Nährstoffaufnahme der Zuckerrübe. Teil I: Rübe und Blatt

Abstract

The yield of sugar beet has increased significantly in the last 20 years, as data on beet yields from Südzucker AG show. This led to the question of how the increased yield influenced the nutrient uptake of root and top. Therefore, beet and top were harvested in field trials set up to optimize the fertilization of sugar beet and, in addition to the yields, the concentrations of macronutrients and micronutrients in root and top were measured. A total of 114 environments were used for these studies and current data for nutrient uptake and nutrient export from sugar beet were determined. Root yields ranged from 65 to 115tha–1 and the top yields from 13 to 72tha–1. This corresponded to a dry matter yield of 14 to 26tha–1 for roots and to as little as 3.0 to 9.6tha–1 for tops. However, since the nutrient content in the roots was significantly lower than in the tops, less than 50% of the total uptake was found in the roots at harvesting time: N (49%), Mg (44%), K (36 %), Ca (34%), S (32%) and Na (12%). Among the macronutrients, it was only phosphorous which showed with 60% a higher amount of the nutrients in the roots than in the tops (about 40%). The results provide valuable information for a review and adaptation of current nutrient tables,the nutrient balance and, ultimately, fertilizer assessment.