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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Kimberly, Idaho » Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #264242
Title: Influence of rhizoctonia-bacterial root rot complex on storability of sugarbeet

Author
item Strausbaugh, Carl
item REARICK, EUGENE - AMALGAMATED RESEARCH INC.
item Eujayl, Imad
item FOOTE, PAUL - AMALGAMATED SUGAR COMPANY

Submitted to: Journal of Sugar Beet Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/19/2011
Publication Date: 10/25/2011
Citation: Strausbaugh, C.A., Rearick, E., Eujayl, I.A., Foote, P. 2011. Influence of rhizoctonia-bacterial root rot complex on storability of sugarbeet. Journal of Sugar Beet Research. 48(3&4):155-180.

Interpretive Summary: The Rhizoctonia-bacterial root rot complex can lead to yield losses greater than 50% in the field. However, some of these compromised roots also get harvested and placed into storage piles with healthy roots. Thus a series of studies were conducted to establish the impact of having rotted roots next to healthy roots. Over a three year period, root samples from three commercial sugarbeet cultivars were compared in storage as a healthy (eight healthy roots) or rotted (eight healthy roots + one rotted root) treatment inside an outdoor storage pile. Samples were retrieved from storage in December, January, and February and evaluated for discolored and frozen root area, weight loss, and sucrose reduction and recovery. When comparing the healthy to the rotted treatment over the nine year x sampling date combinations, the median change for discoloration (7% increase), frozen area (14% increase), sucrose loss (5% loss), and recoverable sucrose (689 kg/ha less or 8% reduction) were significant. Thus this root rot complex is not only a concern in the field but also in storage. These additional losses associated with root rot in storage emphasize the need for control measures for Rhizoctonia root rot.

Technical Abstract: The Rhizoctonia-bacterial root rot complex can lead to yield loss in the field but may also lead to problems with sucrose loss in storage. Thus, studies were conducted to investigate if placing sugarbeet roots suffering from root rot together with healthy roots could compromise the ability of the healthy roots to retain sucrose. Over a three year period, root samples from three commercial cultivars were compared in storage as a healthy (eight healthy roots) or rotted (eight healthy roots + one rotted root) treatment inside an outdoor storage pile. The experiment was arranged as a split block (healthy in one half of block and rotted in the other) with the whole blocks arranged in a randomized complete block design with four replications. Samples were retrieved from storage in December, January, and February and evaluated for discolored and frozen root area, weight loss, and sucrose reduction and recovery. When comparing the healthy to the rotted treatment over the nine year x sampling date combinations, the Wilcoxon signed-rank test indicated the median change for discoloration (7% increase), frozen area (14% increase), sucrose loss (5% loss), and recoverable sucrose (689 kg/ha less or 8% reduction) were significantly different from zero (P = 0.008, 0.031, 0.007, and 0.008, respectively). These data indicate that the Rhizoctonia-bacterial root rot complex not only leads to yield loss in the field but can also negatively affect neighboring healthy roots in storage leading to additional sucrose losses.