TECHNOLOGICAL QUALITIES OF SUGAR BEETROOT CROPS UNDER THE CONDITIONS OF THE MIDDLE CIS-URAL REGION

Abstract

The economic growth and welfare of the state largely dependent on the efficiency of the agro-industrial complex, including the beet-sugar subcomplex. In Russia, including the middle CIS-Ural region, sugar beet is the main technical crop that provides raw materials for the sugar industry. More than 70 % of the area is sown in the Central and Southern Federal Districts. On the territory of the middle CIS-Ural region, sugar beet is currently cultivated on an area of more than 100,000 ha (Kornienko, 2014) The purpose of the research was to identify the productivity and technological quality patterns of new sugar beet hybrids, the influence of varietal characteristics on the content of molassigenic sub-stances, nitrogen fertilizer dosage, crop density and harvest time to obtain the highest yield of root crops with high technological qualities in the middle CIS-Ural region of Russia. Four field studies were conducted. The sugar content was determined by cold digestion with saccharimeter-polarimeter. To determine the α-amino nitrogen, the method of Stanek and Pavlas modified by Wininger and Kubadinov was used. The results showed that with an increased dose of nitrogen fertilizer, the sugar content of the root crops naturally decreased. As the crop density increased, the sugar content also increased. The highest sugar content in the root crops was revealed at a crop density of 95,000 and 110,000 plants/ha. The authors proposed recommendations to obtain the highest gross yield of purified sugar in sugar beet cultivation: for early harvesting – cultivate a sugar beet hybrid of normal-sugary type (Christella), for late harvesting – a hybrid of yielding type (HM-1820); apply nitrogen fertilizer at a dose of 160 kg of active agent/ha;cultivate sugar beet with a density of 95,000 plants per hectare; remove sugar beetroot crops with modern beet harvesters on October 10–25.