Abstract
In Europe, the framework for sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) production was subject to considerable changes and for the future it is expected that sugar beet cultivation might concentrate around the sugar factories for economic reasons. Based on data from a national sugar beet farmers’ survey and multi-year crop rotation trials, the effects of cropping interval (number of years in between two subsequent sugar beet crops) and of preceding crops on sugar yield were elucidated under current Central European management conditions. The dominating sugar beet cropping interval was ≥4 years in the farm survey with pronounced differences between regions. However, the cropping intervals 2, 3, and ≥4 years did not affect the sugar yield. Therefore, significant differences in sugar yield between regions were assumed to be caused by multiple interactions between year, site, and farmers’ skills. Throughout Germany, the dominating preceding crops in sugar beet cultivation were winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and winter barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). In the field trials, the sugar yield was 5% higher after pea (Pisum sativum L.) compared to maize (Zea mays L.) as preceding crop, while differences between the preceding crops pea and winter wheat, and wheat and maize were not significant. Repeated measurements of canopy development and leaf color during the growing season revealed a higher N-availability after pea as preceding crop. However, decreased growth after maize was not completely compensated for by high N-fertilizer doses. Overall, the causes for the differences in sugar yield between the preceding crops remained open. The results do not support concerns about substantial yield losses in sugar beet production due to a reduction in the cropping interval from 3 to 2 years. Nevertheless, short rotations with maize and sugar beet might increase the risk of Rhizoctonia solani crown and root rot infestation. Leguminous crops such as pea offer the potential for higher sugar beet yield with lower N-fertilizer doses.
Highlights
Negative impacts of extended use of pesticides have fostered public criticism and the need for alternative measures to control weeds, pests, and diseases in agricultural crop production while simultaneously a growing world population has to be fed
Farm survey data and results from crop rotation trials were analyzed for effects of cropping intervals, preceding crops, and the potential of elevated mineral N-supply for leveling out the yield decline observed after maize as preceding crop
For future changes in sugar beet production and steadily increasing demands on the sustainable development of crop cultivation, our data set from the farm survey did not support the expectation that shorter sugar beet cropping intervals are to cause dramatic yield losses in sugar beet
Summary
Negative impacts of extended use of pesticides have fostered public criticism and the need for alternative measures to control weeds, pests, and diseases in agricultural crop production while simultaneously a growing world population has to be fed. Frequent cultivation of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) on one field is known to stimulate infestation by soil-borne pests and diseases such as beet cyst nematode (Heterodera schachtii Schmidt) or black root rot (Aphanomyces cochlioides Drechsler) which can cause substantial yield losses (Schäufele and Winner, 1989; Hauer et al, 2016). To minimize such negative impacts, sugar beet is traditionally not grown in monoculture but in rotations with cropping intervals, here defined as the number of years in between two subsequent beet crops on the same field, of two or more years (Märländer et al, 2003). It is worth to mention that residues from herbicides applied to a preceding crop can cause injury to a future crop (Stipicevicet al., 2015; Cornelius and Bradley, 2017) and may contribute to crop rotational effects
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