Season and soil-type effects on sugar beet root development [in Eastern England]
1996
Jaggard, K.W. | Dunham, R.J. | Brown, K.F. | Werker, A.R. (IACR-Broom's Barn, Bury St Edmunds (United Kingdom))
The growth and development of the fibrous root system of sugar beet, from the seedling stage until harvest during autumn, was studied in Eastern England during the 1980's. Most of the measurements were made by taking sample cores of soil from field crops (down to about 1.2 m), washing the roots out and measuring their length. Measurements were made during several seasons and on many soil types (except peat soils). Variation in the rate of horizontal and downward expansion of the seedling root system could be explained on the basis of thermal time after sowing. Similar relationships explained most of the changes in rooting density and depth, except where crops were sown artificially late (mid-June) or where there was an abrupt change in texture of the subsoil. Therefore, in most soils and seasons the rooting density and depth of the fibrous root system can be predicted from measurements of temperature and the use of simple mathematical models.
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