Effect of irrigation and water quality on the physiological status of sugar beet and fodder beet using SPAD-502 chlorophyll meter

Abstract

In Hungary, irrigation determines the success of water-intensive beet cultivation. Taking into account the guidelines of the circular economy, we investigated the effect of irrigation with pre-treated nutrient-rich effluent from an intensive catfish-farm on the growth stages of sugar beet and fodder beet. In the two-year-experiment (2020, 2021), two sugar beet (‘Helenika’, ‘Grandiosa’) and two fodder beet (‘Rózsaszín Béta’, ‘Béta Vöröshenger’) cultivars were grown. In addition to the effluent water of the fish farm, the water of the Körös oxbow lake and a mixed water type (1:3 effluent and Körös water, added gypsum) were used for irrigation (sprinkler irrigation methods, 4 replications). The experiment was performed in 64 lysimeter vessels/units (1 m2) in Szarvas. During the research we sought answers to the following questions: (1) whether the onset and length of sugar growth stage and accumulation stage differ depending on water quality, (2) which beet variety has the highest relative chlorophyll content, (3) whether irrigation water quality affected the relative chlorophyll content of beet cultivars. SPAD values measured with the SPAD-502 chlorophyll meter were used to estimate the relative chlorophyll content of beet leaves.