Sugar beet is one of the main crops producing root crops rich in carbohydrates, from which sugar is subsequently obtained. It contains from 16 to 20 percent sucrose. With a high yield of beet root crops (40t / ha or more), sugar production from them can be more than 8t / ha.
Sugar beet in agriculture occupies significant areas located in Russia, Ukraine, China and Poland. In total, European countries produce up to 80 percent of beet sugar from the total collection worldwide.
Growing sugar beets from seeds
The first agricultural technique is the rolling of the soil with ring gears after sowing the seeds of the crop in question. This technique contributes to their even distribution, crushes large lumps of soil and prevents the evaporation of moisture from it.
On the fifth day after sowing, the soil is loosened with a harrow perpendicular to the direction of sowing. At this point, beet seeds have not yet begun to grow, and weeds are already entering the phase of seedlings. As a result of harrowing, 80 percent of weeds are destroyed, and the soil is also saturated with oxygen, which accelerates the emergence of seedlings.
After the sugar beet has thrown out the first pair of leaves, repeated harrowing is done already at seedlings. At the initial stage of vegetable development, this technique is very effective in weed control.
If there is a hard crust on the soil surface, it is loosened using a rotational hoe.
The density of beet plantings is formed according to various thinning schemes, depending on the degree of clogging of the fields, as well as on the state of seedlings. Bouquet (mechanical thinning) is carried out by cultivators perpendicular to the rows according to the scheme, which should ensure the conservation of the bush of several plants in rows at the same distance. A beet breakthrough is carried out after three days, while leaving several plants in each bush.
Sugar beet cultivation under irrigation
Agricultural technology at the same time has some features. Under irrigation conditions, crop rotation is losing its importance as a method of regulating the water balance. At the same time, its importance increases several times in preventing the reduction of the agrophysical composition of the soil, as well as in preventing the mass development of diseases, pests and weeds.
An important factor in the cultivation of sugar beets by irrigation is the presence of perennial plants and herbs in the rotation. The best predecessor of sugar beets is winter wheat in combination with herbs. The soil is usually cultivated using improved or semi-steam methods. When plowing, it is recommended to use a recess in the soil up to 35 cm.
Effective herbicides such as betanal and lontrel are used to control weeds . In the fall, you can conduct additional provocative irrigation, which causes the appearance of weeds. They are subsequently destroyed by cultivation. Using the irrigation method, it is necessary to provide increased nutrition to plants using effective top dressing. Irrigated sugar beets need thorough mechanized care.
Inter-row cultivations (about 10 cm deep) should be an order of magnitude greater than with conventional cultivation. When watering between rows, it is necessary to carry out slotting. Sugar beets will grow more intensively when the moisture content of the arable soil is not lower than the moisture content of capillary rupture.
In order for sugar to better accumulate in beets, it is necessary to stop watering it approximately 14 days before harvesting.
Intensive sugar beet cultivation technology
The main condition for intensification in the cultivation of this crop is the exclusion of manual labor in all production processes and its replacement with machinery.