Rhizoctonia solani (AG 2-2IIIB), causing root and crown rot in sugar beet, poses an increasing problem in Europe. Agronomic measures have to be optimized to control disease and minimize yield and quality loss, because no fungicides can be applied. Resistant sugar beet cultivars have been introduced to reduce disease occurrence. Furthermore, crop rotation can influence R. solani occurrence. In contrast to other cereals, maize serves as a host of the fungus. In order to study the combined effect of these factors, a series of four field trials was established with crop rotations varying in the proportion of maize and comparing a resistant with a susceptible sugar beet cultivar in 2001–02 in southern Germany. Within crop rotations, cultivation methods were varied in the form of soil tillage, intercrops, or both. Sugar beet cultivar and crop rotation had the main impact on disease severity and sugar yield. With increasing proportion of maize, sugar yield decreased, whereas cultivation method had only a minor impact. Plowing directly before sugar beet increased sugar yield only within the unfavorable maize-maize-sugar beet rotation compared with mulching. These results give strong evidence that crop rotation of sugar beet with nonhost plants and cultivation of resistant sugar beet cultivars are adequate means for integrated R. solani control.
Summary
In Germany, sugar beet is often rotated with 2 years of cereal. Extensive fallow periods between cereal harvest and autumn primary tillage allow for a weed flora to develop. Broad‐leaved weeds could potentially be alternate hosts for the common nematode Heterodera schachtii, one of the most important pests of sugar beet. Between 2009 and 2012, annual weeds developing in cereal stubble fields during July to mid‐October in the season prior to sugar beet were surveyed, including known hosts of H. schachtii. Yearly weather patterns and agronomic practices possibly impacted weed species composition and weed population densities. During September, Chenopodium album, Cirsium arvense, Convolvulus arvensis, Mercurialis annua, Polygonum spp., Solanum nigrum and Sonchus spp. occurred at the highest frequencies. Weed hosts of H. schachtii were present, but densities, frequencies and uniformity were limited. In 2010 and 2011, staining for nematodes in roots revealed juvenile penetration of some weeds but few adult stages. No indication of nematode reproduction of H. schachtii was found on these weed hosts. A fairly stable weed flora was detected on stubble fields that could provide some carry over for weed species. An elevated risk for nematode population density build‐up on these weeds was not found and management of these weeds at the observed densities during the stubble period for nematological reasons appeared unnecessary.
Influence of nitrogen supply on dry matter production, yield and quality of sugar beet with special reference to temperature and irradiance in pot experiments
The influence of nitrogen on yield and quality of sugar beet has been studied in many experiments. In comparison, little is known about the changes in sugar beet metabolism caused by increasing the nitrogen supply. The experiments described in this series of papers deal with the influence of nitrogen supply on mineral metabolism. This first paper describes the influence of nitrogen on dry matter production, yield and quality of beet with special reference to temperature and irradiance. The experiments, conducted in 1988 and 1989 using sand culture in pots, included five nitrogen levels. These treatments were sampled five times during the season and at harvest time. Overall, in 1989 sugar yield (g/pot) was 30 to 50 % greater than in 1988. In 1989 there was only a little more irradiance and duration of sunshine (7 and 11 % respectively) than in 1988, and the larger yield in 1989 was probably caused by a bright period of four weeks in May/June. Where least nitrogen was supplied, deficiency symptoms appeared in early June. When this happened an ammonium‐urea solution was added to the leaves: it increased growth, but not enough to equal the white sugar yield of the treatment where the sand was given the same amount of N at the beginning of the season.
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