5 YEARS OF STRAW INCORPORATION AND ITS EFFECT ON GROWTH, YIELD AND NITROGEN NUTRITION OF SUGAR-BEET (BETA-VULGARIS)

In 1990-92, held experiments were performed at Broom's Barn Experimental Station to study the effect of 5 years' repeated straw incorporation on sugarbeet. Straw incorporation had no effect on plant population density. Processing quality was reduced by incorporated straw but N had a much larger effect. The effect of incorporated straw on the mineral N content of the soils and N uptake by beet was inconsistent, and this may be related to the amount of soil mineral N present when the straw was incorporated. The efficiency of fertilizer use was unaffected by straw incorporation. On Broom's Barn soils when straw was incorporated, the optimal economic N dressing was c. 120 kg N/ha, and in unincorporated plots it was c. 100 kg N/ha. At the optimal economic N rate, incorporated straw increased beet yields.