Effect of Time and Amount of Leaf Harvest on Root Yield and Quality of Sugar Beet (Beta vulgaris L.)

The experiment was established to define the response of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) to three leaf harvest regimes (30, 45 and 60 days before harvesting) and five leaf harvest intensities (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100%) in 2020 growing season. It was determined that the effect of leaf harvest regimes in sugar beet plant was not significant for all investigated parameters except α–N content. Leaf harvest at 60 days before harvesting gave the highest α–N content. All the investigated characteristics except root diameter and length were significantly affected by leaf harvest intensities. With increasing leaf harvest intensities, root weight, root yield, dray matter, sugar content and sugar yield significantly tended to decrease. When leaf harvest intensity was increased from 25% to 100%, the root weight, root yield, dray matter, sugar content and sugar yield were reduced approximately 26%, 26%, 6%, 9% and 32% respectively.