Sugar Beet cultivation practices .ppt

Sugar Beet cultivation practices

1. Sugar Beet

2. Family
By Products
Soils and Climate
Place in rotation
Varieties.
Seed Bed Preparation
Sowing
Fertiliser
Pest, Disease and Weed Control.
Harvesting
Yield.
Wilting of Beet Tops

4. Sugarbeet(Betavulgaris)isamemberoftheOrder
Chenopodeaceae:largerootsizeandhighsugar
content.
Yield: Roots= 40 Tonnes
Tops= 25-30 Tonnes

5. Sugar*
Beet Tops
Beet Pulp
Molasses

6. Sugarisextractedfromthe
sugarbeetplantandsoldto
consumersorusedasafood
additive.
BeetTopsareleftbehindin
thefieldaftersugarbeet
harvestingandtheycanbe
fedtocattleorsheep,having
anequivalentfoodvalueto
thatofgrassofmoderate
quality.

7. BeetPulpisdried,shreddedroot
materialafterallthesugarhas
beenextracted.Itcanbefedto
cattleorsheep&hasafoodvalue
similartobarley.
Molassesisathickblackliquidleft
afterthecrystallisationofsugar
fromwaterextract.Itverysweet
andimprovesthepalatabilityof
animalfeeds.Itstickinessisused
inpelletinganimalfeeds.Itisused
asanadditiveinsilageproduction.
Ithasafoodvaluesimilartothatof
barley.

8. UntilrecentlyIrelandhadtwo
sugarfactories;oneinMallow,
CoCorkandoneinCarlowthat
processedallthesugarbeet.
Anumberofvarietiesofsugar
beetwereavailabletogrowand
theSugarCompanyusedto
advisefarmersonwhichvariety
tosowtakingintoaccountthe
soiltypeandlocationontheir
farm.
Asaresultallcommercialsugar
beetproductionhasceasedbut
therearesomefarmersgrowing
beetfortheirownuse.

9. Sugarbeetgrowswellondeep,
welldrainedsoilswithasoilpH
0f6.5–7.
Shallowsoilsorsoilswith
compactedlayersleadtoroot
forkingwhichinturnleadstoa
highleveloftare(cropwasteat
thefactory).
Sugarbeetisintolerantofacid
pHandbaddrainage;alotof
plantsdieattheseedlingstage.

10. Thesugarcontentoftheplantis
stronglyinfluencedbythe
level/amountofsunshineit
receivesduringthegrowing
season.
Thesugarcontentshouldbeat
least16%butthiscanbehigher
inareaswithmoresunshinee.g.
SouthEastofIreland.
Lowrainfallmakesseedbed
preparation&cropharvesting
easier.

11. Croprotationmustbepracticedinordertoavoid
seriousbuildupofsoilbornediseasesandpests
e.g.thebeetcystnematode.
Sugarbeetandotherhostcrops(Fodderbeet,
mangels,beetroots,spinachbeet,turnips,
Swedes,rapeandkale)mustnotbegrownonthe
samesoil(insamefield)morefrequentlythan1
in3years.
E.g. Grass-beet-Barley-potatoes

13. CropRotationshelpsto
Controlcertainsoil–cropresidue–bornepests&diseases.
Maintainsoilstructure&organicmatter.

14. Alimitednumberofvarietiesareavailable.
Farmersareadvisedastowhatvarietywouldbethe
besttosown
Previouslythesugarcompanyadvisedfarmerswhat
tosowwhentakingintoaccountthesoiltype&
locationoftheirfarm.

15. Sugarbeetrequiresafineseedbedforuniform
seedgerminationandplantestablishment.
Autumnploughthelandifpossible.
Inspringcultivatethelandtoadepthof20cm
withaspikerotavator.

16. Time,rate&methodofseedsowing
Sugarbeetissownearlyinspringtoobtaina
longgrowingseasonandhighyields.
Sownusingaprecisionseeder:assugarbeet
seedisirregularinshapeitispelletedtomake
itmoreusable,seedsarecoatedwithinertclay
materialsmouldedintoasphericalshape
beforetheprecisionseedercanuseit.Theinert
claydissolvesinthesoil.

17. Normal seed spacing = 18 cm in drills &
56cm apart = 100,000 seedlings per ha.
Germination & establishment =
approximately 75,000 -80,000 seedlings
per ha.

18. Soilshouldbetestedbefore
applyingfertilizertodetermine
whatisrequirementandhow
much(JohnstownCastle,Co
Wexford).
Inadditiontobalancedamounts
ofN,P,K,sodiumandboronare
alsofoundinthesefertilizers.
Sodiumisessentialforthesalt
lovingsugarbeet.
Boronisaddedtopreventthe
occurrenceofheartrot.
Spreadonploughedground&
cultivatedintotheseedbed

19. Diseaseandpestcontrol
ThemostimportantdiseaseofsugarbeetisVirus
Yellow.
Thepeachpotatoaphidorgreenaphidtransmitsvirusyellows.
Thefoliageofinfectedplantsbecomeschloroticandyieldlosses
result.
Siteswhereaphidsoverwintershouldbedealtwithtokeep
downnumbersintheaphidpopulations.

20. Cropresiduesshouldbeploughedinquicklyandheadlandsand
loadingareasshouldbecleanedoffquicklyafteruse.
Cropsshouldbesprayedwithasystemicaphicide’sif
populationsreach2perplant.
Themainpestisthebeetcystnematode,whichis
controlledbycroprotation.

23. Sprayingwithamixofa
totalcontactherbicide&
residualherbicidetwice
betweensowing&full
leafcover.
Contactherbicide–kill
onlyplanttissuethey
comeincontactwith.

24. Residualherbicide-appliedto
soil&remainsactiveforsome
time,killingallgerminating
seeds.Takenupbytheroots
&movetoactivelygrowing
parts,slowlykillingthem.
Theyarenotabsorbedtothe
leafsocanbeusedaftercrop
emergence.
Sprayingwithcontactand
residualherbicides;twice
betweensowingandfullleaf
covercontrolsweeds.

25. TotalHerbicides:killsall
vegetation
SelectiveHerbicides:kills
weedswithoutkillingplant
TranslocatedHerbicides:
absorbedbyplants&is
translocatedtoallpartsof
theplant

26. EradicantFungicides:kills
fungalinfectionsatsiteof
application
Protective Fungicides:
protectagainstattack-applied
duringdryweathersonot
washedaway.
SystemicFungicides:kill
allexistinginfections&
protecttheplantfromattack

27. Sugarbeetisharvestedfrom
midSeptemberonwards,
usingasugarbeetharvester.
Itliftstheplantsfromthe
ground,removesthetops,
cleansandconveystheroots
toastoragehopperor
directlytoatrailerbeing
drivenalongside.

28. Harvestwhilesoilconditions
aredryandstoreuntilthey
arecollected.
Ifcropisharvestedinwet
soilconditions,leavingalot
ofsoiladheringtotheroots,
furthercleaningisnecessary.
Farmersarepaidonweight
ofcleanedbeet&sugar
content.(16%)

29. Sugar beet roots: 40 tonnes per ha
Sugar beet tops:25/30 tonnes per ha

30. IfthesugarbeetisnotrequireduntilOctober-
January,therootsshouldbestoredonconcrete
yardsoronverydryfirmgroundinclamps.
Roadsidingsandlaybysareoftenused.

31. Clampsshouldbelongandnarrowandnot
higherthan2.5mtominimiseheating.
Sugarbeetshouldbeprotectedwithstrawduring
frostyweatherasfrostreducessugarcontent(%)
andmakestherootsunsuitableforprocessing.

32. Sugarbeettopsarenormallyleft
inthefieldaftertheharvesting
operation.
Theycanbefedtocattleorsheep
insitu:usingelectricfencetostrip
graze.
Theycanalsobetransportedto
yardsandshedforfeeding
animals.
Theymustbewiltedforafewdays
toallowoxalicacidtobreakdown:
asthefreshsugarbeetcontains
oxalicacidwhichcauses
diarrhoea/scouringinanimals.
Beettopsmaybeensiledandfed
laterinwinter.

33. Aim:
Tomeasurethesugarcontentofsugarbeet.
ApparatusNeeded:
SugarBeetRoots,
PocketRefractometer,
SharpKnife,
ChoppingBoard,
MortarandPestle
Pippette
Method:
Onachoppingboard,useasharpknifetoremovetheoutsideskinof
sugarbeetrootandplaceinbin.
Dicetheremainingpieceoftherootintosmallerpieces.
Placeoneofthepiecesintoamortarandpestleandgrindtoobtaina
dropofsap.
Transferthesapusingapipetteintotherefractometer.
Readoffthesugarconcentration