Kenya Seed Company commenced production of White sunflower in 1958. This was a non seed venture in an attempt to increase turnover to cover increasing overheads. The company to-date is a major exporter of White sunflower for bird feed in Europe. Progressively the company intensified the production of other varieties (Striped sunflowers) and more recently the production of Hybrid sunflower for oil extraction has become an important enterprise for the company. Sunflowers are very sensitive to the length of the rainy season and days to maturity periods vary enormously.

Below is a table showing the most popular varieties and their placements in oil content and yields.