The paper reveals modern trends in the world market of sunflower seeds and indicates the place of Russia and its major regions in the gross harvest of this crop. The authors find that the increase in the area of sunflower sowing and its share in the arable land in the regions of the Siberian Federal District reduce economic efficiency and increase the negative impact of the crop on the soil state. The increase in yields is provided mainly by the intensification of production in violation of environmental requirements. The authors indicate that it is possible to improve the efficiency of sunflower cultivation by implementing science-based farming systems focused on organic farming. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.