Over the four decades of sunflower breeding at the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops in Novi Sad (IFVCNS), significant results have been achieved. In the area of genetic resources, over 7,000 inbred lines originating from genetically divergent materials have been developed and a rich collection of wild species of the genus Helianthus has been assembled. During the past 40 years, sunflower researchers from the IFVCNS have also developed methods and defined directions of sunflower breeding and created models of ideal hybrids for the local and other agroecological conditions. A large number of sunflower hybrids have been developed at the IFVCNS that have dominated the domestic sunflower production in the last 25 years. Internationally, the IFVCNS has released more than 100 of its own sunflower hybrids as well as over 50 joint hybrids developed in collaboration with various foreign companies and organizations. The IFVCNS has done a great deal on collecting maintaining, studying and using the wild species of the genus Helianthus in sunflower breding using interspecific hybridization.. Cytogenetic studies have played an important role in this process. Modern biotechnology methods such as haploid production, protoplast fusion, in vitro screening, embryo culture and others have all been incorporated into the sunflower breeding program of the IFVCNS. Particularly notable has been the development and practical application of molecular markers in breeding for resistance to downy mildew. Breeding for resistance to diseases has been a major part of the Institute s sunflower program. Significant results have been achieved in selection for resistance to downy mildew, Phomopsis, rust, verticillium wilt, black spot and charcoal rot of root and stem. Genes for resistance to these pathogens have been discovered Helianthus in wild species and incorporated into cultivated sunflower genotypes by interspecific hybridization. The development of hybrids resistant to broomrape race E has had an important part in the Novi Sad sunflower breeding program. Great success has been achieved in developing hybrids tolerant of imidazolinone based herbicides. This effort has produced the hybrids RIMI (RIMISOL) and Vitalko. Hybrids tolerant of sulfonyl-urea herbicides should also be developed soon based on wild sunflower species. Significant results have been achieved in developing hybrids with different oil quality as well. In 2005 sunflower hybrids developed either by the IFVCNS alone or jointly with foreign partners were grown on a total of over two million hectares worldwide.Tokom 4 decenije rada na oplemenjivanju suncokreta u Naučnom institutu za ratarstvo i povrtarstvo su postignuti značajni rezultati. U okviru genetičkih resursa stvoreno je preko 7000 inbred linija koje potiču iz genetski divergentnog materijala i sakupljena je bogata kolekcija divljih vrsta roda Heltanthus. Zatim, razrađene su metode i pravci oplemenjivanja i osmišljen je model hibrida za naše i druge agroekološke uslove. Stvoren je velik broj hibrida koji su dominantni već 25 godina u proizvodnji suncokreta u našoj zemlji. Preko 100 novosadskih i preko 50 zajedničkih hibrida je priznato u svetu. Veoma mnogo je urađeno na sakupljanju, održavanju, ispitivanju i korišćenju divljih vrsta u oplemenjivanju suncokreta putem interspecies hibridizacije. U ovom poslu značajno mesto su imala i citogenetska istraživanja. Korišćenje savremenih metoda biotehnologije (proizvodnja haploida, fuzija protoplasta, in vitro skrining, kultura embriona i dr) je uvedeno u novosadski program oplemenjivanja suncokreta. Posebno treba istaći razradu i praktično korišćenje molekularnih markera u oplemenjivanju na otpornost prema plamenjači. Vidno mesto u oplemenjivanju bilo je posvećeno otpornosti prema bolestima. Postignuti su značajni rezultati u selekciji na otpornost prema plamenjači, Phomopsts-u, rđi, verticioznom uvenuću, crnoj pegavosti i ugljenastoj truleži korena i stabla. Geni za otpornost prema dotičnim patogenima su pronađeni u divljim vrstama i ugrađeni putem interspecies hibridizacije u genotipove gajenog suncokreta. Značajno mesto u novosadskom oplemenjivačkom programu je bilo posvećeno stvaranju hibrida otpornih prema rasi E volovoda. Izuzetan uspeh je ostvaren u stvaranju tolerantnih hibrida prema grupi herbicida imidazolinona. Stvoreni su hibridi RIMI (RIMISOL) i Vitalko. Za očekivati je brzo stvaranje tolerantnih hibrida prema sulfonil-urea na bazi divljih vrsta suncokreta. Postignuti su značajni rezultati u stvaranju hibrida sa različitim kvalitetom ulja. Novosadski i zajednički hibridi stvoreni sa stranim partnerima su gajeni u 2005. godini kod nas i u svetu na preko 2 miliona hektara