Sugarbeet production technology in the year 2000: Cost reduction, environmental protection, sustainability

Constant advances in technology and breeding have considerably changed suga rbeet production. The goals of high product quality and environmentally fri endly methods of crop production have been increasingly realized, with simu ltaneous reductions in costs. This can be seen. above all. in the developme nts in soil cultivation and fertilizing, Reduced tillage methods have grown in popularity and the application of mineral nitrogen has declined. Extensive catch cropping contributes to biological pest control and the usa ge of erosion-preventing mulch sowing. Reduced tillage has promoted soil ac tivity and increased the carrying capacity of soils. The high population de nsities achieved in recent years make for good beet quality. suppress late- germinating weeds and help to reduce harvest losses. Thanks to improved seed protection, area-wide insecticidal soil treatment h as been replaced by targeted applications. This likewise has cut down the n umber of subsequent treatments against virus-carrying aphids. Monitoring sy stems based on damage threshold concepts are replacing preventive measures in the treatment of foliar diseases. There is a continuing trend towards cooperation between farms in sowing, ha rvesting and transport. Increasingly, the covering of clamps shields the be ets against frost and makes it easier to separate the beets from dirt. Clea ner-loaders are now almost everywhere deployed in the field.