Yield performance of four beetroot (Beta vulgaris l.) varieties compared with the local variety under open field conditions in Seychelles

Field experiments were conducted from June to September, 2005 and 2006 at the Vegetable Evaluation and Research Station, Anse Boileau, Seychelles to evaluate the yield performance of four beetroot varieties, ‘Moronia', ‘Lola', ‘Crosby' and ‘Detroit–243' against the commonly grown variety ‘Detroit' under open field conditions. The experiment consisted of five treatments laid out in a randomized complete block design with four replications. The results obtained showed that while variety ‘Moronia' was the earliest to maturity, the longest root length and largest root width were produced by variety ‘Crosby'. Similarly, the same variety ‘Crosby' gave the highest root yield with root yield being 39.7 % and 33.1 % higher than the popular variety ‘Detroit' in both years respectively. Hence the variety ‘Crosby' was recommended as a potential replacement for ‘Detroit'.Agro-Science Vol. 7 (2) 2008: pp. 139-14