Dear colleagues,
I regret to inform you that Zvonimir Sakač, M.Sc., researcher at the Sunflower Department, Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops, Novi Sad, died at the age of 67 after a short illness.
Zvonimir was mostly involved in research on the effect of drought on the synthesis of assimilates and bioproductivity of sunflower, as well as the examination of oil quality, which was part of the research related to the creation of sunflower and rapeseed hybrids with improved oil qualities and better nutritional qualities. He worked on quantitative and qualitative determination of nectar content and developed the appropriate methodology.
For over 30 years, Zvonimir Sakač was the head of the editorial office and technical editor, later editor of the scientific magazine Helia, the only specialized international magazine on sunflowers that is still successfully published today under the auspices of the International Sunflower Association. Together with the editor-in-chief, academician Dragan Škorić, he made the greatest contribution to the growth of the information bulletin of the sunflower research network into an eminent scientific journal with a vision and mission. Helia is a magazine that for many years was delivered free of charge to 400 addresses in over 40 countries, spreading knowledge about the creation and cultivation of sunflower hybrids to scientists and farmers around the world. M. Sc. Zvonimr Sakač incorporated himself into this project, continuing his activities even after retirement.
The loss of our dear colleague Zvonimir Sakač is a great loss for the scientific community of our Institute and Serbia, but also in the international framework.
Best regards
Dr Vladimir Miklič
Institut za ratarstvo I povrtarstvo
