Root Yield and Sugar Accumulation in Sugarbeet and Fodder Beet According to Irrigation Water Quality

Abstract

Irrigation determines the success of water-intensive beet cultivation in Hungary. Taking into account the guidelines of the circular economy; the aim of our study was to investigate the effect of high sodium effluent from fish farms on the yield and sugar content of fodder and sugar beet in two-year-lysimeter experiment and to calculate the possibility of phytoremediation and the potential to use saline effluent water to mitigate drought effects of root biomass reduction According to our results, irrigation with effluent water did not cause yield depression in the root biomass compared to irrigation with fresh water. The effect of irrigation water quality was seen in the sodium (Na) concentration values of the roots in both years, because it was the lowest in the treatments irrigated with Körös River fresh water. The highest estimated extracted sodium amount was 83.1 kg Na/ha in case of fodder beet variety ‘Rózsaszínű Beta’ in treatment irrigated with effluent water from catfish farm (EW) in 2021, which means 7.2% of the Na applied through the effluent water. All cultivars produced higher root fresh weight when irrigated with river Körös, effluent, or diluted waters compared to control crops irrigated by scarce rain water.