Assessment genetic potential of sugar beet in 2019-2020

In the field experiments carried out in 2019 -2020 on the plots of PD Spacince, the influence of agroclimatic conditions of the year on the yield of roots and sugar content of 9 varieties (Alabaster, Francessa, Jagiellon, Klara, Livius, Nicolaus, Pegasus, Punkta Terra) of sugar beet was studied. The plots of PD Spacince are located in a beet production area at an altitude of 153 -179 meters above sea level. The area belongs to the warm, very dry areas of Slovakia. By evaluating the results of the experiments, we have established a highly significant influence of temperature and humidity conditions of the tested years, as well as of the variety, on the root yield and sugar content. In 2020, a higher average root yield was achieved in the experiments (81.12 t center dot ha-1), while in 2019 a lower average yield of 74.59 t center dot ha-1 was recorded. The highest root yields were achieved in both years by the Pegasus variety, 95.75 t center dot ha-1 in 2020 and 84.88 t center dot ha-1 in 2019 with declared tolerance to drought. With a higher root yield in 2020, we also observed a higher yield variability of the tested set of varieties in the range of 22.79 t center dot ha-1 compared to 2019 with a root yield range of 19.47 t center dot ha-1. The average sugar content of the tested varieties was statistically significantly different between the years, with a higher average sugar content in 2019 (14.45%), while in 2020 the average sugar content was 14.25%. Statistically, the highest average sugar content in the tested years was found in the Nicolaus variety (15.9%). None of the varieties had individually statistically significantly different sugar content when comparing the same variety between the climatically different years 2019 and 2020, which indicates a higher stability of sugar content compared to the sugar beet root yields in the tested location.