Sugar beet cultivars evaluated for storability in Idaho during the 2006/2007 storage season

Strausbaugh, C.A. and Eujayl, Imad A. and Rearick, E. and Foote, P. (2008) Sugar beet cultivars evaluated for storability in Idaho during the 2006/2007 storage season. Plant Disease Management Reports. 2:FC022. 3 April 2008.

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Abstract

Thirty-two commercial sugar beet cultivars were grown in a commercial sprinkler-irrigated sugar beet field near Nampa, ID. The previous crop was corn. The plots were planted on 27 and 28 Mar 2006 to a density of 142,560 seeds/A, and thinned to 47,520 plants/A on 10 and 11 May. Plots were four rows (22-in. row spacing) wide and 34.5 ft long. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with four replications per cultivar. The crop was managed by the grower according to standard cultural practices. Eight roots per plot were hand dug from an outside row and topped on 12 Oct and placed into nylon mesh onion bags. The roots were then weighed and placed on top of an indoor commercial sugarbeet storage pile in Paul, ID which was set to hold 36°F. The plants in the center two rows were mechanically topped and yield data was collected with a mechanical harvester on 17 Oct. The percent sugar at harvest was established based on two 8-beet samples submitted to the Amalgamated Tare Lab (determined percent sugar, conductivity, nitrates, and tare). On Mar 2007 (144 days since harvest), the roots were retrieved from storage and evaluated for root rot (percentage of root surface area covered with fungal growth or discolored), weight, and percent sugar (via gas chromatography). To establish percent reduction in sugar at harvest versus storage, only samples from the same plot were compared. Data were analyzed using the general linear models procedure (Proc GLM-SAS), and Fisher's protected least significant difference was used for mean comparisons.

The field trial was disease free except for a trace amount of curly top. Yields for this production area in 2006 and the plot area were both above average. Cultivars differed for root yield and estimated recoverable sugar (ERS) at harvest and for surface rot (isolations revealed a diversity of fungi) after being in storage. Cultivars coming out of storage did not differ for weight reduction. Sugar reduction ranged from 16 to 40% and ERS ranged from 13,300 to 8,449 lb/A after storage differences between cultivars could not be proven. With regression analysis, ERS after storage was best explained by surface rot (r2 = 0.32, P < 0.0001) and to lesser extent with weight reduction (r2 = 0.24, P < 0.0001), and nitrates (r2 = 0.1= 0.0001), percent sugar (r2 = 0.05, P = 0.0088), and conductivity (r2 = 0.04, P = 0.0150) in roots at harvest. Given the ranges in ERS after storage, there would appear to be potential for improving storability in cultivars, but better selection criteria must be established. In order to establish better criteria, either more replications should be considered and/or conditions that allow for greater separation based on ERS after storage must be found.

Item Type:	Article
NWISRL Publication Number:	1247
Subjects:	Irrigated crops > Sugarbeet
Depositing User:	Users 6 not found.
Date Deposited:	14 Apr 2008 21:28
Last Modified:	19 Oct 2016 19:11
Item ID:	1270
URI:	https://eprints.nwisrl.ars.usda.gov/id/eprint/1270