Productivity of promising sugar beet hybrids in the Lipetsk Region

Abstract

In the sugar beet growing zones of sugar factories, it is advisable to select hybrids taking into account the soil and climatic characteristics of the farm; in this regard it is advisable to conduct production testing of new promising hybrids. We analyzed promising sugar beet hybrids: Tibul, Gunnar and BTS 7160 which are grown on farms although they are not released for the Central Black Earth region which includes the Lipetsk Region. The economic value of promising hybrids was determined by their productivity and morphophysiological characteristics of plants in comparison with the best released hybrid Dubravka KWS. As a result of studying the hybrids, it was found that for early harvesting periods on farms it is advisable to grow the Tibul sugary hybrid in order to begin processing root crops at a sugar factory as early as possible. Although this hybrid was distinguished by relatively low productivity, it had the highest sugar content in roots (19.74%) at the beginning of harvesting (end of August). It was found that the hybrid Dubravka KWS was best suited for uniform use of harvesting equipment and late harvesting periods; under the conditions of the Lipetsk Region, it generated the highest yields and high sugar content of root crops which made it possible to obtain the highest sugar yield - 8.58 t ha. The hybrid Dubravka KWS has an extended harvesting period, and in this regard it is a very flexible hybrid. It is suitable for early, intermediate and late harvesting. It was determined that by growing the BTS 7160 hybrid it is possible to obtain 8.31 t ha of sugar; this was by 270 kg ha less than from the Dubravka KWS hybrid, but more than from the Tibul and Gunnar hybrids by 470 and 450 kg ha, respectively. For the hybrids Tibul, Gunnar and BTS 7160, the same harvesting times are advised, but the roots of the hybrid BTS 7160 had the highest sucrose content (18.48%).