Growth and dry-matter partitioning in sugar beet

Abstract

SummaryData from 11 sugar-beet crops grown at different sites, in different years and with some variations in husbandry have been used to re-examine the process of dry-matter partitioning. Two-phase linear models did not describe adequately the distribution of dry matter. There was no evidence of a discontinuity in the partitioning between root and shoot at any point in crop development. It is suggested that, contrary to a recent view, events in the shoot, rather than the storage root, largely determine how dry matter is allocated between growth and sugar storage.