EFFECTS OF INTERCROPPING AND CULTIVAR ON SUGAR BEET (Beta vulgaris L.) ROOT AND SUGAR YIELD

Abstract

In order to study the effect of the intercropping of different sugar beet cultivars with soybean, Moldavian balm and proso millet on sugar beet yield a factorial experiment was conducted based on randomized complete block design with four replications in 2016 and 2017 in West Azarbayjan, Iran. The results indicated that among the intercropping patterns the highest and lowest LAI were observed in sugar beet–Moldavian balm (4.8) and sugar beet–proso millet (4.2) intercropping patterns, respectively. The highest and lowest root yield was obtained in sugar beet–Moldavian balm (50.21 ton ha^-1) and sugar beet–soybean (23.70 ton ha^-1) intercropping patterns, respectively. The highest sugar content was observed in cv. Ghazira and cropping pattern of sugar beet–Moldavian balm (16.12%) that was not significantly different with them in the sugar beet monocropping (16.11%) and sugar beet–proso millet (15.90%). Among the intercropping patterns the sugar beet–Moldavian balm and sugar beet–soybean patterns had the greatest (7.90 ton ha^-1) and lowest (3.66 ton ha^-1) gross sugar yield, respectively. The cv. Ghazira had the highest gross and pure sugar yield (12.45 and 10.59 ton ha^-1, respectively) among the cultivars. We can conclude that the sugar beet–Moldavian balm intercropping pattern could be introduced as sustainable production systems with high productivity and profitability