Elucidation of genetic diversity among some accessions of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) using inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSR) markers

Background Sugar beet is considered a very important strategic economic crop, as it comes at the second place for white sugar production in Egypt after sugar cane and the sugar percentage in its roots is 20%. This work was conducted in Egypt as a direct response to bridge the gap which began to expand significantly between the production and consumption of white sugar and the desire for the genetic improvement process to increase the productivity of this crop. Further, as serious attempt to understand the nature of the genetic diversity among a group of sugar beet accessions with different origins, it constitutes an important source for establishing a program of breeding and improving sugar beet crop under Egyptian conditions. Results The process of verifying the existence of significant genetic variation between the eight sugar beet varieties with various origins was carried out through a set of genetic parameters through two growing seasons besides, the data of ISSR markers profile. Further, all the sugar beet varieties were superior in all the studied traits during their evaluation over two agricultural years, where the two sugar beet accessions Oscar Poly and Rass Poly are superior in TSS % and sucrose % traits, Mont Bianco and Sultan in apparent purity % trait, Blino and Sultan in root yield and top yield traits and Rass Poly and Blino in sugar yield trait, respectively. In addition, the values of heritability in broad sense were high in all studied traits except the two traits; sucrose % and sugar yield where their results were appeared medium during both growing seasons. In the same regard, expected genetic advance values showed significant genetic progress in all studied traits during the two growing seasons. As well, highly genetic diversity was obtained between the eight sugar beet accessions through generated 169 amplified fragments from the twelve ISSR primers, 122 of them were polymorphic with 72.18% polymorphism. Conclusions The eight sugar beet varieties achieved remarkable and distinctive results for all traits under study during two agricultural years. However, they were differentiated and various from each other. As they differed in their superiority in all estimated traits and they proved to be fertile material for studying in this investigation and very suitable for enriching the breeding and genetic improvement program to promote the sugar beet yield in order to increase the productivity of white sugar in Egypt.

The First Record of Tortoise Beetle Damage to Sugar Beet in the UK: Is Global Warming Responsible?

The authors thought they had experienced everything that the sugar beet crop could throw at them from a pest point of view after almost 40 years of working with the sugar beet industry. It was therefore very exciting to be confronted with a highly unusual pest this summer, so unusual that its presence in high numbers causing significant damage to a sugar beet crop in Norfolk in August 2021, is the first record of such damage in the UK. The pest was the exotic tortoise beetle, Cassida nebulosa, which the sugar beet bible, Pests, Diseases and Disorders of Sugar Beet, published by the International Institute de la Recherches Betteraves (IIRB), describes as rare, and never important in northern Europe. Indeed, this species has never, in our memory, been recorded before as a pest in sugar beet in the UK, only a very rare presence. Dewar and Cooke (2006) stated in their review of pest problems in sugar beet the UK, that crop damage by tortoise beetles never occurs in western Europe, but can be severe in warmer Mediterranean regions and in Russia.

Residue Kinetics of Ethofumesate in Texturally Diverse Soils of Sugar Beet Crop under Field Conditions

Indiscriminate use of pesticides and growing awareness of environmental and health problems had led to monitoring their residues in soil and crops. Ethofumesate is one of the widely used herbicides for controlling weeds in sugar beet. Dissipation kinetics and terminal residues of ethofumesate were investigated in two diverse soils under subtropical field conditions. Ethofumesate dissipated slowly after application and follows biphasic first-order kinetics in soils. The average half-life for initial and later phases in sandy loam soil, respectively, was 14.54 and 20.42 and 51.83 and 65.21 days, while for silty clay loam, it was 10.09 and 13.00 and 71.42 and 73.10 days, respectively. Recoveries in soil, leaves, and beetroot ranged from 78.15 to 88.05, 77.01 to 88.58, and 76.25 to 84.50%, respectively. The quantitation limit for soil, roots, and leaves was 0.002 μg g−1. At harvest, no residues were detected in soils, leaves, and sugar beetroots. Residues were below the maximum residue limits in sugar beetroots and leaves as set by EU (0.2 ppm). Ethofumesate is safe from weed control and environmental aspects as it does not persist for a long duration in soils and does not appear to pose any adverse effect on human/animal health under subtropical field conditions.

Agro-economic substantiation of the feasibility of green manured fallow in sugar beet crop rotations of the Central Chernozem Region

The aim of the study is to find out the feasibility of including green manured fallow in specialized sugar beet crop rotations by comparing necessary assessment indicators with their values in a traditional crop rotation with black fallow against the background of unequal fertilization levels. The study was based on the analysis of experimental data from a long-term stationary experiment, laid out simultaneously in all fields and variants on typical chernozem in triplicate. The results are as follows: within the same fertilization levels, no significant differences in the yield of winter wheat (sugar beet precursor) were revealed, and the yield of sugar beet in a crop rotation with green manured fallow was stably higher (no more than 5 to 7%), an increase in yield relative to the control fertilizer variant (6 tons of manure per hectare per year) against the background of a double rate of manure in combination with mineral fertilizers amounted to 21.7 to 23.4% for wheat and 14.3 to 15.6% for beets with an increase in the productivity of crop rotations (in natural and value terms) by 1.2 times, but an increase in costs by 1.3 times caused an absolute decrease in the level of profitability by 23 to 25%. Differences in the assessment indicators for specific fertilization variants increased over time due to an unequal degree of soil fertility reproduction, and therefore in the fifth cycle of the crop rotation with black fallow turned out to be 1.1 to 1.3 times greater than in the green manured rotation.

Intercropping of beet with salad rocket (Eruca sativa) using hairy woodrose (Merremia aegyptia) plus manure goat in loam argisol yellow red latosol

The crop intercropping is a viable option for family farmers who grow in small spaces and need to take advantage of all the available area. The objective of this study was to evaluate the agronomic viability of the intercropping of beet with salad rocket (arugula) under different amounts of Merremia aegyptia plus goat manure. The experiment was conducted at Rafael Fernandes Experimental Farm, in the Alagoinha district, rural area of Mossoró-RN, from August to December 2016. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with treatments arranged in a 2 x 4 factorial scheme, with three repetitions. The first factor was the single beet and second intercropped cultivation of beet and arugula. The second factor was the amount of Merremia aegyptia plus goat manure (0.0, 1.5, 3.0 and 4.5 kg m-2). For the sugar beet crop the following characteristics were evaluated: plant height, fresh leaf mass, commercial root yield and root dry mass. For arugula culture the following characteristics were evaluated: plant height, number of leaves per plant, yield, number of sauces and dry mass. The best agronomic performance of the beet and rocket intercropping was obtained in the amount of 4.5 kg m-2 of M. aegyptia beds and goat manure. The consortium presented an area ratio equivalent to over 1.0, with an average value of 1.81 in the amount of 4.5 kg m-2 of M. aegyptia flowerbed plus goat manure. The consortium contributed to better use of available resources without compromising the commercial quality of the vegetables