Improving the efficiency of early table beet cultivation in the North-West region of Russia

Abstract

The appearance of the first marketable root crops with a diameter of more than 50 mm, categorized as elite, in the North-West region of the Russian Federation, may already occur by the end of the third decade of June. The crop price during this period is at least twice the one during mass harvesting. The price depends on the product’s presence on the consumer’s market as well as on weather conditions in the regions of traditional suppliers. In some years, the price can differ by a factor of 3-4. By the time of mass harvesting using traditional technology, the number of elite root crops does not exceed 50%. In order to assess the effectiveness of the proposed early beets cultivation technology, the studies were carried out in the economic conditions of the farm, Leningrad region on the area of 3 hectares. According to the research results, the proposed technology allows to reach 3.3-fold increase of the root crops yield, which are to be sold fresh through the retail network, compared to the traditional one. The gross income using the proposed technology, calculated for sales prices of 2019, amounted to 384.6 thousand rub/ha against 125.2 thousand rub/ha using traditional cultivation techniques.