Sugar Beet Cultivation and Production Practices

   In our country, sugar beet cultivation directly affects about 500 thousand farmers, in other words 3 million people; it is carried out in close relation with agriculture and animal husbandry, primarily the feed, medicine, meat, milk, transportation and service sectors.  Therefore, the subject has a holistic structure that requires evaluating together different areas such as agriculture, agriculture-based industry, processed basic food products and employment. In sugar beet production, product quality is as important as yield. Because the product price is determined according to the sugar content of the beet. High yield and quality production in sugar beet cultivation is possible if the producer is well informed that all stages such as soil preparation, fertilization, sowing, maintenance, control of diseases and pests, irrigation, harvest and silaging are carried out on time and correctly.
 

SOIL PREPARATION

   In sugar beet cultivation, autumn ploughing must definitely be carried out in soil preparation. In fields ploughed in autumn; autumn and winter precipitation is used more effectively, and spring field and seedbed preparation is carried out more easily.  If autumn ploughing is not done, the field will be ploughed in spring, and during the period until sowing the field will need to be worked a lot. This both takes a lot of time and leads to the loss of soil moisture and to a delay in sowing the seeds. Spring soil preparation is one of the most sensitive operations in sugar beet farming. The timing of tillage before sowing and the correct use of the equipment used in this work significantly affect the yield and quality of sugar beet and therefore the production result. When fields are ploughed at the same depth for a long time, a hard plough pan layer forms underneath. This layer prevents beet roots from going deeper and causes forking. For this reason, it should not be forgotten that every 4–5 years the plough pan layer should be broken with a subsoiler at a depth of 50–60 cm.
 

VARIETY SELECTION

When choosing a variety, the following characteristics must be taken into consideration.

• It must be adapted to the climatic conditions and soil structure of the region where it will be sown,
• It must be resistant to diseases and bolting,
• Root yield and sugar yield must be high,
• Germination power must be high and field emergence uniform,
• It must be healthy, reliable and economical.
   

SOWING

   In sugar beet farming, the sowing time is a factor that directly affects both the amount of refined sugar and the root yield. The delay of the sowing date shortens the growing period of the plant, delays ripening and causes the expected benefit from the applied fertilizers not to be fully obtained. In addition, the resistance of the plant to diseases and pests decreases. Therefore, sowing sugar beet at the appropriate time is of great importance.

   After spring soil tillage and seedbed preparation are completed, sowing should be carried out before moisture and tilth are lost in the soil.
Taking the long-term averages into account, spring frosts can be seen in the Konya Region until the middle of April.

   Postponing sowing excessively for fear of the risk of re-sowing caused by late spring frosts often leads to loss rather than profit. Therefore, the healthiest approach is to perform sowing when soil temperature and climatic conditions reach appropriate levels. Sugar beet seeds can emerge at a soil temperature of 4–5 degrees.

   The appropriate time to start sowing is the period when the soil temperature at a depth of 0–5 cm regularly reaches 5–7 degrees, when the soil surface becomes suitable for harrowing according to the rainfall situation, that is, when ideal soil tilth is formed. In Central Anatolia and the transition regions, the most suitable sowing period is between the end of March and the middle of April. For the Konya region, sugar beet sowing should be carried out starting from March 15 as long as the soil is in good tilth. In order to prevent seed wastage and reduce thinning labour, in-row spacing should be adjusted according to soil fertility and moisture conditions. Therefore, sowing in proper tilth will give the best result for achieving the ideal plant density.

   Sugar beet is sown in the same field once every four years in a four-course rotation system.  If there is weed emergence in the field, suitable herbicides must be used before or after sowing. If weed control is not carried out, young beet seedlings are smothered after emergence, their growth is prevented and yield decreases significantly. In our country, sugar beet is sown with 45 cm row spacing and thinning is usually done at 20–25 cm in-row spacing. Trials have shown that the best results are obtained with 9,000–10,000 plants per decare. However, our farmers often sow more densely in-row to guarantee emergence, which leads especially to an increase in seed costs. Sowing speed is also one of the important factors affecting sowing quality. In sowings made with precision planters, the speed of the tractor pulling the planter must not exceed 4 km/h. Excessive speed causes irregular seed dropping, deterioration of sowing depth and seeds remaining on the soil surface. 
 

IRRIGATION WATER REQUIREMENT AND IRRIGATION TIME OF SUGAR BEET

   Crop water consumption is defined as the total amount of water evaporated from the soil and lost by plants through transpiration during the growing season. According to the sugar beet crop water consumption values given in Table 1, this amount in Konya is approximately 777 mm.

Table  1. Sugar Beet Crop Water Consumption Values
 

EMITTER SPACINGS AND DISCHARGE

   In crops sown in rows, in drip irrigation systems, the distance between lateral lines (drip irrigation pipes) is determined by taking into account the soil water intake rate and the emitter discharge. In sugar beet, row spacing is 45 cm and in-row spacing is 22–25 cm, and in practice it is recommended that lateral lines be placed at 90 cm intervals. With this arrangement, the system is planned so that one lateral pipe line serves two rows.

Sd = 0,9√(q/l)  Using this equation, emitter spacings (Sd) are determined based on the infiltration (water intake) rate (I) and emitter discharge (q). The emitter spacings calculated according to these values are shown in Table 2.

Table  2:  Emitter spacings (cm) according to infiltration rate and emitter discharge

MAXIMUM EXTENSION LENGTH OF DRIP IRRIGATION PIPES

   The maximum extension length of drip irrigation pipes varies depending on the pipe diameter, emitter discharge, emitter spacing, whether the emitters are pressure-compensating or not, and the operating pressure. In non-pressure-compensating 17 mm diameter drip irrigation pipes, the maximum line lengths calculated by taking into account 5–15% flow variation are given in Table 3.

Table  3: Maximum extension lengths (m) of non-pressure-compensating flat 17 mm drip irrigation pipes at various flow variation, different discharge and emitter spacings

PLACEMENT AND REMOVAL OF LATERAL LINES IN THE FIELD

   In sugar beet cultivation, the laying of drip irrigation pipes in the field should generally be done after the second hoeing operation is completed. In the 3rd or 4th week of September, after making the best use of the system, it is recommended to remove the pipes.
 

EFFECTIVE ROOT DEPTH AND IRRIGATION INTERVAL
 

   The effective root depth of sugar beet is approximately 90 cm, and most of the fine roots are concentrated in the 0–60 cm zone. Therefore, when preparing the drip irrigation schedule, the effective root depth is taken as 60 cm. Irrigation should be carried out when 40–50% of the water held in the soil at field capacity has been depleted. When determining the irrigation interval during the growing period; if the daily water consumption is above 5 mm, the irrigation duration should be reduced by 20% in heavy-textured soils and by 30% in light-textured soils for each 10 mm of rainfall. During the period between two irrigations, care should be taken not to irrigate if rainfall is 50 mm or more in heavy-textured soils and 35 mm or more in light-textured soils.

PLANT NUTRIENT REQUIREMENTS

   For sugar beet, based on a target yield of 10–12 tons/da, the recommended amounts of plant nutrients are given in Table 4, and the fertilization program recommended to be applied at sowing according to soil analysis results is given in Table 6.

Table  4: Plant nutrient requirements of sugar beet (kg/da)
 

Table  5: Fertilization program recommended for sugar beet at sowing according to soil analysis results

Table  6: Fertilization program recommended for sugar beet with drip irrigation

   Before sowing, the application of 4–6 tons of farmyard manure, 2–3 tons of poultry manure or 2 tons of compost per decare provides a rich source of organic matter and macro and micro plant nutrients and increases yield, while also improving the physical structure of the soil.

   In chemical fertilizer applications, only one of the fertilizers given in Tables 5 and 6 should be chosen; fertilization should be finished at least 1 month before harvest and irrigation should be terminated about 15 days before harvest.