Effect of water deficit irrigation and bio-fertilizers on growth, yield and quality of sugar beet

Abstract

The beet sugar industry in the tropical and subtropical regions is growing as an important ‎component of sugar production. A field experiment was conducted at Shandaweel ‎Agricultural Research Station, Sohag Governorate, Egypt in the 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 ‎growing seasons to study the effects of the application of bio-fertilizers, i.e., control, vinasses, ‎yeast extract and a mixture of yeast extract and vinasses, on the growth, yield and quality of ‎four sugar beet varieties under water deficit conditions. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) ‎revealed significant effects of Drought stress, bio-fertilizers, varieties and their interactions on ‎chlorophyl contents, root length and diameter, Root yield (RY), Pol %, Recoverable sugar ‎‎(RS) %, Quality index (Qz) % and Recoverable sugar yield (RSY). Except for Pol% and ‎RS%, drought stress led to a significant reduction in all studied traits. The application of a ‎mixture of vinasses and yeast extract resulted in the highest values of all studied traits. The ‎highest values of most of the studied traits were produced from the monogerm variety ‎Poseidon when treated with a mixture of vinasses and yeast extract under either the optimum ‎irrigation and drought-stressed conditions in both growing seasons. Meanwhile, the lowest ‎values of most of the studied traits were produced from the Lilly variety under either the ‎optimum irrigation and drought-stressed conditions without the application of any bio-‎fertilizers (the control treatment) in both growing seasons. The results of the present study are ‎of great importance for the sustainable production of sugar beet in Egypt.‎