The role of the «Sugar Beet» magazine in popularization of agricultural energy crops and technologies of their processing for biofuel (1997–2018)

Abstract

Introduction. Ukraine in the Russian Empire and in Soviet times, as you know, occupied a leading position in the production of beets and sugar. But until 1997, Ukrainian beet growers did not have their own professional Ukrainian-language print publication, although there was an urgent need for it. The industry journal Sugar Beet, which, in fact, became the first communication platform in Ukraine for the implementation of production-scientific and educational-explanatory functions related to the development of beet-growing and bioenergy, was founded in 1997. Sugar Beet was one of the first journals in independent Ukraine in 1998 to be included in the List of Professional Scientific Publications of Ukraine Recommended for the Publication of the Main Results of Doctoral and Candidate's Dissertations in the Department of Agricultural Sciences. The key place in the columns of the publication was occupied not only by sugar beets (Beta vulgaris), but also by the coverage of research work related to the launch of the process of moving some dual-application crops in the research fields and research laboratories of the institute located on Batyi Hill, and some new and until recently little-known for Ukraine so-called ‘energy’ crops (sugar sorghum, miscanthus, switchgrass, Sudan grass, salix, etc.), in special bioenergy plantations to obtain biomass and process it into various types of energy, which later stimulated and, in fact, symbolized a breakthrough in terms of forming a new independent bioenergy (phytoenergy) industry in Ukraine. 1076 original research and production articles were published in the columns, the authors of which are not only scientists and practitioners of the crop industry, but creators of high-yielding varieties in Ukraine and abroad – in Russia, Kazakhstan, Germany, Switzerland, Belarus and others. countries; At the same time, each 5–6 articles published under the headings such as Non-traitional Crops, Biotechnology, Breeding and Genetics, Agrotechnology or Bioenergy directly or indirectly covers the problems of development of so-called special ‘energy’ plants. A section on world and domestic trends in the development of renewable and non-traditional energy sources has found a permanent residence on the pages of the journal.
 Conclusion. The study shows that one of the oldest scientific and production editions – Sugar Beet – has played an important and timeless role not only in the development of the beet and sugar industry, but also in the history of bioenergy. Its issues are still available online on the official website of the IBCSB (see journal.sugarbeet.gov.ua.).