Matador

Matador is an early-maturing, simple hybrid sunflower with a vegetation period of 105 to 115 days. It exhibits high resistance to herbicides containing tribenuron-methyl (e.g., Granstar), facilitating weed control. Plants reach a height of 170–190 cm, with flat flower heads having a diameter of 21–24 cm and a semi-tilted orientation. Seed shattering rate is 21–23%, which contributes to ease of harvest and processing.

Matador shows high resistance to drought, lodging, and shattering, making it a reliable choice for cultivation under various climatic conditions in Ukraine, including forest-steppe and steppe zones. Recommended plant density at harvest is 55–60 thousand plants per hectare in the forest-steppe zone and 50–55 thousand in the steppe zone. The hybrid also demonstrates high resistance to major sunflower diseases, such as fusarium, phomopsis, rust, powdery mildew, gray and white rot, as well as to sunflower moth and sunflower downy mildew.

The hybrid's yield potential reaches 5.2 tons per hectare (or 49–52 centners per hectare), with oil content in seeds of 50–52%. Due to these characteristics, Matador is a high-yielding, oil-rich hybrid recommended for early-maturing planting. Its high adaptability to stress factors and diseases ensures stable, high-quality sunflower oil production.