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Yield of a Sugarbeet Hybrid from Parents Selected for a High Taproot to Leaf Weight Ratio 1
Author(s) -
Snyder F. W.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
crop science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.76
H-Index - 147
eISSN - 1435-0653
pISSN - 0011-183X
DOI - 10.2135/cropsci1985.0011183x002500010022x
Subject(s) - taproot , biology , hectare , horticulture , population , sucrose , yield (engineering) , agronomy , botany , zoology , food science , medicine , ecology , materials science , environmental health , metallurgy , agriculture
In earlier studies, sugarbeet ( Beta vulgaris L.) seedlings of breeding line were selected for a high taproot:leaf weight ratio (TLWR), where TLWR = taproot fresh weight/leaf blade fresh weight. The population from these polycrossed high‐TLWR plants produced significantly more sucrose per hectare than the unselected and low‐TLWR populations. The objectives of this research were to select high‐TLWR seedlings of a male and a cytoplasmic male‐sterile female, produce the high‐TLWR hybrid, and compare its growth and yield with that of the unselected hybrid. Growth in a controlled environment, at 22 days post‐emergence, indicated that selection for parents with high TLWR resulted in a hybrid having 22, 7, and 30% increases in TLWR, blade fresh weight, and taproot fresh weight, respectively, compared with the unselected hybrid (EL44c3 ✕ EL45)CMS ✕ EL40. The high‐TLWR hybrid yielded significantly more sucrose per hectare than the unselected hybrid in seven of nine Minnesota field tests conducted over 2 years.