From the CTPS Sunflower Soya Section

Meeting on 22 November 2023 and 18 January 2024, the Sunflower and Soya section of the CTPS proposed the registration of seven new sunflower varieties in list A and three in list B, as well as thirteen new soya varieties in list A and three in list B. In view of the large number of appeals received this year for soya, the section decided to re-examine the relevance of the VCUS admission rules to stabilise the decision-making and increase the diversity of registered varieties. Work on the assessment of earliness and its inclusion in quotations, which began in 2023, will also continue.

Terres Univia and Terres Inovia have presented the results of the 2023 season for sunflower and soya. For both species, production levels in 2023 were good at 2.2 million tonnes for sunflower (a level not seen since the early 1990s) and 393,000 tonnes for soya.

A number of amendments to the technical regulations and the soybean and sunflower protocols were adopted, providing clarification on the conditions for experimentation and decision-making. Section participants also heard the latest regulatory news, CTPS news, a report on the Précosoja project, an assessment of the sunflower registration system and progress on the section’s roadmap for the SPAD plan (Seeds and Plants for Sustainable Agriculture).