Effect of Saline Irrigation Water, Foliar Boron Fertilization and Forced Defoliation on the Sugar Beet Yield

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Soil Salinity Dept., Soil, Water and Environment Res. Inst., Agric. Res. Center, Giza, Egypt

Abstract

This experiment aimed to examine the effect of irrigation water salinity, foliar boron application and forced defoliation on the sugar beet growth and sugar yield as main product. Sugar beet plant (Beta vulgaris L.) was subjected to four levels of irrigation water salinity, three levels of foliar boron addition and three levels of forced defoliation. Split-split plot design was used for conducting the experiment. Four main plots were used for irrigation water treatment. Plant growth and sugar production were evaluated. The obtained data showed that the sugar beet crop is not only a salt tolerant but also needs the soluble salts (up to 6.2 dS m-1) to progress the yield where it promoted the average root yield and consequently the sugar yield of the two seasons by 27.4 and 24.5%, respectively. Foliar boron fertilization level up to 0.2 µ g/g was enough to increase the average root yield and consequently the sugar yield of the two seasons by 24.5 and 20.8%,respectively. Sugar yield was promoted significantly in spite of the inhibition effect of boron on the sucrose concentration in the tuber's tissues. The forced defoliation considerably inhibited the yield of whole plant, roots, shoots and sugar.

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