Fodder Beet
Fodder beet (Beta vulgaris L. v. crassa).
Fodder beet (Beta vulgaris L. var. crassa) is a fodder agricultural crop belonging to the group of fodder root crops.
Economic importance
Fodder beet has good feeding qualities: it is eaten by all farm animals, is easily digested, and surpasses silage.
The crop stores well and is used for feeding livestock during the stall period. Without fodder beet it is difficult to achieve milk yields of 4,000–5,000 kg of milk per year from one cow.
In 100 kg of fodder beet roots correspond to 15 feed units and contain 0.9 kg of digestible protein, 61 g of calcium, and 60 g of phosphorus. Per 1 feed unit there are 60 g of digestible protein.
Tops are also used for fodder; their yield is 20–40% of the mass of the roots. They are used as feed fresh, dried, and ensiled. 100 kg of fresh tops correspond to 10 feed units and contain 1.2 kg of digestible protein, 230 g of calcium, 43 g of phosphorus, and 2.0–6.4 g of carotene. 1 feed unit of tops contains 120 g of digestible protein.
History of cultivation
The plant was first introduced into cultivation in the Mediterranean. In the 11th century it spread in Russia.
Cultivation areas
Fodder beet is cultivated throughout Russia. It accounts for 90% of the entire area occupied by fodder root crops.
Thanks to rapid development under a long photoperiod, fodder beet crops advanced farther north than sugar beet.
Botanical description
Fodder beet (Beta vulgaris L. var. crassa) belongs to the same family, Chenopodiaceae, as sugar beet. In morphological and biological characteristics these crops are very similar.
The hypocotyl of fodder beet is distinguished by greater color diversity than that of sugar beet; it may be white-green, yellow, pink, carmine, orange, and violet.
Root
In the formation of the fodder beet root, the epicotyl (head) and hypocotyl (neck) take a large part. In different varieties they account for 25–65% of the root mass, whereas the root proper is relatively poorly developed. The root penetrates the soil to a depth of 1.5–2.0 m.
The differences between fodder and sugar beet roots come down to diversity in shape, color of the head, neck, and root proper, as well as depth of penetration into the soil. The development of the aboveground part of the root (head, neck) and its penetration into the soil determine the drought resistance of the variety and the dry matter content in the roots. The more strongly the aboveground part of the root is developed, the more moisture-loving the variety is considered and the less dry matter it contains. By color, roots differ as white, pink, crimson, red, yellow, and orange.
In anatomical structure, sugar and fodder beet roots also differ. Fodder beet has fewer rings of vascular-fibrous bundles, of which there are 5–8; between the rings are larger parenchyma cells with a lower sugar content.
Aboveground part
The leaves of fodder beet are cordate-ovate, large, with well-developed petioles, smoother and more prostrate than those of sugar beet, and their number is 20–30% lower.
Seed plants of fodder beet shatter considerably less than those of sugar beet.
In the second year of life the leaves are smaller. The stem is ribbed, powerful, branching, erect or inclined, sparsely leafy, 150 cm tall. The inflorescences are spike-like whorled clusters. Pollination is cross.
The flowers are bisexual, pentamerous, greenish with a reddish or yellowish tinge, 2–4 flowers per whorl.
The fruit is a dry nutlet; when fused it forms seed clusters (glomerules) of 2–6 fruits. The mass of 1,000 clusters is 20–30 g.
As in sugar beet, in fodder beet three periods of growth and development are distinguished in the first year of life.
Varieties
By root shape, fodder beet is divided into varieties:
- with sac-shaped or cylindrical shape;
- elongated-oval shape;
- conical shape;
- round shape.
Varieties with sac-shaped (cylindrical) roots have a developed neck and are submerged in the soil by 20–25% of the root length. Thanks to the shallow immersion, manual harvesting is easier. They are distinguished by increased moisture requirements because of a poorly developed root system. Leafiness is small (18–20%), dry matter content is 10–13%. Varieties of this form are widespread in production.
Varieties with an elongated-oval root are submerged in the soil by 30–35% of their length, while still being easy to pull from the soil. The root color is orange or light yellow, the flesh is white or yellowish. Dry matter content in roots is 12–15%. Varieties of this form are widespread in production. They are demanding of moisture.
Varieties with cylindrical and elongated root shape are more widespread in the Non-Chernozem zone and the north of the Central Chernozem zone.
Varieties with a conical root are predominantly semi-sugar. Dry matter content is 13–19%. The roots are submerged in the soil by half their length. They are distinguished by a higher dry matter yield per unit area. They can be cultivated using a set of machines for sugar beet. The group includes monogerm varieties.
Varieties with a round shape develop most of the root above the soil surface. Dry matter content in roots is 15–17%.
Biological characteristics
Temperature requirements
Fodder beet seeds begin to germinate at a temperature of 2–5°C. Viable seedlings appear at 6–7°C. However, uniform seedlings occur at 12–15°C.
Seedlings withstand frosts down to -4…-5°C (according to other data, briefly down to -1…-3°C1, -2…-4°C2). Leaves of adult plants can withstand brief morning frosts down to -6°C (according to other data, briefly down to -3…-4°C3). At the same time, roots dug from the soil and not covered can be damaged by frosts of -2°C, becoming unsuitable for storage.
The optimal temperature for leaf and root growth is 15–20°C. Growth stops when the average daily temperature in autumn is 6°C.
The minimum sum of active temperatures is 1,500–2,400°C during the growing season.
Moisture requirements
Fodder beet is a moisture-loving plant. It prefers a warm, humid climate. The annual precipitation sum must be at least 400 mm. It withstands short droughts.
Light requirements
Fodder beet belongs to light-loving agricultural crops of long day length.
Soil requirements
Fodder beet places high demands on soil fertility. Optimal are chernozem soils with a loose subsoil, loamy and sandy loam soils with a high content of organic matter.
On poor acidic and swampy soils it grows poorly. Optimal acidity pH is 6–7.
Vegetation
The growing season of fodder beet in the first year of life is 125–150 days; in the second, 100–130 days.
In the first year it forms a root and a leaf rosette. In the second year, after overwintering, stems, leaves, inflorescences, and seeds in the form of clusters are formed.
Crop rotation
Fodder beet is usually grown in farmstead crop rotations; thanks to the short distance from the farm, it is possible to apply organic fertilizers to the soil and reduce costs for transporting the harvest.
The best preceding crops for fodder beet in fodder rotations are considered to be early-harvested crops, for example, winter rye for green fodder, annual grasses for hay or green fodder, perennial grasses in the first year of use, grain legumes, vegetable crops, maize, potato. When perennial grasses are used for more than one year, fodder beet is sown after the turnover of the sod.
Good results are shown by placing fodder beet on floodplain lands in vegetable rotations.
In field rotations, the preceding crops may be fertilized winter cereals, annual grasses, early potato, and perennial grasses (preferably in the first year of use).
Fodder beet serves as a good preceding crop for spring cereals, annual grasses, and silage crops.
Fertilization
With 1 t of roots and the corresponding amount of fodder beet tops, 2.5–3.5 kg N; 0.9–1.2 kg P2O5, 4.5–5 kg K2O, and 3 kg CaO are removed from the soil. Fodder beet needs primarily nitrogen and potassium fertilizers. However, an excess of nitrogen fertilizers leads to accumulation of nitrates in the dry matter of roots above 0.5% (calculated as KNO3), which can cause animal poisoning.
Application of organic fertilizers at 20–40 t/ha directly under fodder beet is required on light sandy loam and poorly structured soils (VNII of Fodder named after V. R. Williams). Simultaneous application of manure and mineral fertilizers increases root yield by 30%.
Acidic soils are limed.
Basic fertilizer
Fertilizer efficiency depends on the timing and methods of application. Manure, phosphorus, and potassium fertilizers are applied in autumn under fall plowing, except on light soils, where phosphorus and potassium are applied in spring under presowing tillage. Nitrogen fertilizers are usually applied in spring before sowing at N100–120, on chernozems N30, on gray forest soils N90–120.
The rate of organic fertilizer application is up to 60 t/ha.
Recommended rates for basic fertilizer in the zone of sufficient moisture: P2O5 — 60–80 kg/ha, K2O — 100–120 kg/ha. On drained peatlands K2O — 140–180 kg/ha.
Under irrigation in the central regions of the Non-Chernozem zone, it is recommended to apply 150 kg/ha N, 100 kg/ha P2O5, 240 kg/ha K2O (VNII of Fodder named after V. R. Williams).
In experiments of the Tambov Regional Experimental Station, application of 90 kg/ha N, 120 kg/ha P2O5, and 90 kg/ha K2O made it possible to obtain an increase in fodder beet yield without irrigation of 15.5 t/ha of roots, with a yield without fertilizers of 53.7 t/ha. Under irrigation (three irrigations of 600 m3/ha), the optimal rates of mineral fertilizer application were 270 kg/ha N, 360 kg/ha P2O5, and 270 kg/ha K2O.
On chernozems, 30–40 t/ha of manure, P120K90 are applied.
Row fertilizer
Recommended rates for row fertilizer for the Non-Chernozem zone are N — 20 kg/ha, P2O5 — 20 kg/ha, K2O — 20 kg/ha. Compound fertilizers are better suited, for example, nitrophoska or nitroammophoska. The application dose of nitrophoska is 1.5, nitroammophoska — 1 cwt/ha.
For the Central Chernozem zone, the recommended rates are the same as for sugar beet — N10P20K10.
Top dressing
Top dressing is carried out after bunching, along-row thinning, or after the second harrowing of seedlings.
If an insufficient amount of fertilizer was applied in autumn and soil moisture is good, a second top dressing is carried out. It is performed before the rows close.
The fertilizer rate for top dressing is 30 kg/ha N, 20 kg/ha P2O5, and 40 kg/ha K2O.
Fertilizers are applied using row-crop cultivators with simultaneous inter-row cultivation.
Soil tillage
Fodder beet, primarily semi-sugar varieties, places increased demands on the quality of soil tillage. It is responsive to deep plowing with loosening of the subsoil horizon. Soil tillage for this crop should ensure optimal water, air, thermal, and nutrient regimes of the soil, as well as a sufficient volume of topsoil for root development, effective agronomic control of weeds, pests, and diseases.
The soil tillage system for fodder beet includes autumn fall plowing and spring presowing tillage.
Basic tillage
In the main beet-growing areas (where fodder beet is also grown), the system of basic tillage in the summer-spring period is carried out as a semi-fallow type.
When cultivating under conditions of a long and warm summer-autumn period, the following are carried out:
- after harvesting winter crops, 2–3 harrowings of the soil to a depth of 6–9 cm with disk harrows, for example, LD-20, LDG-5, LDG-10, LDG-15;
- after 10–15 days — repeated harrowing with share harrows PPL-10-25;
- after the emergence of weeds, plowing is carried out.
In a short autumn period, the following are carried out:
- harrowing of the soil with disk harrows;
- after 15–20 days — fall plowing to a depth of 25–30 cm or to the depth of the topsoil.
Harrowing may be omitted after row-crop preceding crops on fields clean of weeds.
On soils with a shallow topsoil, ridge cutting is carried out to increase the root-inhabited layer. Beet is sown on ridges with inter-row widths of 60 and 70 cm (Osmakov, 1962; Sinyakova, 1967).
On heavy and slaking soils, deep treatment is carried out with a plow with moldboards removed or by rototilling.
Presowing tillage
On loose, structured soils, harrowing is carried out in early spring to preserve moisture. Then, depending on weather conditions, 1–2 cultivations are performed to a depth 2–3 cm greater than the sowing depth of seeds, that is, on light soils — 5–7 cm, on cohesive soils — 4–6 cm.
In a cold, prolonged spring and when the field is overgrown with weeds, the first cultivation on heavy loamy and compacted soils is carried out 3–5 days after moisture closure to 8–10 cm with simultaneous harrowing; the second presowing cultivation — to 4–6 cm.
A mandatory condition for presowing soil preparation is leveling and compaction of the upper layer using drag harrows, rollers, and levelers.
Presowing rolling is carried out to obtain uniform seedlings, especially in a dry spring. Loamy soils of increased moisture are not rolled, since this leads to strong compaction.
If necessary, treatment is carried out with the same herbicides as recommended for growing sugar beet.
Sowing
Seed preparation
Preparation of fodder beet seeds includes calibration into fractions: 3.5–4.5 and 4.5–5.5 mm to allow the use of precision seeders.
The germination of seeds of diploid and triploid fodder beet must be at least 60%.
Treatment is carried out with 65% fenthiuram at the rate of 4 kg of the preparation per 1 ton of seeds or 80% TMTD, 5–6 kg/t of seeds. As for sugar beet, it is recommended to carry out polishing, pelleting, soaking, and segmenting of fodder beet seeds to accelerate seedling emergence, obtain strong seedlings, and ensure uniform distribution of seeds in the rows.
Sowing dates
The sowing dates are the same as for growing sugar beet.
Sowing can be carried out in early and middle dates when the soil warms to 6–7°C.
Sowing methods
Fodder beet is sown by the wide-row method with inter-row widths of 45, 60, and 70 cm. Pelleted and monogerm seeds — by precision sowing.
Sowing is carried out using sugar beet precision seeders, for example, SST-8A, SST-12A, SST-12B, or vegetable seeders — SKON-4.2, SO-4.2, SON-2.8A, or SUPN-8.
Seeding rates
The seeding rate of multigerm varieties is 8–16 kg/ha of seeds.
For precision sowing of monogerm varieties — 3–4 kg/ha.
Sowing depth
The sowing depth is the same as for growing sugar beet (3–4 cm).
Also recommended for multigerm beet is a sowing depth of 2–4 cm, for monogerm — 1.5–3 cm.
Transplanting method of cultivation
The transplanting method of growing fodder beet is used on heavily weed-infested plots in intercropping under irrigation. The technology was tested in 1979–1980 by the Donetsk Regional Agricultural Experimental Station and showed high effectiveness. The transplanting method eliminates the need for thinning seedlings, facilitates weed control, and yield increases by 7–8 t/ha.
Fodder beet seedlings are grown on beds or without them. Sowing is carried out in early dates by the continuous method. Selection of seedlings, sorting, root pinching, and leaf removal are performed manually in the 4–5 leaf phase. Seedlings are planted with a SKN-6A transplanting machine, inter-row width — 60 or 70 cm.
1 ha of seedling nursery makes it possible to obtain seedlings for 10–12 ha. On 1 m of row, 4–5 plants are planted.
Crop care
Crop care for fodder beet did not differ greatly from care for sugar beet crops (see the article “Growing Sugar Beet”).
Fodder beet is cultivated more sparsely; during thinning, 80–90 thousand plants/ha are left, so that by the time of root harvest the stand density is 65–80 thousand plants/ha. The optimal stand density is considered to be 60–90 thousand plants/ha.
Pre-emergence and post-emergence harrowing is carried out on the crops in the phase of the first pair of true leaves to destroy the soil crust, control weeds, and thin dense seedlings.
The formation of fodder beet plant stand density is carried out at the beginning of formation of the second pair of true leaves. The bunching scheme is determined by the density and distribution of plants in the rows. With an inter-row width of 45 cm, plants are left in the rows every 20–25 cm; with a width of 60 cm — every 18–20 cm. Stand density is formed using along-row thinners or bunching, as well as with a mesh harrow.
Depending on weed infestation of crops and formation of soil crust, 3–4 inter-row cultivations are carried out during the spring-summer period.
In fodder beet crops the same herbicides are used as in sugar beet crops.
Pest control preparations
Preparations against the pest complex of fodder beet: Khinufur, Furadan.
Meadow moth: Lepidocid, Bitoxibacillin, Bitiplex, Cipi Plus.
Beet leaf aphid: Fastak, Altalf, Tsunami, Faskord, Piket, Bi-58 Novy, Danadim, Rogor S, Di-68, Nugor, Karate Zeon.
Beet leaf miner: Fastak, Altalf, Tsunami, Faskord, Piket, Bi-58 Novy, Danadim, Rogor S, Di-68, Nugor.
Bugs, beet leaf miner moth, mites, leafhoppers, carrion beetles: Bi-58 Novy, Danadim, Rogor S, Di-68, Nugor.
Beet flea beetle: Bi-58 Novy, Danadim, Rogor S, Di-68, Nugor, Karate Zeon.
Weevils: Karate Zeon, Cipi Plus.
Winter cutworm: Bitiplex, Cipi Plus.
Tortoise beetles: Cipi Plus.
Disease control preparations
Against seedling root rot, phoma rot, downy mildew, and seed mold, the preparations used are: TMTD, Aktamyr.
Against cercospora: TMTD, Aktamyr, Bordeaux mixture.
Cultivation under irrigation
Under irrigation, with sufficient nutrition, the yield of fodder beet can reach 150 t/ha.
The water requirement of fodder beet differs in different periods of development:
- in the first period, that is, during 1.5–2 months after sowing, the root system and leaf surface develop; the water requirement in this period is 20–25% of the total;
- in the second period, that is, in July–August, intensive growth of the root and leaf surface begins; the water requirement is 60–65% of the total;
- in the third period (September–October), dry matter accumulates; moisture consumption in this period is minimal.
Irrigation of fodder beet is carried out taking into account the requirement in the corresponding development period, weather conditions, and soil moisture reserves.
Optimal soil moisture should be maintained at a level of not less than 70–80% of field capacity, especially during root formation.
The first vegetative irrigation is carried out during active growth of the assimilation surface; the rest — as needed. The irrigation rate is 600–700 m3/ha. In the zone of insufficient moisture, the number of irrigations is 4–5; of unstable moisture — 3–4; in the zone of sufficient moisture — not less than 3 vegetative irrigations. After irrigations, deep inter-row loosening of the soil is carried out.
Methods of irrigation: furrow or sprinkling. Furrow irrigation allows more uniform distribution of water and moistening of the soil, while soil structure is preserved and water losses by evaporation from the soil surface are reduced; however, labor costs with this method are higher due to the need for field leveling, cutting, and filling of irrigation furrows. Sprinkling irrigation is mechanized and carried out by sprinkler units, for example, DDA-100MA, DDN-100, DDN-70, but it leads to greater soil compaction.
Harvesting
Harvesting of fodder beet begins when the leaves turn yellow, before the onset of frost. Early harvesting is associated with a shortfall in root mass, since the increase in their mass ends in autumn.
Beet leaves are mowed with KIR-1.5B, UBD-ZA, BM-4, or BM-6A. The cutting height is set so that the petiole length is 2–5 cm. However, the use of mechanized top removal is often associated with cutting off the crown, sometimes the neck, in some roots, or, conversely, leaving leaf petioles 5–8 cm long. According to production experiments conducted by the VNII of Fodder named after V. R. Williams and the Telman and Podmoskovny state farms (Moscow region), the remaining petioles do not affect storage of roots in clamps or stores.
For digging up and harvesting roots, potato diggers or converted potato harvesters can be used. In the first case, manual picking of roots is required. Before storage, roots are sorted and cut and damaged ones are rejected.
For harvesting, a fodder root crop digger (semi-mounted two-row screen) of the KKG-1.4 brand can be used, which is intended for harvesting roots of semi-sugar and fodder beet, turnip, rutabaga. When using it, leaves are first removed with top-removing machines; roots are continuously loaded into adjacent transport. The capacity of the digger is 0.3–0.5 ha/h.
For harvesting, a converted SKD-2K combine can also be used; for semi-sugar varieties and varieties of the Barres type — the KS-6 root harvester (Lithuanian RIZ).
Storage
The main task in storing beet is to reduce nutrient losses and prevent leaf regrowth and development of rots. Healthy, undamaged, and non-wilted roots are suitable for storage. Frost-damaged roots must not be placed for long-term storage.
It is economically advisable to place stores or clamps of fodder root crops near livestock farms. This reduces costs for transporting roots and lowers the cost of feed and, accordingly, livestock products.
In the absence of permanent, equipped stores, roots can be stored in clamps. Their size should be 3 m wide, 2 m high, and up to 30 m long. Roots keep better when upper and lower ventilation are installed. For this, a pipe or a bundle of brushwood is installed at the top of the clamp (upper ventilation), and a longitudinal groove is arranged at the bottom (lower ventilation). The clamps are covered on top with a layer of soil 10–30 cm thick along the ridge, 20–50 cm at the base, then covered with straw 20–50 cm thick. When negative temperatures occur, the clamps are additionally insulated with a layer of soil, increasing the thickness along the ridge by 10–15 cm and at the base by 10–20 cm. It is not recommended to cover the clamps immediately with straw, since evaporating moisture saturates the straw, which leads to rapid rotting. The thickness of soil and straw is calculated taking into account winter soil freezing. The clamps must be covered within 2 days.
To protect the clamps from northern winds, they are placed in a direction from southwest to northeast or from north to south.
Storage temperature is 0–3°C.
Growing fodder beet for seed
Mother fodder beet crop
Unlike sugar beet, fodder beet produces much more raw mass. This feature is taken into account when growing mother beet: mother roots should not be large, since otherwise they are unsuitable for mechanized planting with transplanting machines. For example, the mother root of the Eckendorf Yellow variety should be no more than 8 cm in diameter.
Of great importance in the mother fodder beet crop is plant stand density, which should be not less than 160–180 thousand plants/ha; on fertile soils with sufficient moisture reserves — up to 200–220 thousand plants/ha. The optimal sowing date for mother beet in the zone of sufficient moisture is June; in the zone of unstable moisture — May (VNII of Fodder named after V. R. Williams). Seed yield with late sowing dates increases by 0.14–0.28 t/ha.
To reduce manual labor costs in caring for mother fodder beet crops, they try to reduce seeding rates, carry out pre-emergence and post-emergence harrowing, and use along-row thinners. Unlike sugar beet, 2–3 plants located next to each other do not produce deformed roots and have normal mass for planting.
Under the mother beet crop, for normal winter storage, P60–100K80–120 is applied. Nitrogen fertilizers are applied in a limited way.
The output of suitable roots from 1 ha of mother crop should be not less than for 4–5 ha of seed plants.
Dug mother roots must be immediately delivered to clamps or stored in a store, since wilted roots store poorly and the proportion of “stubborn” roots increases.
Seed plant crop
The root system of seed plants differs from that of mother beet by its shallow occurrence, and water and nutrient consumption occurs mainly from the upper soil layer. Seed plants have a large transpiring surface and intensively consume water for evaporation.
In crop rotation, the best place is chosen for fodder beet seed plants: winter crops for grain or green fodder, annual grasses for green fodder and hay.
In spring, replowing of fallow or deep cultivation with harrowing is carried out.
Since beet seed plants remove a large amount of nutrients from the soil, to obtain a seed yield of 2.5–2.8 t/ha, 300–330 kg/ha of a.i. mineral fertilizers are applied. Fertilizers are applied in the main application and top dressings. Since the root system of seed plants has a small uptake capacity, fertilizers must be applied in a form readily available to plants.
Planting scheme is 60×60 cm or 70×50 cm.
Harvesting fodder beet seeds is similar to harvesting sugar beet seeds.
Non-transplanting method
In the south of Russia, fodder beet seeds can be obtained by the non-transplanting method, which excludes the stages of harvesting, winter storage of mother roots, and spring planting in the soil. With this method, seeds ripen more uniformly and 8–10 days earlier. The cost of seed production by the non-transplanting method is 2–2.5 times lower.
Varieties
Varieties and hybrids with sac-shaped or cylindrical root shape
Eckendorf Yellow. Variety of foreign origin. Mid-season. The aboveground part of the root is gray-yellow, the underground part is straw- or lemon-yellow; the crown is small, gray. The root flesh is white, juicy; near the crown it is greenish-white, at the base yellow. Storability is good. Widely released.
Timiryazevsky 56. Triploid hybrid, developed at the MSKhA named after K. A. Timiryazev by crossing tetraploid and diploid forms of the variety. Yield is 15–20% lower than Eckendorf Yellow. Leafiness is high. The first domestic polyhybrid of purely fodder beet. Resistant to bolting and diseases. Released in Russia, also in Ukraine and Belarus.
Arnim Krivenskaya. Variety of foreign origin. Mid-season, high yield. The base of the root is thickened and has a constriction in the middle. Released in Bryansk, Novgorod, Tomsk regions, and Khabarovsk Krai.
Eckendorf Jõgeva, Lvov Yellow, Hybrid Urozhayny.
Varieties with elongated-oval root shape
Barres. Variety developed in France, improved in Denmark. Widespread in Western European countries. Root is orange or light orange. Flesh is juicy, white, with yellow rings or spots on the cross-section, which are well expressed at the base of the root. Widely released.
Pobeditel. Diploid variety developed by the Poltava State Regional Agricultural Experimental Station. Storable, drought-resistant (compared with Barres). Root is orange or yellow, flesh is juicy, white. Widely released.
Hybrid Triploid 1. Hybrid obtained by the Ukrainian Research Institute of Agriculture. In shape and color of roots it does not differ from Pobeditel, but is distinguished by increased productivity. Released in Zaporizhzhia and Rivne regions of Ukraine.
Severnaya Orange. Variety developed by the Pavlovsk Experimental Station of VIR. Mid-season, relatively drought-resistant. Most roots are orange. Widely released.
Sibirskaya Orange. Variety developed by the Siberian Research and Design-Technological Institute of Animal Husbandry. In biological, morphological, and economic characteristics it is similar to Severnaya Orange. Released in Altai and Krasnoyarsk krais and Novosibirsk region.
Dotnuvos Barres, Yubileynaya Dvusemyannaya.
Varieties with conical root shape
Semi-sugar White. Variety developed in Sweden. Root immersion in soil is 50–70% of length. It differs from sugar beet by a smoother root surface. The crown, neck, and part of the root proper are green. In root shape it is similar to sugar beet. Widely released.
Poltava White. Variety developed by the Poltava State Regional Agricultural Experimental Station. Morphologically similar to Semi-sugar White. Drought-resistant, weakly affected by diseases. Widely released.
Uzbek Semi-sugar. Variety developed by the Uzbek Research Institute of Animal Husbandry. Submerged in soil by half its length. Root is white, brown-green near the crown, smooth. Crown is convex, green-brown, flesh is white. Released in Uzbekistan.
Pustsukrinyai Baltei. Variety developed by the Lithuanian Research Institute of Agriculture by individual selection of hybrid progeny of Semi-sugar White Ovan and sugar beet Dotnuvos 05. Morphologically it does not differ from Semi-sugar White. Released in Belarus and Lithuania.
Hybrid Timiryazevsky 12. Triploid hybrid. Obtained at the Department of Crop Production of the MSKhA named after K. A. Timiryazev by crossing tetraploid sugar beet Verkhnyachskaya 038 with diploid fodder beet Eckendorf Yellow. Suitable for mechanized harvesting. Released in some regions of the Non-Chernozem zone.
Pervenets. The first domestic monogerm variety, developed by the Department of Crop Production of the MSKhA named after K. A. Timiryazev by hybridization of Semi-sugar Pink with monogerm sugar beet and subsequent selections. Released in the Central Chernozem zone of Russia.
Belorusskaya Red, Kievskaya, Oktyabrskaya (monogermity 90%), Yantarnaya (monogermity 85%), and Hybrid Lejaskurzem (monogermity 90%).
Varieties with spherical or round root shape
Sakharnaya Okruglaya 0143. Variety developed by the Pushkin Research Laboratories of VIR. Root is submerged in soil by 75% of its length. Skin color is white, light green near the crown, reticulate. Flesh is white, coarse, with yellow rings in cross-section. Released in Russia and Kazakhstan.
Start. Variety developed by the Ukrainian RIZ and Panfilov Swamp Station by selection of tetraploid form T-1. Root is yellow, submerged in soil by half its length, flesh is white with yellowness. Released in Ukraine.
Timiryazevskaya Okruglaya.
References
- Vavilov P. P., Gritsenko V. V., Kuznetsov V. S., et al. (1986). Crop Production. Edited by Vavilov P. P. 5th ed., revised and enlarged. Moscow: Agropromizdat.
- Kolomeichenko V. V. (2007). Crop Production/Textbook. Moscow: Agrobiznescentr.
- Niklyaev V. S. (2000). Fundamentals of Agricultural Production Technology. Agriculture and Crop Production. Moscow: “Bylina”.
