Prospects of Using Chemical and Physical Methods of Raw-Material Protection in Sugar Beet Seed-Growing

Abstract

The necessity to provide beet-growing farms with high-quality planting material determines the main vector of domestic sugar beet seed-growing development. A special role in the crop seed-growing is assigned to improvement of the main methods, including the development of a promising raw-material storage technique. The aim of the investigations is to reveal the impact of physical and chemical methods of raw-material storage, both separately and in combination, on the planting material safety as well as on the productivity of sugar beet seed-bearing plants. The investigations were performed by the Federal State Budgetary Scientific Institution Mazlumov All-Russia Research Institute of Sugar Beet and Sugar in Voronezh oblast in 2019–2021. The study object was represented by beet mother roots and seed-bearing plants of the domestic hybrid (RMS-127) of male sterile form. The experiments were performed in a beet root storehouse and on isolated plots according to methodological recommendations and instructions for sugar beet seed-growing. The experiment scheme was: (1) control (without treatment); (2) treatment of mother beet roots with infrared radiation (30 s) using a Minin reflector (blue lamp); (3) spraying of mother beet roots with fungicide Kagatnik, VRK (0.10 L/t); (4) treatment with Kagatnik, VRK (0.10 L/t) + infrared radiation (30 s); and (5) treatment with Kagatnik, VRK (0.10 L/t) + surfactant Allur, Zh (0.003 L/t). As a result, the treatment of sugar beet mother roots by fungicide Kagatnik, VRK in combination with infrared radiation or with surfactant Allur, Zh enables the reduction of mass losses by 1.6–2.3 absolute % and proliferation by 21.4–23.3 absolute % during storage as well as the rise in the yield of suitable for planting beet roots by 6–7 absolute %. Positive aftereffect of the storage technique of beet mother roots on the development and productivity of sugar beet seed-bearing plants was determined. The yield increase of the obtained sugar beet seeds was 0.5 t/ha, and the portion of high-quality seeds of sowing fractions (3.5–4.5 mm and 4.5–5.5 mm) was 96–98%.