Commercial sugar beet cultivars evaluated for rhizomania resistance and storability in Idaho, 2016

Rhizomania caused by Beet necrotic yellow vein virus (BNYVV) and storage losses are serious sugar beet production problems. To identify sugar beet cultivars with resistance to BNYVV and evaluate storability, 22 commercial cultivars were screened by growing them in a sugar beet field infested with BNYVV in Kimberly, ID during the 2016 growing season in a randomized complete block design with 6 replications. At harvest on 4-5 October 2016, roots were dug and evaluated for symptoms of rhizomania and also placed in an indoor commercial sugar beet storage building. After 130 days in storage, samples were evaluated for surface rot, weight loss, and sucrose loss. Surface root rot ranged from 7 to 51%, weight loss ranged from 7.5 to 12.3%, sucrose losses ranged from 23 to 62%, and estimated recoverable sucrose ranged from 2,901 to 10,114 lb/A. Given these response ranges, selecting cultivars for rhizomania resistance and combining this resistance with storability will lead to considerable economic benefit for the sugar beet industry