Sugar beet varieties for 2010

Three new varieties have been added to the 2010 BBRO/NIAB Recommended List of Sugar Beet Varieties. This is fewer than recent years and with withdrawals means there are now 17 varieties to choose from.

Saracen from Syngenta is a conventional variety with high yield potential. Aimanta is the first recommended variety from Syngenta with rhizomania resistance. From KWS comes Fiorenza KWS, a variety with rhizomania resistance and beet cyst nematode (BCN) tolerance with a special recommendation for use under BCN infested conditions only.

"The BCN tolerance breeding technology has been demonstrated, in independent testing in Europe, to give yield benefits under BCN infested conditions. BCN could be an increasing problem in England with tighter rotations and it will be interesting to see how this variety performs under infested conditions," says NIAB’s Simon Kerr.

Rhizomania resistance

With the recent increase in levels of rhizomania it is essential that the risk of the disease is assessed before variety choice is made so that a decision on which type of variety to use can be made.

Mr Kerr recommends that when inspecting this year’s crops, plants from any suspect areas should be sent to the Broom’s Barn Rhizomania Clinic so that a diagnosis can be made to aid in future variety selection and control strategy. In outbreak areas, particularly Norfolk and Suffolk, the widespread nature of the disease means a variety with resistance is a must. Elsewhere, the level of disease needs to be carefully assessed before decisions are made.