Journal of Agronomy Research

Journal of Agronomy Research

Journal of Agronomy Research

Current Issue Volume No: 5 Issue No: 1

Research Article Open Access Available online freely Peer Reviewed Citation Provisional

Evaluation of Growth and some Growth Analysis Components in Sugar beet Genotypes Grown under Low Nitrogen Fertilizer Levels in Khartoum State- Sudan

1Department of Crop Science, College of Agriculture - University of Bahri.-Sudan

2Animal Production Research Center- Ministry of Animal Wealth, Khartoum North, Sudan.

Abstract

This investigation was carried out at the Demonstration Farm of the College of Agriculture- University of Bahri during 2018/2019 winter season to evaluate growth (morphological) and growth analysis (physiological) components in some sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L) genotypes under different nitrogen levels to know how well sugar beet plant performs during the growing season, Thus, to provide information to assist producers in identifying and introducing superior genotype and good management of nitrogen application in AlKadro area. The experiment was laid out in split plot design. The genotypes used were namely, Blaladi. Strube Sudan 01/14, Strube Sudan 02/14, Strube Sudan 04/14, Strube Sudan 05/14 and Strube Sudan 06/14, and the nitrogen levels were viz, 0, 80 and 120 kg urea per ha; applied twice (at the sowing and then 4 weeks after sowing). The evaluated components were; leaf number/plant, leaf area index (LAI), root length, root diameter, fresh and dry weight of foliage/plant, fresh and dry weight of root/plant; all determined at 5 terms. While Crop Growth Rates (CGR), Relative Growth Rate (RGR) and Net Assimilation Rate (NAR); determined at different periods of growth (intervals). The analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that at 4 weeks after sowing (WAS): leaf number (14.33- 17.03) , root length (19.05 – 21.75 cm), root diameter ( 7.93- 8.40 cm) foliage fresh ( 186.93 – 292.06 g) and dry ( 69.00 – 94.10 g) weight per plant, root fresh (72.66 – 108.88 g) and dry weight ( 12.54 – 22.08 g) per plant differed significantly (P≤ 0.05); at 7 and 10 WAS leaf number (22.39 -35.73 and 26.91 – 38.47, respectively), LAI ( 3.725 -5.645) , fresh and dry root weight per plant ( 586.78 – 913.81an 189.06 – 326.43 g, respectively) differed significantly; at 13 WAS: dry foliage weight ( 69.00 – 94.10 g), LAI ( 2.603 – 4.744), root diameter (10.09 – 11.92 cm) differed significantly; at 16 WAS only dry foliage (44.34 – 73.48 g) weight reflected significance. All other cases reflected insignificant differences among the evaluated genotypes. Moreover, all the studied components reflected insignificant differences among the nitrogen fertilizer levels and likewise genotype x nitrogen interaction (G x N) at the 5 sampled terms. Nevertheless, CGR, RGR and NAR displayed insignificant effect on the studied components in the evaluated periods.

Author Contributions
Received 02 Mar 2023; Accepted 04 Apr 2023; Published 28 Apr 2023;

Academic Editor: Amir Raza, Principal Scientist Group Leader, Soil and Environmental Sciences Division Nuclear Institute for Food & Agriculture.

Checked for plagiarism: Yes

Review by: Single-blind

Copyright © 2023 A.A. Suleiman, et al.

License
Creative Commons License     This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Competing interests

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Citation:

A.A. Suleiman, Z.A.Yousif , B. M.Idris, S. M. Musa, Haroun A.Madam et al. (2023) Evaluation of Growth and some Growth Analysis Components in Sugar beet Genotypes Grown under Low Nitrogen Fertilizer Levels in Khartoum State- Sudan. Journal of Agronomy Research - 5(1):24-38. https://doi.org/10.14302/issn.2639-3166.jar-23-4500

Download as RIS, BibTeX, Text (Include abstract )

DOI 10.14302/issn.2639-3166.jar-23-4500

Introduction

Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L) is a biennial, which is included in family Chenopodiaceae. It is one of the major crops that was not grown in prehistoric times, but has been developed from superior fodder beet types used to be grown as forage in Europe about two centuries ago1. Today it became an important issue in world trade by providing about 45% of the world’s sugar of commerce. The percentage of its sucrose ranges from 13–18% with some higher or inferior to this range depending on variety, culture, and climate in which is grown 1. Cultivated beets are grown worldwide in regions without severe frosts (in temperate climates as a summer crop and in subtropical climates as a winter crop)2. Sugar cane is a main source of sugar production in the Sudan at the moment as it delivers about 50% of Sudan needs for sugar, thus, increase in sugar production is required to reach self satisfaction 3. The Sudanese sugar industry has been suffering from sugar production decline and dropped in 9 years by 32% from 775000 t in 2008 to 526000 t in 2017at the six sugar mills. Such situation necessitates sugar source diversification. However, sugar beet is an important complementary and alternative for sugar production source (sugar 4 and can be popularly cultivated in a variety of agriculture conditions 5.

Sudan has meager information about beet production although scientific research on the crop is going back to 1930s when the first trials were carried out at Gezira Research Farm. Thus, much attention should be paid to the most important nutritive element, nitrogen fertilizer (N) which is in short supply in nearly all arable soils and wherever the crop is introduced in new areas brought into intensive farming. Combined with improved and adapted variety; a great effect on sugar beet performance is expected. In some instances it is necessary to know how well a plant is growing in a particular area and a measure of some characters can often be made, which reflects the performance of a plant. These measures include morphological and physiological parameters. Therefore, evaluating the sugar beet growth at different times during the growing season can exhibit when certain factor may affect the growth development of the plant through the season 6 Therefore, this work was carried out to meet the following objectives:

To evaluate growth and some growth analysis components in six sugar beet genotypes under AlKadro agro-climatic conditions through the growing season.

To evaluate growth and some growth analysis components in some sugar beet genotypes under low nitrogen fertilizer levels at different terms through the growing season.

materials and methods

A field experiment was carried out during 2018/2019 at Demonstration Farm of University of Bahri at Al Kadro on latitude 1545′N, longitude 32 39′E and altitude of 398 m above sea level, in Khartoum State, Sudan. In a semi-arid zone with maximum and mean temperature of 45C and 30C during summer, 25C and 10C during winter, respectively, the annual rainfall ranges from 0 mm to 100 mm, with relative humidity ranging from 16% to 50% 7. The soil is a mixture of sand ≥ 40%, silt ≤ 32% and clay ≤ 36%8. The land was properly prepared and divided into four blocks running perpendicular to the gradient. Each block contained 4 plots randomized with six sugar beet genotypes, namely, Blaladi. Strube Sudan 01/14, Strube Sudan 02/14, Strube Sudan 04/14, Strube Sudan 05/14 and Strube Sudan 06/14, and each plot was divided into three subplots randomized with nitrogen fertilizer levels in form of urea viz., 0. 80 and 120 kg/ ha in two times; one at sowing and the other after 4 weeks from sowing date. The design used was split plot. The seeds were sown manually, three seeds per hill and then thinned to a plant in 3 to 4 weeks after sowing The spacing was 20 cm plant to plant and 70 cm between ridges. Weeding was done manually and insects were sprayed with Melthion. The experiment was irrigated immediately after sowing and then every 7- 10 days depending on the weather conditions. The collected data composed of growth attributes from 3 plants randomly taken per subplot at 5 terms of sampling namely; 4, 7, 10, 13 and 16 weeks after sowing (WAS). The growth parameters were: leaf number/plant, leaf area index, fresh and dry weight of leaves/ plant(g/p), length and diameter of root (cm), fresh and dry weight of foliage per plant (g), fresh and dry weight of root (g) and some growth analysis parameters: crop growth rate (CGR), root crop growth rate (RCGR), relative growth rate (RGR), root relative growth rate (RRGR) and net assimilation rate (NAR) were computed using the following formulae:



The method was suggested by 9. The CGR explains the dry matter accumulated per unit land area per unit time (g m-2 day-1)

Where, W1and W2 are whole plant dry weight at time t1– t2 respectively, ρ is the ground area on which W1 and W2 are recorded. CGR of a species are usually closely related to interception of solar radiation.



 Relative Growth Rate (RGR). The term was coined by 10 RGR expresses unit dry weight / unit dry weight / unit time (gg-1day-1). Where, W1and W2 are whole plant dry weight at t1 and t2 respectively t1 and t2 are time interval in days.



The term, NAR was used by 10. NAR is defined as rate of increase of dry weight per unit time per unit area of leaf surface (gcm-2day-1). Where, W1and W2 is dry weight of whole plant at time t1 and t2 respectively, L1 and L2 are leaf weights or leaf area at t1 and t2 respectively t1 –t2 are time interval in days.

Statistical analysis of experimental data was carried out by using the SPSS software package and the means were separated by Duncan’s multiple range test with at least P≤0.05.

Results and discussion

Results

The data analysis of this study is presented in the table 1, table 2, table 3, table 4, table 5, table 6): listed below:

Table 1, G0, G1, G2, G3, G4 & G5 designate for; Blaladi StrubeSudan 01/14, Strube Sudan 02/14, Strube Sudan 04/14, Strube Sudan 05/14 and Strube Sudan 06/14 genotypes. N0, N1, & N2 designate for 0, 80 & 120 Kg urea per ha., while Sy- designates for standard error., NS, * and ** designate for non significant, significant at 5%., and highly significant at 1%, respectively. Means followed with the same letter (s) within a column indicate non-significant effect at 5% level.

Table 1. Averages of leaf number per plant and leaf area index of some genotypes of sugar beetas affected by three levels of nitrogen fertilizer during 2018-2019 Winter season in Khartoum State - Sudan
SV Leaf number per plant Leaf area index (LAI)
Terms of sampling Terms of sampling
Factor 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
G0 16.74a 30.09b 47.04a 44.8a 31.30 1.420a 4.28a 5.638a 3.779ab 1.638ab
G1 14.33b 22.39c 27.10c 32.13a 26.77a 1.329a 3.258a 4.284bc 2.603c 1.380a
G2 17.03a 27.29b 26.91c 45.80a 35.64a 1.698a 4.291a 4.914b 4.747a 1.989a
G3 15.92b 30.92b 35.12b 39.06a 34.10a 1.635a 5.007a 5.645a 3.722ab 1.808a
G4 17.43a 35.73a 38.47b 45.19a 33.75a 1.493a 4.377a 4.915b 3.748ab 1.698a
G5 16.61a 26.23b 28.55c 41.08a 31.81a 1.513a 3.585a 3.725c 3.519bc 1.698a
Sy‾ 0.80 1.80 2.41 3.58 2.47 .118 .419 .416 .432 .161
F test * * * Ns Ns Ns Ns * * Ns
N0 17.14a 28.84a 33.45a 43.31a 33.42a 1.634a 3.983a 4.711a 3.893a 1.760a
N1 15.76a 29.04a 34.80a 41.53a 31.63a 1.490a 4.140a 4.761a 3.698a 1.675a
N2 16.13a 28.44a 33.34a 39.19a 31.64a 1.420a 4.245a 4.599a 3.467a 1.793a
Sy‾ 4.81 1.27 1.71 2.53 1.75 .0.083 .296 .294 .305 .114
F test NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS` NS
GxN Sy‾ 1.81 3.11 6.19 6.19 4.28 .204 .726 .721 .747 .279
F test NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS

NB. 1,2,3,4,&5 designate for 4 ,7,10, 13 & 16 weeks after sowing date (WAS).

Considering table 6, 2-1, 3-2and 4-3 stand for time between 7-4 WAS, 10-7WAS and 13 -10 WAS, respectively. PCGR, RCGR, PRGR , RRGR and NAR stand for plant crop growth rate, root crop.

Discussion

Means of leaf number per plant as affected by genotype, low nitrogen fertilizer rates and interaction between genotype and nitrogen fertilizer (G x N) are presented in Table 1.The analysis of variance for leaf number per plant revealed significant differences among the studied genotypes at three sampling terms (4, 7 and 10 WAS), while at 13 and 16 WAS showed no significant differences. This implies that the studied genotypes had varietal difference in their response to the growing conditions for initiating leaves at the beginning of the season. However, this genotype significant effect disappeared when the maximum leaf number reached. The highest leaf number scored by G2 at 13 WAS although; it was not significantly different from the other genotypes at this stage. This indicates that the evaluated genotypes do not have same reaction to the local conditions at the beginning of season resulted in significant deviations on leaf number while non – significant at the end of the season, means that sugar beet compensated leaf initiation rate of growth during the growing season. This point of view was in agreement with 11. On the other hand, nitrogen fertilizer level and interaction of genotype x nitrogen effects were insignificant on number of leaves per plant. These findings were in line with 12, 13. Who had reported no significant effect of nitrogen and interaction (GXN) on the leaf number trait in the 1st year of their study.

The mean values of leaf area index (LAI) as affected by genotype, nitrogen and their interaction are presented in Table 1. LAI in the first growth stage was low for both treatments, but rapidly increased and reached a maximum at 10 WAS stage. The analysis of variance for mean values of LAI throughout the sampling terms exhibited insignificant difference at 4, 7and 16 WAS, while significant effect exhibited at 10 and13 WAS terms among the studied genotypes. The mean values of LAI increased gradually up to the 10 WAS term where reached the peak and then declined (highest was attained by G3, 5.645). There is a progressive increase in area of the successive early leaves that produced by the plant, but a point reached beyond which leaves subsequently grew progressively smaller and consequently LAI as shown in Table 1. This could be attributed to the phenomenon of genotype by environmental interaction causing genotype to produce different results and ranks under the local environmental conditions. Similar point of view was reported by 14. On the other hand, the nitrogen levels showed insignificant difference among the studied genotypes. This may indicate that none of the applied levels of nitrogen caused substantial effect on LAI. Due to low nitrogen available in the soil, there was neither variation in utilization of accumulated nitrogen nor variation in in uptake efficiency of nitrogen. Similarly 13, 15 stated that neither shortage nor excess of nitrogen at any stage of sugar beet growth affected its vigorousness’ while soil nitrogen was low. The genotype x nitrogen ii0interaction displayed insignificant effect; this is line with 16.

Table 2. Averages of fresh and dry weight of leaves (g/plant) of some genotypes of sugar beet as affected by three levels of nitrogen fertilizer during 2018- 2019 Winter season in Khartoum State –Sudan.
S V Fresh weight of leaves per plant (g) Dry weight of leaves per plant (g)
Sampling Terms Sampling Terms
Factors 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
G0 199.01a 663.49b 528.27a 363.05a 178.62a 23.55a 57.84a 69.49a 70.27a 31.77a
G1 176.76a 663.49b 559.42a 334.39a 170.85a 22.19a 58.46a 72.13a 62.18a 31.87a
G2 253.28a 764.27a 464.37a 367.68a 192.41a 27.08a 57.68a 67.27a 66.77a 31.74a
G3 193.35a 648.28b 650.85a 495.18a 229.36a 23.66a 61.33a 69.93a 60.43a 35.01a
G4 215.45a 568.64b 514.70a 321.68a 209.60a 24.92a 56.13a 69.30a 57.33a 33.09a
G5 192.47a 732.92a 525.56a 338.33a 190.13a 21.33a 60.61a 63.27a 51.63a 34.63a
Sy‾ 18.04 41.92 63.21a 76.27 19..47 1.67 3.44 3.86 4.27 2.19
F test NS * NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS
N0 210.94a 666.48a 504.03a 432.40a 200.68a 24.82a 57.28a 62.73a 59.99a .33.10a
N1 208.94a 674.17a 510.73a 347.41a 191.92a 23.74a 58.64a 71.68a 63.55a 32.85a
N2 195.50a 666.39a 606.82a 330.34a 192.88a 22.80a 60.11a 70.80a 60.76a 33.10a
Sy‾ 12.76 29.68 44.7 53.93 13.76 1.18 2.43 2.73 3.02 1.55
F test NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS
Gx N Sy‾ 31.25 72.71 109.49 132.11 33.72 2.9 5.95 6.68 7.39 3.8
F test NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS

NB. see the foot note of Table 1.

Means of fresh and dry weight of leaves per plant as affected by genotype, low nitrogen fertilizer levels and their interaction are shown in Table 2.The analysis of variance for fresh weight reflected insignificant difference among the studied genotypes at four sampling terms except at 7 WAS stage showed significant difference, at this stage the fresh weight reached the maximum fresh weight and the highest fresh weight scored by G2 (764-27 g/plant) .This may indicate that there was a high competition among the genotypes for growth requirements at this stage to attain the maximum weight that resulted in the variation. Then, gradually the fresh weight declined to reach the least amount of weight scored by G1 (170. g/plant) at 16 WAS stage with no significant difference. This is may be due to a progressive expansion and weight of leaves up to 7 WAS, but at 10, 13 and 16 WAS the leaf growth declined. This result is in harmony with 17. Nitrogen fertilizer and interaction between GXN gave insignificant effect on fresh weight of leaves per plant at all the 5 sampling stages. This may be due to low nitrogen fertilizer levels applied which not reached the extent of producing substantial effect on the fresh weight of leaves per plant. On the other hand, the analysis of variance for dry weight of leaves per plant gave statistically insignificant effect of genotype, nitrogen fertilizer and interaction between GXN at all sampling stages. Similar results were found by 18, 19. Means of fresh and dry weight of foliage per plant as affected by genotype, nitrogen fertilizer and the interaction between genotype and nitrogen are presented in Table 3.The analysis of variance for fresh foliage weight exposed significant difference among the evaluated genotypes at 4 WAS and insignificant effect thereafter at 7, 10, 13, and 16 WAS. Thus the significant difference at 4 WAS could be attributed to different response of genotypes at the beginning of seedling growth before the 4-leaf stage to environmental conditions. Similar results were reported by 20. Then the foliage weight reached its peak at 7 WAS and continued declining as the result of progressively produced smaller leaves but insignificantly different. Nitrogen fertilizer and the interaction G X N exhibited insignificant effect on foliage fresh weight per plant. This may be due to under applied nitrogen or lack of differences in nitrogen use efficiency. These findings were parallel with those reported by 21 who found that increasing nitrogen levels from 0, 35, 70, and 105 kg N/fed showed significant effect. Also 22 reported similar findings as found 60 and 80 kg N/ha gave significant effect. On the other hand, the analysis of variance for foliage dry weight at 4, 7, and 10 WAS stages indicate that the studied genotypes indifferently responded to growing conditions at the beginning of the growing season. The dry weight of foliage progressively increased up to maximum weight at 7 WAS, thereafter from 10 WAS stage onward the rate of dry matter accumulation declined, but with significant differences among the genotypes at 13 and 16 WAS. Similarly 19 reported significant results. Nitrogen fertilizer and interaction between genotype and nitrogen manifested insignificant effect at the sampling terms. This may be attributed to low nitrogen levels applied which failed to stimulate a substantial accumulation of dry matter on the foliage. These results were in harmony with those reported by 23.

Mean values of root dimensions (length and diameter) obtained from the six sugar beet genotypes grown under low N fertilizer levels are shown in Table 4. Analysis of variance for mean values of root length reflected insignificant effect among the evaluated genotypes in four out five sampling stages but at 4WAS manifested significant effect. So this variation among the studied genotypes may be attributed to variation in seedling growth. While, thereafter, the non- significant effect at the other sampling stages indicates that the genotypes had very similar root length growth, and noted that root length from 7 WAS through 16 WAS became stable. These findings were in line with those reported by 24. The different levels of N fertilizer and interaction between GxN exhibited non - significant effect on root length at all sampling stages. These results were in line with those detected by 25. Also, 26. The analysis of variance for root diameter means revealed non - significant effects at 4, 10 and 16 WAS sampling stages among the evaluated genotypes which indicate similar expansion of cells which enhance root diameter, while the sampling at 7 and 13 WAS reflected significant effect on the root diameter. This could be attributed to variation among the evaluated genotypes at the existing climatic conditions at these terms (7 and 13 WAS). Because various types of sugar beet genotypes may not have the same requirements and reactions to the local environmental effects. Such results were found by 16. Also, similar idea was reported by 24. Regarding the significant and insignificant effect of the genotype at different growth stages were reported by 27, 19 found significant and non- significant effect among different cultivars. However, the different rates of N fertilizer and their interaction with the genotypes were non - significant. This indicates that N fertilizer rate and GXN had not 28 who found insignificant effect on both root length and root diameter in the second season of their experiment.

Means of fresh and dry weight of root per plant as affected by genotype, nitrogen fertilizer rate and interaction between genotype and nitrogen fertilizer (GXN) are presented in Table 5.The analysis of variance for fresh weight of root per plant revealed significant difference among the evaluated genotypes at 4 and 10 WAS stages. The variation among the tested genotypes may be ascribed to the efficiency of utilization of growing conditions variability at these two stages. Similar results were observed by 29, 16. The other three stages 7, 13, and 16 WAS showed non - significant effect which implies no genotypic variation on root fresh weight among the studied genotypes. Similarly 27 reported significant and non - significant results in the first and second seasons of their experiments, respectively. It was noted that the fresh weight of root increased until reached its peak at 13WAS as it was increased at expense of the top growth then declined. Moreover, the N fertilizer levels and the interaction among genotypes and N fertilizer were non-significant which indicate similar response to low N fertilizer and no interaction (GXN) effect on the trait. In line to this, 13 found non - significant effect in the second season of their experiment also 30 noted the same. The analysis of variance for mean values of root dry weight revealed highly significant effect at 4 and 10 WAS sampling stages among the evaluated genotypes. This indicates that at these two growth stages the evaluated genotypes showed variation in their response to the growing conditions in developing dry root weight accumulation. This is in line with 14. Who stated that the phenomenon of the genotype by environment interaction is always present in the crop production causing genotypes to have different results and ranks in various environmental conditions, also These findings were in line with those highly significant differences among the cultivars reported by 16. While at 4, 13 and 16 WAS the mean values reflected non-significant effect on root dry weight which implies that the genotypes had similar root development and in turn the root dry weight in early and late growth stages, similar results were found by 27 in the second season of their experiment. This inconsistency could be attributed to the ability of sugar beet genotypes to compensate their growth throughout the growing stages especially in early stages of development. The N fertilizer levels and their interaction with genotypes produced no significant effect on root dry weight per plant. These findings were in agreement with 31. Who observed that root dry weight started accumulation of dry matter from 7 WAS increasingly to 16 WAS due to translocation of assimilates towards the root, which enhanced root length, diameter, root fresh weight as well as root dry weight.

Growth analysis as the first step in the analysis of primary production being a link between merely recoding plant productions and analyzing it by means of physiological methods. However, biomass increments in plant or root stands expressed in ground area basis (Crop growth rate = CGR), The rate of increase in biomass per unit of biomass present (Rate growth rate=RGR) and the rate of increase of dry weight per unit time per unit area of leaf surface (Net assimilation rate= NGR) are presented in Table 6.With regard to root and plant crop growth rate (RCGR and PCGR, respectively), data in Table 6 showed that crop growth rate was insignificantly increased with different applied treatments. Here, the highest plant crop growth rate values were 9.571, 9.150, 7.857 (g)/cm2/day; scored by G3, G1 and G2 at three different stages of growth namely 7-4, 10-7 and 13-10 WAS, respectively, while its highest values were 8.374, 6.264 and 6.694 g/cm2/day with nitrogen fertilizer level; No, N2 and No, respectively, at the same stage periods of growth season. Meanwhile the highest root crop growth rate mean values were; 0.005, 0.007 and 0.007 (g)/ cm2 /day with G3&G2, G1 and G0 genotype, respectively and its highest values were 0.005, 0.005 and 0.006(g)/ cm2 /day with No, N1 and No fertilizer level, respectively. At the same consecutive different periods of growth mentioned ahead. These results were in harmony with 32, 22 who found insignificant CGR at elect stages of growth.

Concerning relative growth rate (RGR) data in Table 6exhibited that relative growth rate was insignificantly increased with the studied treatments. The highest mean values were 0.045, 0.019 and 0.013 gg-1 day-1, scored by G2, G0 and G0 genotypes, respectively, meanwhile the highest mean values were 0.044, 0.018 and 0.010 obtained from No, N1 and N2 fertilizer levels, respectively, These values were determined at consecutive times of growth stages 7-4, 10-7 and 13-10 WAS, respectively. Similarly (2000) 33 reported insignificant difference.

Moreover, with regard to Net assimilation rate (NAR), data in Table 6 reflected that Net assimilate rate was insignificantly increased with different applied treatments. Here, the highest net assimilate rate value was 0.010 g cm-2 day-1 determined at 7-4 WAS growth period, scored by G2 and its highest value was 0.009 g cm-2day-1, with N0 fertilizer level. This is in line with El-Zayat (2000) 33 who reported non – significant effect.

In the light of the present study, it could be assumed that tested genotypes may have the same requirements and reactions to the local environmental effects genetically. Therefore, these physiological components indicated that the evaluated genotypes did not differ in the proportion of photosynthetates partitioned into dry weight. Moreover, the non – significant effect of the nitrogen fertilizer level on all the studied growth and some growth components indicates that the low nitrogen fertilizer levels applied may not enhanced the uptake of nitrogen increased (N1 & N2) and the slight unsubstantial variations among the levels could be due to utilization of accumulated nitrogen. This view is in agreement with who reported that the response of sugar beet depended on the N available in the soil. Nevertheless, no crossover interaction occurred for the fore mentioned parameters, there to be no specific suitability of the tested genotypes to environmental stress condition. The interaction between genotype and N fertilizer level effect on all the evaluated parameters was absent or insignificant. These findings were in line with those reported by 24.

In this study of six sugar beet genotypes; the variation in root and plant growth rate, relative growth rate (RGR) and net assimilation rate (NAR) revealed no substantial differences among the genotypes or tested Nitrogen levels. This is probably arises because the beet is a vegetative storage organ and has no clear growth stages that particularly susceptible to unfavorable environmental conditions. Nevertheless, no significant interaction between genotype and N fertilizer level indicates a similar response of genotypes; not depending on N level. These findings were in line with those reported by 24. Nonetheless, the growth evaluating techniques are good indicators for relating sugar beet growth to climatic conditions and information on crop growth during each growing stage is one of most important indexes of optimum cultivation and management, although, these results exhibited no significant difference at the different growth periods.

It has been noticed that sugar beet has ability of compensating its morphological growth components through the season. This could be fortified by the significant effects in some stages and insignificant in others among the studied genotypes.

Table 3. Averages of fresh and dry weight of foliage (g/plant) of some genotypes of sugar beet as affected by three levels of nitrogen fertilizer during 2018- 2019 Winter season in Khartoum State – Sudan.
SOV Fresh Weight of foliage (g/plant) Dry Weight of foliage (g/plant)
Sampling terms Sampling terms  
Factors 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
G0 219.05b 743.58a 608.93a 478.68a 324.48a 24.73a 65.75a 90.23a 94.10a 63.41a
G1 186.93bc 686.8a7 632.20a 435.84a 339.93a 23.96a 6a5.63a 90.32a 85.83a 73.33aa
G2 272.06ba 787.96a 531.77a 482.65a 331.49a 29.52a 6a4.19 81.96a 91.09a 63.12a
G3 205.51b 706.74a 653.13a 468.61a 423.79a 25.34a 64a.03 91.33a 89.34a 73.48a
G4 230.72a 622.58a 597.76a 493.18a 370.57a 27.68a 65.5a3 83.64a 80.62a 69.43a
G5 204.60b 765.78a 606.04a 418.55a 302.43a 23.32a 69.52a 76.84a 69.00b 44.34b
Sy‾ 19.02 47.39 40.07 51.76 31.57 1.96 5.08 6.14 6.29 7.29
F test * NS NS NS NS NS NS NS * *
N0 228.36a 729.75a 575.44a 446.19a 348.31a 26.45a 63.51a 82.69a 83.40a 66.34a
N1 222.73a 708.80a 611.28a 496.63a 356.20a 26.31a 65.04a 88.61a 8a8.38a 62.74a
N2 208.35a 718.20a 628.20a 445.94a 341.84a 24.51a 68.78a 85.62a 83.21 64.45a
Sy‾ 13.45 33.51 28.33 36.6 22.33 1.39 3.59 4..34 4.45 5.16
F test NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS
Gx N Sy‾ 32.94 82.09 69.4 89.65 54.68 3.4 8.79 10.63 10.89 12.63
F test NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS

NB. see the foot note of Table 1
Table 4. Averages of root length and root diameter (cm) of some genotypes of sugar beet as affected by three levels of nitrogen fertilizer during 2018- 2019 Winter season in Khartoum State – Sudan.
Source of Variation Root Length (cm) Root Diameter (cm)
Sampling Terms Sampling Terms
Factors 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5a
G0 19.05b 26.14a 26.83 25.54a 27.41a 4.01a 8.12b 9.05a 11.92a 11.18a
G1 21.75a 26.21a 27.28 26.82a 27.44a 4.03a 7.93bc 9.88a 10.58ab 10.86a
G2 20.55ab 27.38a 27.25 28.13a 26.86a 4.07a 9.48a 10.82a 11.57a 11.54a
G3 21.73a 28.94a 29.85 29.12aa 28.75a 4.38a 8.20b 9.66a 10.40ab 11.02a
G4 20.70ab 28.16a 27.66 26.79a 27.43a 4.40a 8.25b 9.26a 10.09b 10.36a
G5 19.93ab 27.13a 26.99 25.93a 29.62a 4.06a 8.40b 9.83a 10.83ab 10.83a
Sy‾ 0.89 0.86 1.04 1.37 1.41 1.91 0.34 0.26 0.49 0.30
F test * NS NS NS NS NS * NS * NS
N0 21.33a 27.54a 27.43 26.97a 27.55a 4.42a 8.64a 9.54a 10.68a 11.17a
N1 20.25a 27.01a 26.93 27.49a 27.21a 4.27a 8.28a 9.61a 10.88a 10.96a
N2 20.28a 27.43a 28.58 26.71a 28.49a 4.10a 8.27a 9.70a 10.86a 10.77a
Sy‾ 0.63 0.81 0.73 0.97 1.00 1.35 0.24 0.18 0.35 0.21
F test NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS
Gx N Sy‾ 1.54 1.49 1.79 2.73 1.99 0.33 0.59 0.45 0.85 0.51
F test NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS

NB. see the foot note of Table 1
Table 5. Averages of fresh and dry weight of root (g/plant) of some genotypes of sugar beet as affected by three levels of nitrogen fertilizer during 2018- 2019 Winter season in Khartoum State – Sudan.
S V Fresh weight of root (g/plant)         Dry weight of root (g/plant)        
  Sampling Terms         Sampling Terms        
Factors 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
G0 86.59b 487.43a 586.78b 1326.57a 1189.39a 17.64ab 128.43a 189.06c 413.00a 268.22a
G1 72.66b 405.36a 741.00b 999.21a 1003.46a 15.29bc 108.84a 283.73ab 396.18a 240.79a
G2 105.24a 538.58a 734.58b 1185.21a 1092.93a 19.09ab 167.98a 252.14b 420.24a 274.43a
G3 106.67a 532.45a 913.81a 1183.17a 1247.88a 18.34ab 175.60a 326.43a 432.18a 263.03a
G4 108.88a 503.89a 726.90b 1070.14a 1123.32a 22.08a 148.74a 251.52b 355.44a 240.40a
G5 79.28b 509.68a 702.93b 844.84a 943.19a 12.54c 146.98a 222.81b 286.46a 221.11a
Sy‾ 9.19 54.55 63.58 156.65 102.83 1.63 19.02 23.9 37.81 20.2
F test * NS * NS NS ** NS ** NS NS
N0 102.78a 527.77a 724.62a 1070.26a 1127.59a 18.79a 158.00a 247.18a 384.84a 281.78a
N1 90.22a 494.82a 735.01a 1225.32a 1146.93a 17.32a 140.62a 257.94a 388.65a 258.70a
N2 85.15a 466.10a 743.37a 1008.98a 1020.56a 18.38a 139.67a 257.72a 378.27a 233.51a
Sy‾ 6.5 38.63 44.95 110.77 72.72 1.15 13.45 16.9 26.74 14.28
F test NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS
Gx N Sy‾ 15.91 94.49 110.11 271.33 178.77 2.82 32.94 41.4 65.99 34.99
F test NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS

NB. see the foot note of Table 1.
Table 6. Averages of growth analysis components in some genotypes of sugarbeet as affected by three levels of nitrogen fertilizer during 2018-2019 Winter season in Khartoum State – Sudan.
S V Growth Analysis Parameters                  
  Period between sampling terms                  
  RCGR ( g cm-2 day-1)     RGR (g g-1day-1)     NAR (g cm -2 day-1) PCGR (g cm-2 day-1)    
Factors 02-Jan 03-Feb 04-Mar 02-Jan 03-Feb 04-Mar 2 – 1 02-Jan 03-Feb 04-Mar
G0 0.004 0.003 0.007 0.04 0.019 0.013 0.007 7.169 4.222 7.741
G1 0.003 0.007 0.005 0.04 0.018 0.008 0.008 6.427 9.15 5.518
G2 0.005 0.004 0.005 0.045 0.015 0.011 0.01 6.729 5.263 7.857
G3 0.005 0.006 0.004 0.016 0.013 0.006 0.009 9.571 8.899 5.928
G4 0.004 0.004 0.005 0.039 0.014 0.009 0.008 7.873 5.757 5.742
G5 0.005 0.003 0.004 0.045 0.012 0.01 0.008 8.481 4.238 5.589
Sy 0.001 0.001 0.001 0.003 0.003 0.002 0.001 1.06 1.833 2.277
F test NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS
N0 0.005 0.004 0.006 0.044 0.012 0.01 0.009 8.374 5.18 6.697
N! 0.004 0.005 0.005 0.041 0.018 0.008 0.007 7.673 4.076 6.453
N2 ..005 0.004 0.005 0.043 0.016 0.01 008 4.978 6.264 5.572
Sy‾ 0 0.001 0.001 0.002 0.002 0.001 0.001 0.75 1.296 1.61
F test NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS
GxNSy‾ .006. 0.005 0.003 .006. 0.005 0.003 0.002 1.838 3.167 3.943
F test NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS

NB. see the foot note of Table 1.

Conclusion And Recommendations

To this end, it could be concluded that all the studied genotypes could be cultivated successfully under Al Kadro, Khartoum North climatic and soil conditions. The tested low nitrogen fertilizer levels coupled with very low available nitrogen and organic carbon in the soil; ranged between 0.00-0.003 % and 0.002-0.01%, respectively, not enhanced nitrogen uptake and no substantial interaction (GxN), also, the growth analysis components reflected non-significant effect among the studied genotypes, nitrogen levels and their interaction. Therefore, further research is needed to fix outstanding genotype and optimum rate of nitrogen for benefit of the farmer, environment and developing local sugar and fodder industry in the area.

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research for funding this work, and extend their gratitude to Prof. Hydr and Dr Basim of ARC (of the Executive Committee for Sugar Beet Introduction). Sincerely thanks to Dr. SalahEldin A Mukhtar and his aides at the Sugarcane Research Center-Guneid, Sudanese Sugar Company for their technical and raw material analysis support, Also, thanks to College of Agriculture - University of Bahri, and Animal Production Research Center- Ministry of animal Wealth for accommodating the project in their premises.

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