Commercial sugar beet cultivars evaluated for rhizomania resistance and storability in Idaho, 2020

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 2020 growing season in a randomized complete block design with 6 replications. At harvest on 5-6 October 2020, roots were dug and evaluated for symptoms of rhizomania and also placed in an indoor commercial sugar beet storage building. After 140 days in storage, samples were evaluated for surface rot, weight loss, and sucrose loss. Surface root rot ranged from 11 to 67%, weight loss ranged from 18 to 36%, sucrose losses ranged from 32 to 63%, and estimated recoverable sucrose ranged from 1,572 to 9,901 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