Study the effect of drought stress, transplantation on quantitative and qualitative yield and water use efficiency of different sugar beet cultivars in autumn planting

Two separate trials were conducted as a factorial design based on randomized complete block design with three replications at the Shahid Moghbeli Agricultural Research Center in Jiroft, Iran in two cropping seasons (2016-17 and 2017-18). In the first trial, the effects of planting method including direct planting and transplanting on different sugar beet cultivars including Palma, Sharif, and Merak were evaluated, and then in the second trial, among studied cultivars, a high yield cultivar (Merak) was selected. Also, the effect of irrigation time (based on 50, 70, and 90% of water requirement) and planting methods on its quantitative and qualitative yield were evaluated. In the first trial, the highest root dry matter, extraction coefficient of sugar, sugar content, root weight, root length, fresh leaf weight, root yield and sugar yield were obtained for Merak cultivar and transplanting. The result of the second trial showed that the irrigation time based on 70% of water requirement led to the highest root and sugar yield along with a significant improvement in water use efficiency. In addition, as transplanting improved root yield and sugar yield, therefore, transplanting method with irrigation at the time of 70% of water requirement is recommended to obtain optimal root yield and sugar yield.