A method to study competitive ability of hybrids between seabeet (Beta vulgaris ssp. maritima) and glyphosate tolerant sugarbeet (B-vulgaris ssp. vulgaris)

A population of 50% transgenic hybrids between seabeet and a transgenic gly phosate tolerant sugarbeet was tested against pun lines of sugarbeet and se abeet to determine if a model could detect any significant differences betw een the hybrids and the pure lines. The competitive abilities were fairly c onstant over time. The 95% confidence limits, determined by the "bootstrap" method, showed that biomass per plant at low densities and maximum biomass production pei unit area were not significantly different among the three Beta lines. Based on above-ground biomass recordings, the hybrid and sugarb eet lines were more competitive than the seabeet line. The hybrid line show ed the highest competitive ability. which can be explained by hybrid vigour .