Sodium Chloride on Sugarbeet
Assess the response and need of sodium and chloride for sugar beet production in North Dakota.
IPNI-1996-USA-ND10
30 Mar 1998
1997 Annual Interpretive Summary
Sodium Chloride on Sugarbeet, 1997
Research in the UK has shown that sodium and potassium can substitute for one another as plant nutrients; however, both sodium and potassium are needed to some degree by the sugar beet crop. It has been established that sodium increases leaf area early in the growing season and improves the efficiency of leaves under conditions of moderate water stress. Under drier growing conditions, sodium may be responsible for increased root yield and sugar content. The detrimental effect of increased soil sodium levels is that sodium root impurities increase. This study incorporated three rates of sodium chloride (NaCl) at three locations in North Dakota: Fargo, Glyndon, and Crookston. A slow release form of sodium chloride was also included, along with both fall and spring applications. Root maggot infestations resulted in the abandonment of three replications at the Glyndon site. Results averaged across all three sites show a slight but non-significant increase in recoverable sugar per acre from spring applications of 100 and 400 lbs NaCl/A. These results, however, were not consistent across all locations. Sodium chloride had no effect upon root yield, sodium content, nitrate grade, loss to molasses, amino nitrogen content, or harvest population. Compared to results for 200 lbs slow-release NaCl/A applied in the fall, sucrose percentage was significantly reduced at the Glyndon site when 400 lbs NaCl/A was applied in either the fall or spring. ND-10F