Yields and the composition of roots of sugar beet varieties tolerant to the beet cyst nematode

Breeding sugar beet varieties resistant and tolerant to Heterodera schachtii Schmidt is one of the ways to reduce the occurrence of this pest in soil. Tolerant varieties should have a high value. Yields of roots must be high and of good technological quality. In 2013-2015, the research unit of Nordzucker Polska S.A. together with the Department of Plant Production and Experimentation of the Bydgoszcz University of Science and Technology carried out a one-factor field experiment at the village of Błoto, Kujawsko-Pomorskie Province, Poland. The purpose of the study was to compare the root yield, the internal technological quality of roots, and the technological yield of sugar from three beet cyst nematode (BCN) tolerant sugar beet varieties: Charly, Perruche, and Sława KWS, and two conventional varieties, grown in fields with a high BCN cyst count (657-1140 cysts 100 g-1 soil). Yields and technological quality of roots during the study period depended on a variety of sugar beet. The tolerant variety Perruche was the highest yielding one in terms of average yields over the whole period. In two out of the three years of the experiment, there was also a significant relationship between the sugar content in beet roots and their variety. In 2013 and 2015, the sugar yield of at least one BCN-tolerant variety, i.e. the varieties Sława KWS and Charly respectively, was significantly higher than the yield of a conventional variety, which was worse in this respect. In 2014, the technological yield of sugar from each tolerant variety was higher than the yield obtained from the conventional varieties.