The response of sugar beet to fertilizer and the effect of farmyard manure

Abstract

1. Forty-nine 33 factorial experiments in 1957–60 tested the response of sugar beet to 0·6,1·2, 1·8 cwt. N, 0·0,0·5,1·0 cwt. P2O5 and 0·8 1·6 2·4 cwt. K2O per acre. On forty-one of the sites, the experiment was repeated in the presence of 12 tons FYM per acre. There were also six trials in which the rates of mineral fertilizer had been altered to suit local conditions.2. Optimum dressings for sugar yield without FYM were 1·0 cwt. N, 0·5 cwt. P2O6 and 1·6 cwt. K2O per acre. This closely agrees with results of experiments made in 1934–39. Exceeding the optimum nitrogen dressing decreased sugar yield although the yield of tops was increased. The main value of dung for beet was in the N, P and K it provided. With FYM, optimum dressings were only 0·6 cwt. N, 0·0 cwt. P2O5 and 0·8 cwt. K2O per acre.3. Response to nitrogen differed greatly from field to field and the best guide to the nitrogen requirement of a field was the previous cropping. Beet which followed two or more cereal crops needed more nitrogen on average than beet which did not. Response to phosphate and potash did not differ much in different experiments and the national optimum would have been satisfactory for nearly all fields. The only use of soil analysis was to identify the very few fields which needed more than the average dressing of phosphate. The efficiency of phosphate and potash manuring could be slightly increased by taking soil type into account.

The relationship between soil phosphorus and response by sugar beet to phosphate fertilizer on mineral soils

“…The results from the two groups of field experiments confirmed earlier findings of Boyd, Garner & Haines (1957) that sugar beet was not usually responsive to P fertilizer (Adams, 1961(Adams, , 1962. No more recent tests have been made on mineral soils except where farmyard manure was also given (Draycott, 1969); these experiments are not included here as the farmyard manure supplied a variable amount of P. The general mean responses of sugar beet to 126 kg/ha P 2 O 6 (P 2 -P o ) were only 143 kg/ha sugar in group 1 and 198 kg/ha sugar in group 2, respectively about 2 and 3£% of their mean yields (Table 1); the value of these responses at 1970 prices did not exceed the cost of the fertilizer.…”

“…Field experiments Group 1. There were 55 experiments testing O (P o ), 63 (P x ) and 126 kg/ha P 2 O 6 (P 2 ) (0, 0-5 and 1-0 cwt/acre (P 2 O 6 ) as superphosphate factorially •with three levels of nitrogen and potash (Adams, 1962). The interactions between the fertilizers were negligible so we used the mean response to phosphate averaged over all nitrogen and potash dressings.…”

Effect of Long‐term Application of Farmyard Manure on Growth and Quality of Sugar Beet

“…1). The same conclusion was drawn by ADAMS (1962) and DRAY-COTT (1969) in England and DE HAAN (1979) in the Netherlands.…”

THE EFFECT OF pH ON PHOSPHATE ADSORPTION IN SOILS

“…Since then year1 application of between the plots have decreased. Field experiments on the Newport series (Adams, 1962;Boyd and Dermott, 1964) indicate a lower-than-average tendency to 'fix' phosphate in unavailable forms. and Burnham, 1966).…”