Keeping the sugar beet crop greener for longer

With many sugar beet crops planted later than normal and a longer period until harvest, it will be even more important this year to keep the canopy greener for longer, through the programmed use of fungicides.

The new agreement for sugar beet means that yield continues to be all important in order to maintain profitability, but the start of the year with the cold dry weather hasn’t been ideal in the quest to beat last years record average yield of over 72 t/ha, says Jonathan Ball, Sugar Beet Product Manager for BASF.

He points out that fungicides have been shown to protect against a range of damaging diseases, to delay leaf loss and help to retain green leaf into the autumn , which will boost sugar yields and growers returns. "With longer campaigns, the benefits of a well-timed fungicide programme will mean that the crop will have a stronger and greener canopy, which will be able to keep adding yield day by day. It will also avoid frost damage which will mean an easier harvest."

The right fungicide can also increase yield by 5% even in the absence of disease, he says.

The BBRO estimates that over 85% of the UK sugar beet crop now receives a fungicide. The first spray usually goes on in July followed by a second spray in late August.

"In terms of fungicide options, a triazole and strobilurin mixture will provide all the benefits. Opera controls all the important diseases in sugar beet - powdery mildew, rust, Ramularia and Cercospora."

"In addition to its excellent disease control, the use of Opera has given consistent yield increases as a result of crop physiological effects. It combines the most advanced strobilurin, pyraclostrobin with the most effective triazole, epoxiconazole. It has been proven to increase greening and photosynthetic efficiency and to extend the active life of the sugar beet canopy. It also improves root quality by increasing root sugar concentration and reducing root amino nitrogen content," says Jonathan.

"Even though it could be considered as an added value product, Opera performs exceptionally well on all the main yield-eroding foliar diseases and will increase yields through its well-recognised physiological activity. This makes it an obvious choice for high performing sugar beet, either as a first or second spray. Its use will easily pay for itself many times over," says Jonathan.