Evaluation of Various Organic Amendment Sources to Improve the Root Yield and Sugar Contents of Sugar Beet Genotypes (Beta vulgaris L.) under Arid Environments

Abstract

Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) is a sucrose-rich tap root crop, with its fresh root containing up to 20% sucrose contents. Natural organic fertilizers can be a good alternative to synthetic fertilizers. For this purpose, an experiment was conducted for the optimization of different organic amendments i.e., farmyard manure, poultry manure, compost, and biochar. After the optimization experiment, pre-optimized doses of different organic amendments (farmyard manure, 40 t ha−1; poultry manure, 20 t ha−1; compost, 40 t ha−1; and biochar, 20 t ha−1) were evaluated for the production and root quality of two diverse sugar beet genotypes. The experiment was repeated over time (2019 and 2020) at four locations (BZU Research Farm Layyah, Farmer Field Layyah, Farmer Field Bhakkar-A and Farmer Field Bhakkar-B). Among different organic amendments, the use of an optimized rate of poultry manure (20 t ha−1) was the most useful for improvement in root yield, sugar yield and sugar quality. Improvement in root yield was attributed to better leaf growth and root yield which resulted eventually in higher reserve accumulation in roots. The performance of genotype ‘California’ was superior to the genotype ‘Serenada’. In conclusion, growing of genotype ‘California’ in sandy loam soils with poultry manure application (20 t ha−1) might be a pragmatic option to improve the sugar beet yield and sugar recovery.