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Beet, cultivation and harvesting technology
Beet (Beta vulgaris) is a valuable, succulent, and very nutritious fodder. This species is recommended for feeding all animal species (horses, cattle, pigs, or sheep). Beets can be eaten as such (fresh) or in recipes for compound feed. Beet consumption increases milk production, and the meat becomes tastier. In addition to its nutritional qualities, beet has a high yield per unit area. In addition to root production, this species develops a large number of leaves. The common beet has a good storage capacity. It can be stored in surface silos or chopped and stored in the form of compound feed.
Beet is a biennial plant. In the first year of vegetative growth, the beet’s body is formed, and in the second year, the flowering branches that bear fruit develop. The body of the beet is harvested in the first year of vegetative growth and is made up of epicotyl, hypocotyl, and roots. The leaves have long petioles, the foliar limb being elongated oval. The leaf can be straight or laid to the ground. The flower is sessile, type 5 hermaphrodite. The seeds are of different sizes and weights, with an ellipsoidal shape, and a sickle-shaped embryo.
Environmental and soil requirements
It has high requirements in terms of temperature. The seeds germinate when the soil achieves temperatures between 6 and 8 °C. In the first year of vegetative growth, for the development of proper roots, beet must accumulate 2300 – 2700 °C. The optimum temperatures for the vegetative growth period are between 18 – 25 °C. Beet has high requirements in terms of water as well, large yields being obtained in areas where 500-600 mm of rainfall fall annually, evenly distributed during the vegetative growth period. It can withstand acidic and salty soils, but it prefers fertile soils, with large amounts of humus.
Beet crop technology
Crop rotation
The best results are obtained when the beet is recultivated to the same field after 4-5 years. It is recommended to cultivate beet after plants are harvested and removed from the soil early so that there is enough time for the soil works and fertilization. The best precursors are straw cereals, corn for silos, legumes, or mashes. It is not recommended to cultivate beet after sorghum, or corn for grain. It is a good precursor plant for wheat, corn, sorghum, or barley.
Fertilization
Common beet reacts well to organic fertilization. Well-fermented manure can be applied before plowing. Organic fertilization can be completed during the vegetative growth period with simple or complex chemical fertilizers of NPK type, depending on the state of nutrients in the soil. The application of phosphorus and potassium fertilizers must be carried out together with the basic plowing, and the nitrogen-based ones have to be applied in stages when preparing the seedbed and during the vegetative growth period.
Field works
After clearing the field, the plowing work has to be performed. The aim is to conserve the water from the soil and level the ground. Plowing must be done at a depth of 28-30 cm. It is indicated to respect the plowing depth since this influences the production considerably. The preparation of the seedbed should be done with the help of the combine. The working depth must not exceed 4 cm.
Seeds and sowing
The sowing must be done when the soil temperature is 6-8 °C. Generally, the optimal sowing season begins at the end of March – the beginning of April. For one hectare, between 15 and 20 kg of seeds are required. The distance between rows must be 45 cm, and the distance between plants per row has to be between 20 and 25 cm. The optimum sowing depth is 2-3 cm.
Weed control
One of the most important maintenance works is weed control. To keep the crop free of weeds, mechanical weeding can be carried out or specific herbicides can be applied.
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Read carefully and follow the instructions on the label of each product
Diseases and pests
The most common diseases in beet crops are rhizomania, bacterial leaf spot, downy mildew, powdery mildew, blackleg of beet, rust, Cercospora leaf spot disease. Among the pests, the most common are beet cyst nematode, sugar beet bug, black bean aphid, sugarbeet weevil, sugarbeet flea beetle, beet moth.
Irrigation
In order to obtain high yields, it is necessary to irrigate the crop. In order for the plant to use irrigation water efficiently, watering should be done in June, July, and August. The soil should be kept at the optimum humidity at a depth of 80 cm. During the whole vegetative growth period, the crop should be watered 4 – 8 times with 500-600 cubic meters/ha. Irrigation is applied in relation to the number of precipitations.
Harvesting
It should be done when the leaves start to turn yellow, and the temperatures have values between 5 – 6 °C. If the beets are used fresh, the harvest begins in August. The productions are generally high. In irrigated fields, they exceed 150 tons per hectare (roots), and in non-irrigated fields, it is between 80 and 120 tons per hectare. In addition to the main production (roots), from one hectare can be obtained between 10 – 20 tons of leaves, which can be used in animal feed.
