RESPONSE OF SUGARBEET BETA VULGARIS (VARIETY KAWETERMA) TO DIFFERENT FERTILITY LEVELS

Abstract

The response of sugarbeet variety Kaweterma to different fertility levels was ascertained in the field. The treatments included six N-P levels viz: 0-0 (control), 50-50, 75-75, 100-100, 125-125 and 150-150 N-P kg ha-1 . Application of N-P fertilizers in higher quantities (150-150 kg ha-1 ) resulted 93230 ha-1 plant population, 62.50 cm leaves length, 37.38 leaves plant-1 , 2.22 kg sugarbeet weight plant-1 , 83.142 m.t ha-1 beetroot yield, 22.37% brix content and 11.34% sugar recovery. N-P application at the rate of 125-125 and 100-100 kg ha-1 produced 92367 and 90053 ha-1 plant population, 61.25 and 58.75 cm leaves length, 35.91 and 31.95 leaves plant-1 , 2.21 and 2.13 kg sugarbeet weight plant-1 , 80.588 and 79.484 m.t ha-1 beetroot yield, 22.34 and 22.11% brix content and 11.31 and 11.19% sugar recovery. It was observed that there was a gradual improvement in all the growth and yield components with increasing fertility levels. However, this increase was uneconomical when applied beyond 100-100 kg ha-1 , because differences amongst 100-100, 125-125 and 150-150 kg N-P ha-1 for all the parameters were statistically non-significant. Hence, 100-100 kg N-P level was considered to be an optimum level for economical production of sugarbeet under Tandojam conditions.