Effect of planting date and cultivar on yield and the early flowering in autumn sowing of sugar beet varieties

Development of autumn sowing of sugar beet is viewed as an important strategy for supplying required sugar nationwide. In order to investigate the effects of varieties and sowing date on qualitative and quantitative characteristics of sugar beet, an experiment was conducted in a form of split plot based on the Randomized Complete Block design in crop year 2014-15 in a research farm of Agricultural and Natural Resources Center in Khorasan Razavi province with four replications. The major factor included sowing data; the minor factor included. The studied characteristics contains number of roots, bolting percent, root yield, gross sugar yield, white sugar yield, sugar percent, alkalinity, sodium, potassium, and nitrogen. Analysis of variance indicated that interactive effect of variety and sowing date on bolting percent, root yield, gross sugar yield, root number, white sugar yield, and sugar was significant. The highest root yield in the first sowing date was related to Merak and Monatono; the lowest root yield was related to Sharif and Monatono in the second sowing date. Also, the highest gross sugar yield and white sugar was obtained for Merak in the first sowing date. In addition, it was found that the first sowing date was superior to the second. Due to the multiplicity and diversity of the autumn cultivars and their favorable adaptation to cultivation in different Beet cultivation regions of the country, it seems that the development of the autumn sowing beet, while supply the country sugar requirements, causes significant savings in water consumption.