Sunflower represents an important alternative, crop for cultivation in southern Brazil, mainly for the production of oil. The oil extracted from sunflower has excellent quality for cooking and, more recently, as biofuel. As part of a experimental network for evaluating sunflower genotypes, coordinated by Embrapa Soja, an experiment was conducted in Coxilha, RS, during 2005/2006. The objective was to evaluate the behavior of genotypes of sunflower in the “Planalto Médio do Rio Grande do Sul”. The treatments included 12 sunflower genotypes. The experimental design was random blocks with four replications. Crop stage of development, grain yield, oil content, oil yield, weight of a thousand kernels, plant height, diameter of the chapter, curvature of the stem and lodging were recorded for each genotype during the experiment. There was variation in grain yield amongst the genotypes as well in other observed traits. Some genotypes outperformed the check. The highest observed grain yield was 2,468 kg ha^-1. The results showed that some genotypes may be better adapted to the region than others. In addition, prevailing conditions in the “Planalto Médio do Rio Grande do Sul” has the potential for cultivation of sunflower. For grain yield and oil the genotypes MG 52, AGROBEL 959, MG 50 and VDH 487 were outstanding.