University of Idaho sugarbeet variety performance and emergence testing program,
2000.
John J. Gallian, Ronald L. Roemer and Tiffany McKay
Each year the University of Idaho conducts a sugarbeet variety testing program
consisting of standard variety trials, transgenic variety trials, emergence and seedling
vigor tests and a rhizomania variety trial. In 2000, the UI transgenic tests
and rhizomania test were abandoned because of lack of uniformity in stand
and growth. Entries into the standard variety trials are
coordinated with Oregon State University Malheur Experiment Station, Ontario, Oregon. Data
for commercial varieties are combined for two Idaho locations and one Oregon location each
year and across two years. All variety test data are distributed to growers as a resource
for choosing varieties to plant.
In accordance with the Idaho-Oregon Joint Sugarbeet Seed Committee
variety approval policy, the standard variety trial data from each location, including the
Oregon State University location, are used for calculating minimum variety standards. The
variety testing data and variety calculations are made available to and used by the Seed
Committee to determine varieties to be approved for sale in the Idaho and Oregon sugarbeet growing
areas for delivery to the Amalgamated Sugar Company.
Standard Variety Trials
Two standard variety trials were conducted; one on a grower's
field
in Cassia County and one at the University of Idaho R&E Center at
Aberdeen. The Cassia County test was irrigated by center pivot and
Aberdeen by handlines. All varieties were entered into
the curly top nursery operated by the Beet Sugar Development Foundation (BSDF) to be rated
for resistance to curly top virus disease.
The same commercial variety and seedlot is used in the
University of Idaho variety and emergence tests, the Idaho Department of
Agriculture Seed Laboratory's official germination tests, and the Oregon State
University variety tests. We coordinate seed sampling with the Idaho
Department of Agriculture, and the commercial sugarbeet seed used in the variety
testing program is obtained at each seed company's distribution warehouse prior
to growers receiving delivery. Seed of experimental varieties are obtained
from the seed companies.
At each location, 22 commercial and 29 experimental varieties were
planted in separate tests. In the experimental tests, 4 commercial varieties were included
as checks. Experimental design was a randomized complete block with 8 replications, and
plots were 4 rows wide (22 inch row spacing) and 25 ft long, with a 5 ft alley separating
each tier. Plots were seeded with a cone planter at 8 seeds/ft and hand thinned to an
average 8 inch spacing. Standard cultural practices were maintained at both
locations, including applications of Progress + Upbeet for weed control.
Immediately prior to harvest, all plots were individually evaluated for
bolting and uniformity, and plots showing non-treatment effects were noted and dropped
from the analysis. Plants were machine topped and the two center rows of each plot were
machine harvested using a modified 2-row Farmhand 808 harvester. Roots were weighed and 2
sugar samples per plot with a minimum of eight roots each were analyzed for percent sugar,
conductivity, and nitrates at the Amalgamated Sugar Company tare laboratory at Paul,
Idaho. The data were analyzed separately for each of the tests using least-squares
means analysis of SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC. The commercial variety tests were
combined with the Oregon State University Malheur Experiment Station data and summarized
across three locations for 2000 and 6 locations for 1999 and 2000.
Transgenic Variety Trials
For 2000, there is no University of Idaho data available for
transgenic varieties. The UI transgenic trials at the Kimberly and
Aberdeen Research and Extension Centers were abandoned because of lack of
uniformity in growth. At Kimberly, spray applications were delayed by
request of one company because of a possible seed labeling error. The
question was resolved and there was no error, but the introduced variability
from weed competition was too great for the test to be considered valid.
At Aberdeen, the cause of the highly variable growth was not determined, but may
have been a result of either a nutrient or herbicide problem.
Rhizomania Variety Trials
Rhizomania resistant varieties adapted to the Idaho-Eastern
Oregon growing area were entered into two field tests in 2000. The first
test contained commercial varieties only and was established on a grower's field
near Rupert, Idaho. The second test was conducted by Dr. Robert Lewellen,
USDA, Salinas, California, and contained experimental varieties and commercial
check varieties.
The rhizomania trial near Rupert, Idaho, had a considerable
amount of wind and frost injury early in the season. Stands were reduced
and very inconsistent. The data, therefore, would likely be unreliable,
and the test was abandoned.
Varieties were entered into the USDA test because we did
not have an Idaho location available in 2000 to evaluate experimental varieties
under rhizomania field conditions. Variety
performance based on adaptation to environmental conditions may differ in
Salinas, California, compared with those in Idaho and eastern Oregon.
Coefficients of correlation were calculated for the USDA test.
Coefficients of correlation for the USDA-ARS
rhizomania variety test, Salinas, CA, 2000.
%R HC
GSY RY
%S
Disease
Index (DI)
-.99** -.06 ns -.81**
-.74** -.65**
% Resistant
(%R)
.04 ns .80**
.73** .65**
Harvest Count
(HC)
.21* .22** .01
ns
Gross Sugar Yield (GSY)
.97** .58**
Sugar Content
(%S)
.36**
The USDA test appears to give a reliable
comparison and evaluation of differential varietal reaction to rhizomania.
The 1999 University of Idaho rhizomania variety test in Rupert, Idaho, is
included here for reference because there are five varieties common to the 2000
USDA test in Salinas.
Seed and Seedling Vigor
The purpose of this yearly field study is to compare the emergence
of commercial varieties under uniform field conditions and evaluate variability in
seedling vigor among locations. These data may then be used by growers, along with the
variety performance information, to aid in choosing varieties. All commercial varieties
entered into the standard and rhizomania variety tests were included, and seed samples
used in the variety tests were subsampled for the emergence tests.
The study was conducted at three locations on cooperator’s fields
in Jerome County and Cassia County and the University of Idaho Research and Extension
Center at Aberdeen. Experimental design was a randomized complete block with 4 replications at
each location. Plots were single row, 25 ft long, 100 seeds/plot.
Seed was planted one inch deep using a research cone planter with Milton disk
openers. All plots were sprinkler irrigated with hand lines in Jerome
County and Aberdeen and center pivot in Cassia County. Emergence counts were started when the first seedlings were
observed to emerge. Counts continued until no further emergence was observed. No yield
data is taken on the emergence tests.
Because several varieties had more than 100% emergence,
laboratory tests were conducted to determine the percent doubles using the same
seedlots as were used in the field. Data are the means of four
replications of 100 seed each. Seed were considered germinated and counted
after cotyledons emerged. Percent doubles were calculated as follows:
%doubles = (# doubles/total # seed germinated) x 100.
2000 Standard Variety Trials
