Reduced Seedbed Tillage Effects on Irrigated Sugarbeet Yield and Quality1

Abstract

AbstractField studies were conducted from 1979 through 1982 on a furrow irrigated silty clay loam soil (Typic Argiboroll) to determine if sugarbeet (Beta vulgaris L.) sucrose production levels could be maintained with reduced seedbed tillage. Tillage treatments were: a) conventional tillage (CT)—complete fall incorporation of surface residues; b) strip tillage (ST)—fall incorporation of surface residues in 18‐cm wide bands located 56 or 61 cm apart; and c) no‐tillage (NT)—no incorporation of surface residues. Herbicides were fall applied for weed control. Sugarbeets were seeded 10 or 15 cm apart to eliminate need for thinning. Sugarbeet stands before cultivation averaged 3.7 sugarbeets/meter of row over the 4‐year period. Tillage treatment had no significant effect on spring soil temperatures and on sugarbeet stand, root yield, sucrose content, gross sucrose yield, and recoverable sucrose yield when averaged over the 4‐year period. Sugarbeet quality, in terms of clear juice purity, tended to be better in the reduced tillage treatments than in the CT treatment. This difference in clear juice purity probably resulted from the higher levels of spring soil NO3‐N found under CT than under reduced tillage plots. The results indicate that sucrose production under reduced seedbed tillage conditions can be maintained at levels comparable with conventional seedbed tillage conditions. Potential advantages of reduced seedbed tillage for sugarbeets are wind erosion control, reduced soil crusting problems, better soil water conditions in the seedbed for germination, reduced energy requirements, and reduced production costs.