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Crop yield response to water - Cra

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Lead AuthorsMichele Rinaldi(CRA, Bari, Italy)Sugar BeetContributing AuthorsStefaan Horemans(SESVanderhave, Tienen, Belgium)AcknowledgmentsPasquale Garofalo(CRA, Bari, Italy),Theodore C. Hsiao(University of California,Davis, USA)Scientists contributingwith experimentalDATA and tests for thecalibration of AquaCroPPhilippe Clouet(Cristal Union, France),Sam Geerts,Nirman Shrestha(KU Leuven University,Leuven, Belgium),Michele Rinaldi,Pasquale Garofalo(CRA, Bari, Italy)General descriptionSugar beet (Beta vulgaris) is a biennial plant that produces a larges<strong>to</strong>rage root as a part of tap root containing 14 <strong>to</strong> 20 percent sucroseon a fresh mass basis. When cultivated for sugar production, it isharvested in the first season, while for flowering and seed production thecultivation is prolonged <strong>to</strong> the second year. The first season for autumnplanted crop is autumn <strong>to</strong> early summer of the next year, and for springplanted crop, from spring <strong>to</strong> autumn of the same year.Current world production is about 227 million <strong>to</strong>nne of beets produced on4.2 million ha (FAO, 2011). The cropped area has been decreasing over thepast two decades; <strong>to</strong>tal root production, however, remained stable over thesame period because of increasing <strong>yield</strong>s (Figure 1). Sugar beet is croppedin the belt from 60° LAT N <strong>to</strong> 30° LAT S, with the main producing countriesbeing France, United States, Germany, Russian Federation, Turkey, Poland,Ukraine, United Kingdom and China, in that order (FAO, 2011) (Figure 2).Sugar beet is usually cropped in rotation with cereals (Europe, RussianFederation, Ukraine), maize (Southern Europe, America), beans andsoybean (United States, China), in 3-5 year rotations (e.g. wheat – sugarbeet – barley – peas). Optimal beet <strong>yield</strong>s are obtained following wheat orbarley, while excessive nitrogen availability after maize or soybean reducessugar <strong>yield</strong>. At least a 3-year rotation is required <strong>to</strong> minimize root disease,Cercospora leaf spot, and herbicide carryover.Growth and developmentBeet seeds are bulky and light in mass, one seed weighs only about 10 mg.Seeds are planted 1 <strong>to</strong> 2 cm deep in a single row, seldom in a double row,with rows spaced 0.40 <strong>to</strong> 0.76 m apart. Monogerm seeds allow precisionsowing with 120 000 seeds/ha <strong>to</strong> obtain 60 000 <strong>to</strong> 110 000 plant/ha atharvest. In some situations, thinning by hand or by machine is needed <strong>to</strong>obtain optimal plant density and uniform spacing. Planting should be donewhen soil temperature is higher than 4 °C and the risks of frost is nil, andalso depends on crop management and harvest scheduling. The sowingperiod ranges from autumn (India, Mediterranean-type climates), <strong>to</strong> earlyspring (Western and Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe, United States), <strong>to</strong>late spring (Russian Federation, United Kingdom, United States). Sowing in202crop <strong>yield</strong> <strong>response</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>water</strong>

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