Sugar beet root yield and quality as affected by sowing date

Sowing date is of great importance in sugar beet production, especially in optimal years with no late spring frosts. For this reason, a great deal of attention needs to be devoted to this factor. A trial with six sowing dates was established at the Rimski Sancevi Experiment Field of the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops in Novi Sad. The following sowing dates and their influence on root yield and technological quality were studied: 1st sowing date - March, 10, 2nd sowing date - March, 17, 3rd sowing date -March, 26 4th sowing date - april, 5, 5th sowing date - April, 10, and 6th sowing date - April, 15. The cultivars Mara, Lara and Sara were used. On average over the three study years, all the cultivars had the highest yield on the first sowing date. In relation to the other sowing dates, the yield on the first date was higher by 8.11 tha'1 (12.2%). A significant decrease of yield was recorded on optimal sowing dates with the cultivars Mara, while with the other two cultivars (Lara and Sara), the decrease was not significant. Variation of sugar content was not correlated with sowing dates. Root yield had the dominant influence on sugar yield.