Determination of suitable sowing pattern of sugar beet under tape drip irrigation system

For continues production if field crops in arid and semi arid regions of the world, such as Iran, beside of using of drought resistant varieties, water management must also be considered. In this context, the use of tape drip irrigation system could reduce the amount of irrigation water consumption. This study, was conducted to determine the best sowing pattern of sugar beet under type drip irrigation system, at Motahari station of Sugar beet seed institute(SBSI), Karaj, Iran during 2009 and 2010. Experiment was carried out in a randomized complete block design with three replications and seven treatments including sowing patterns with row distances of 45, 50, 60, 40-50 and 60- 40 cm and placing tapes every other rows and two sowing patterns with row distances of 50 and 60 cm and placing tapes on all seeding rows. The amounts of water applied in all of the treatments were almost same. Results showed that row distances of 60 cm with placing tapes every other row led to the lowest and highest number of roots and amount of root potassium, respectively, as compared with the other treatments. The highest sugar and white sugar yields and also water use efficiency for white sugar yield were achieved in sowing patterns with row distances of 60-40 cm and placing tapes every other rows and row distances of 50 cm and placing tapes on all seeding rows. High initial cost of tape drip irrigation is the most important factor preventing this system from spreading. Since the amount of applied tapes in the first sowing pattern, 40-60 cm, is less than the second sowing pattern, its costs are less. Therefore, sowing patterns with row seeding distances of 60-40 cm and placing tapes every other rows is recommend for cropping under tape irrigation system.