Quantity and Quality Changes in Sugar Beet (Beta vulgaris Provar. Altissima Doel) Induced by Different Sources of Biostimulants

Abstract

The application of biostimulants in agriculture is considered an economically and ecologically acceptable and, above all, a sustainable method of cultivation of field crops. This study aimed to investigate the impact of biostimulating agents on the production and growth parameters of the sugar beet. In 2018 and 2019, an experiment was conducted in which the effect of four types of treatment (B0–B3) on two varieties of sugar beet (Alpaca, Gorila) was observed. The results show that the beets treated with treatment type B3 (combination of humic acids, essential amino acids, biopolymers, and soil bacteria) had the significantly highest yield of roots compared with the control type. However, parameters such as sugar content, polarized sugar yield, white sugar content, and white sugar yield were the highest in condition B2, treated with an agent containing soil bacteria. Furthermore, biostimulants positively affected the leaf area index, with significant growth observed, especially in condition B3. Another important finding was that in the interaction analysis, the biostimulants had positive effects in dry conditions and on elevated values of traits of Alpaca variety caused by treatment in condition B2. In terms of relationships between individual parameters, an interesting finding was that there was only a weak relationship between root yield and sugar content (Rs = 0.0715), which indicates that biostimulants increase production size while maintaining or increasing its quality.