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ARS Home » Midwest Area » East Lansing, Michigan » Sugarbeet and Bean Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #150539
Title: REAL-TIME SUCROSE AND YIELD ASSISTED SELECTION AND BREEDING

Author
item Duckert, Timothy
item McGrath, Jon

Submitted to: Annual Beet Sugar Development Foundation Research Report
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/1/2003
Publication Date: 5/1/2003
Citation: DUCKERT, T.M., MCGRATH, J.M. REAL-TIME SUCROSE AND YIELD ASSISTED SELECTION AND BREEDING. 2002 ANNUAL BEET SUGAR DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION RESEARCH REPORT. 2003. p. D8.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Yearly evaluation of many breeding sugarbeet populations is necessary to find better combinations of existing characters, and selection for improved agronomic performance is based on population averages of individuals within populations. At East Lansing, the largest labor requirements have occurred during harvest, and agronomic testing consumes harvested beet for sucrose analyses. Thuse, few beets are available for further breeding. We developed a harvesting platform that may overcome some of these limitations, and help to expand the number of lines that can be tested in any given year under a wider range of agronomic conditions (e.g. disease nurseries). Design elements included accommodations for transport between research locations, modular elements adaptable to future technology and research needs, safety and ergonomic needs of the fewer number of personnel available, and modern technology for lifting, cleaning and processing the beets. The new harvester was used during the 2002 field harvest, and is currently complete with the exception of chemical analyses instrumentation. Chemical analyses will be included in 2003, assuming availability of resources.