a hybrid like KBSH-44 (15–18 q/ha), and even the potential (12–15 q/ha) is no more than a good hybrid average.
- It has no built-in resistance to Alternaria leaf blight. Treat the seed and watch the leaves in humid weather.
- A seed-trade listing gives 38–40% oil and recommends other states, but ICAR-IIOR's own datasheet says 34–35% and all sunflower-growing states. Go by IIOR.
- Saved seed stays true only if sunflower of another type does not flower nearby, because bees carry pollen between fields.
Suitable regions
States this variety is recommended for — check locally, since a state can have more than one recommended zone.
- Karnataka
What saving your own seed is worth
Morden's one real advantage is seed you can keep. A hybrid needs fresh seed every season: about 4 to 5 kg per hectare at hybrid prices. Morden needs 6 to 7 kg per hectare, but after the first year that seed can come from your own crop.
The yield gap is the cost of that saving. At 6–8 q/ha against 15–18 q/ha for KBSH-44, you give up around 9 to 10 q/ha. If the extra cost of hybrid seed per hectare is less than the price of those 9 or 10 quintals, the hybrid wins.
Run the sum with this season's hybrid seed price and the mill rate you are quoted. For many farmers on irrigated land the hybrid wins. Morden makes sense where seed money is the real limit, or when the crop is a catch crop in a short window.
Can you keep your own planting material?
This is an open-pollinated variety, so seed from a healthy crop of your own can be sown again. Keep seed only from disease-free plants, dry it properly, store it cool and dry, and bring in fresh certified seed every three to four years so the variety does not drift.
How it compares with other varieties
Every Sunflower variety with a page on this site, side by side. The row for this page is highlighted.
| Variety | Best for | Maturity | Yield | States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DRSH 1 | The highest-oil hybrid here, for rabi–summer sowing where a mill pays for oil | Kharif 95–98 days, rabi 100–105 days | 12–15 q/ha average, 20–25 q/ha potential | Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra |
| KBSH 44 | A mid-duration hybrid with an all-India recommendation and a long track record | Kharif 90–95 days, rabi 95–100 days | 15–18 q/ha average, 22–28 q/ha potential | Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu |
| KBSH-53 | A high-oil hybrid for irrigated Karnataka fields | 95–100 days (kharif and rabi) | Average 10 q/ha rainfed and 22 q/ha irrigated; potential 20 q/ha rainfed and 27 q/ha irrigated | Karnataka |
| LSFH-171 | The best rainfed average of the five, recommended for eight states | Kharif 90–95 days, rabi 95–100 days | 18–19 q/ha average rainfed, 20–24 q/ha potential irrigated | Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha |
| Modern (Morden)this page | A short, early, seed-saving sunflower for tight windows and low-cost farming | Kharif 80–82 days, rabi 85–88 days | 6–8 q/ha average, 12–15 q/ha potential | Karnataka |
Tools for this crop
The numbers you need next: how much seed to buy, whether the lot germinates, what the fertilizer bill looks like and what Sunflower is selling for.
- Seed Rate CalculatorHow much seed your Sunflower plot needs, corrected for the germination of the lot you bought.
- Germination CalculatorTest 100 seeds from the bag before sowing and see whether the lot is fit to sow.
- Seed Variety FinderFilter every Sunflower variety on this site by state, season, duration and soil.
- Fertilizer CalculatorTurn the NPK recommendation for Sunflower into bags of urea, DAP and MOP for your field size.
- Crop CalendarMonth-by-month sowing, weeding, irrigation and harvest dates for Sunflower in your state.
- Crop Profit CalculatorPut your seed, labour and input costs against the yield you expect from this variety.
- Mandi Price CheckerToday's Sunflower rate in your nearest mandi, before you fix a price with a trader.
Subsidy and government support
Schemes that help with the cost of Sunflower seed or planting material. Rules and the application route are on each scheme page.
Frequently asked questions
Why is this variety called "Modern" if it is one of India's oldest sunflower releases?
Modern appears to be a spelling of Morden, the Canadian research station in Manitoba where the germplasm came from. ICAR-IIOR lists the variety as Morden, released in 1978. The name says nothing about how new it is.
Can I save seed from Morden sunflower?
Yes. It is open-pollinated, so seed from your own crop gives plants like the parent. Pick seed from the best heads, dry it well, and keep other sunflower types from flowering near your seed plot.
Why is Morden's yield so much lower than a hybrid?
It is an older open-pollinated type with no hybrid vigour. ICAR-IIOR gives 6–8 q/ha as the average and 12–15 q/ha as the potential. Hybrids such as KBSH-44 average 15–18 q/ha. You trade yield for cheaper, self-saved seed.
How many days does Morden take to mature?
IIOR gives 80–82 days in kharif and 85–88 days in rabi, with flowering at 52–56 and 54–58 days. That is 10–15 days earlier than the hybrids compared here.
What spacing suits a short variety like Morden?
The TNAU guide recommends 45 × 30 cm for sunflower varieties, closer than the 60 × 30 cm for hybrids, with a seed rate of 7 kg/ha rainfed and 6 kg/ha irrigated. IIOR gives no separate spacing for Morden.
Sourced from: Sunflower magazine — National Sunflower Association (Eric Putt, Morden Research Station history), Top 10 Famous Sunflower Varieties in India — India Inputs, Morden — ICAR-Indian Institute of Oilseeds Research variety datasheet, Sunflower — Crop Production Guide, TNAU Agritech Portal (Tamil Nadu). editorial policy.