Year : 1977

The following eight varieties of sugar beet were evaluated for their over all performance under North Karnataka conditions.

1) Maribo Marcopoly

2) Maribo Magnapoly

3) Maribo Resistapoly

4) Maribo Monozet

5) Kawe Megapoly

6) Mezzanopoly - A

7) Urika

8) Ramonskaya

Seeds of these varieties were supplied by the Project Coordinator (Sugar Beet) and they were sown in Field No. E-4/72 on 24th October 1977. The germination in varieties Marcopoly and Urika was below 40%. In all the remaining varieties it was above 60%.

The crops were doing very well until December 15th, 1977, when it was noticed that plants in a few patches, randomly distributed started wilting. The roots were observed to have become knotted and therefore nematode infestation was suspected.

Specimens of the affected roots were sent to the Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research, Lucknow for examination. In the meanwhile, as a precautionary measure, Dasanit at 2 Kg/ha was applied in the soil in the affected area. The report from Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research, confirms the presence of root knot nematodes and also of Pythium and Fusarium.

The experiment plots were harvested and the roots analysed on 4th April 1978.

Experimental details, mean root yield and results of analysis are presented in Table II.

Table II. Experiment : Advance Varietal Trial (A.I.C.P.) on Sugarbeet.