This year’s sugar beet crop could see some of highest levels of bolters for many years and specialist sugar beet breeder Sesvanderhave welcomes the opportunity to assess its breeding lines for potential varieties that will produce least bolters under UK conditions , especially in early sown plots.
“The benefits of early sowing are better rooting, growing days across the season, the advantage of innate mature plant resistance, more resilience to drought stress,” says Ian Munnery, Sesvanderhave’s UK director. “However, early sowing combined with cold conditions leads to the crop being stressed and entering ‘survival’ mode, which means bolting. That will lead to reduced yield and leave a legacy of weed beet seed.”
Extensive trials
Sesvanderhave conducts extensive bolting trials in the UK to screen out the most robust varieties for the UK. Bolters are removed from the field and counted in June, July and August.
“By the end of the 2023 season we will have identified varieties with lower bolting potential for UK growers.”
