EFFECT OF GROWTH CONDITIONS AND VARIETY ON DAMAGE SUSCEPTIBILITY OF SUGAR BEET ABREGE -L'IMPACT DES CONDITIONS DE RECO L TE ET DE VARIETE SUR LA SENSIBILITE DES BETTERAVES AUX DOMMAGES

Abstract

ABSTRACT Damage to sugar beet causes sugar losses either by loss of beet tissue during harvest, by increased respiration of sugar due to wound healing during storage or by leaching to the wash water during processing. One way to reduce damage is the careful handling of beet at harvest and transport However, efforts to reduce soil tare often have the opposite effect Another possible strategy to reduce beet damage is to grow less susceptible beet This may be achieved by choosing the right variety or growth conditions. Therefore, we want to know more about the effect of these factors on damage susceptibility. During a three-year collaborative study this has been investigated in a number of field trials in The Netherlands and Belgium Manually harvested beet samples were treated on a turbine to inflict damage in a standardized way and were then visually examined for root tip breakage and surface damage. In other beet samples from the same plots, the internal quality and the elasticity were assessed. Significant effects of beet weight, variety, N fertilizer, year and harvest period on damage susceptibility were found. Multiple regression showed that a considerable part of the root damage could be attributed to beet weight, elasticity and composition. However, the predictive value of individual parameters was poor From the results it can be concluded that variety and growing conditions affect damage susceptibility of sugar beet. Further research will have to focus on simple and reliable methods for assessing this property