Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-v5vhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-02T16:56:50.515Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The influence of sowing rate and row spacing on the plant density and yield of red beet

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

L. R. Benjamin ,
R. A. Sutherland  and
D. Senior
L. R. Benjamin
Affiliation:
National Vegetable Research Station, Wellesbourne, Warwick, CV35 9EF
R. A. Sutherland
Affiliation:
National Vegetable Research Station, Wellesbourne, Warwick, CV35 9EF
D. Senior
Affiliation:
Stockbridge House Experimental Horticulture Station, Cawood, Selby, N. Yorks, YO8 OTZ
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Three experiments examined the effects of sowing rate and between-row spacing on the plant density and yield of red beet.

The proportion of seeds which produced mature plants decreased when the mean distance to the nearest neighbour was less than 5 cm. In these experiments, this distance was governed by within-row spacing. Thus, plots with narrow-spaced rows achieved a higher plant density than those with wide-spaced rows, when sown with the same weight of seed.

Total yield of beet per unit area decreased with increasing plant density. Maximum yields per unit area of small beet were achieved at high plant densities, whereas maximum yields of large beet were achieved at low plant densities. The effect of between-row spacing on yield was much smaller than that of density, and was important only for crops harvested early. Shoot yield per unit area was measured in two experiments and was not affected by row spacing in either. Shoot yield was not affected by plant density in one experiment, but, in the other, tended to a maximum value with increasing plant density.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 104 , Issue 3 , June 1985 , pp. 615 - 624
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bleasdale, J. K. A. (1966 a). The effects of plant spacing on the yield of bulb onions (Allium cepa L.) grown from seed. Journal of Horticultural Science 41, 145–153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bleasdale, J. K. A. (1966 b). Plant growth and crop yield. Annals of Applied Biology 57, 173–182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bleasdale, J. K. A. & Thompson, R. (1963). Competition studies. National Vegetable Research Station Annual Report for 1962, p. 37.Google Scholar
Bleasdale, J. K. A. & Thompson, R. (1966). The effects of plant density and the pattern of plant arrangement on the yield of parsnips. Journal of Horticultural Science 41, 371–378.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chapman, E. A. (1981). Methods of analysing yield from trials in which the produce is graded according to diameter. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 97, 55–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frappell, B. D. (1968). Plant studies with red beet. M.Sc. thesis, University of Birmingham.Google Scholar
Gorham, E. (1979). Shoot height, weight and standing crop in relation to density of monospecific plant stands. Nature 279, 148–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, P. M. (1972). The effect of plant population and irrigation on sugar beet. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 78, 289–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holliday, R. (1963). The effect of row width on the yield of cereals. Field Crop Abstracts 16, 71–81.Google Scholar
Kerr, H. W. T. (1973). Red Beet. Agricultural Enterprise Studies in England and Wales: Economic Report No. 21. University of Nottingham.Google Scholar
McCullagh, P. & Nelder, J. A. (1983). Generalized Linear Models. London: Chapman and Hall.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mack, H. J. (1979). Effects of row spacings, fertilizers and harvest dates on table beets. Journal of the American Society of Horticultural Science 104, 717–720.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peck, N. H. & Wilczynski, H. (1967). Narrow rows for table beets. New York Agricultural Experiment Station Farm Research 33, 6–7.Google Scholar
Salter, P. J., Currah, I. E. & Fellows, J. R. (1980). Further studies on the effects of plant density, spatial arrangement and time of harvest on yield and root size in carrots. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 94, 465–478.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, R. (1969). Carrots for canning. Scottish Horticultural Research Bulletin No. 2, pp. 1–7.Google Scholar
Tyler, F. T. & Benjamin, L. R. (1982). Spacing red beet for high returns. Grower 97, no. 25, 19–23.Google Scholar
Warne, L. G. G. (1951). Spacing experiments on vegetables. IV. The yield of globe beet grown at twelve spacings and two manurial levels in Cheshire, 1948. Journal of Horticultural Science 26, 296–303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Webster, A. B. (1969). Manuring and spacing experiments on vegetables. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 12, 381–416.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, J. (1980). Demographic factors, in populations of plants. In Demography and Evolution of Plant Populations (ed. Solbrig, O. T.), pp. 21–48. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications.Google Scholar