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ARS Home » Plains Area » Fort Collins, Colorado » Center for Agricultural Resources Research » Soil Management and Sugarbeet Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #299984

Title: Fusarium Wilt and Yellows of Sugar Beet and Dry Bean

Author
item SCHWARTZ, H - Colorado State University
item Panella, Leonard
item BRICK, M - Colorado State University
item BYRNE, P - Colorado State University

Submitted to: Extension Fact Sheets
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/3/2013
Publication Date: 1/8/2014
Citation: Schwartz, H.F., Panella, L.W., Brick, M.A., Byrne, P.F. 2014. Fusarium Wilt and Yellows of Sugar Beet and Dry Bean. Extension Fact Sheets. Fact Sheet No. 2.950.

Interpretive Summary: The Central High Plains (Colorado, Nebraska and Wyoming) is among the largest producer of dry edible beans and sugar beets in the United States. Sugar beet is an important cash crop in northeastern Colorado with approximately 30,000 acres planted and 944,000 tons harvested in 2012. Approximately 250,000 acres of dry bean market types (pinto, great northern, light red kidney) also are planted annually with a farm gate value that varies between $75 and $150 million. With both sugar and dry bean processing plants in Greeley and Fort Morgan, production is centered in northeast Colorado counties. Many growers in this area grow both sugar beets and dry beans in rotation, which may accentuate problems with soil-borne pathogens that attack both crops. Fusarium yellows, also known as Fusarium wilt, is a fungal disease with presumed host-specific strains that attack sugar beet or dry bean. Severely infected plants become yellowed, wilted and die prematurely, which may cause yield reduction or total crop loss. Because sugar beets and dry edible beans are commonly grown in a short rotation of less than four years in the Central High Plains, incidence and variability of the pathogens may have increased in recent years. Problems also may be aggravated by regional drought impacts. Fusarium wilt losses in dry bean fields can vary from a trace to more than 30 percent crop loss; in addition seed size can be reduced 10 percent to 15 percent. Reports from eastern Colorado and Wyoming indicate that the disease has been found in many sugar beet fields with significant reduction in yield in various counties.

Technical Abstract: The Central High Plains (Colorado, Nebraska and Wyoming) is among the largest producer of dry edible beans and sugar beets in the United States. Sugar beet is an important cash crop in northeastern Colorado with approximately 30,000 acres planted and 944,000 tons harvested in 2012. Approximately 250,000 acres of dry bean market types (pinto, great northern, light red kidney) also are planted annually with a farm gate value that varies between $75 and $150 million. With both sugar and dry bean processing plants in Greeley and Fort Morgan, production is centered in northeast Colorado counties. Many growers in this area grow both sugar beets and dry beans in rotation, which may accentuate problems with soil-borne pathogens that attack both crops. Fusarium yellows, also known as Fusarium wilt, is a fungal disease (caused by Fusarium oxysporum Schlechtend.:Fr.) with presumed host-specific strains that attack sugar beet (F. o. f. sp. betae) or dry bean (F. o. f. sp. phaseoli). Severely infected plants become yellowed, wilted and die prematurely, which may cause yield reduction or total crop loss. Because sugar beets and dry edible beans are commonly grown in a short rotation of less than four years in the Central High Plains, incidence and variability of the pathogens may have increased in recent years. Problems also may be aggravated by regional drought impacts. Fusarium wilt losses in dry bean fields can vary from a trace to more than 30 percent crop loss; in addition seed size can be reduced 10 percent to 15 percent. Reports from eastern Colorado and Wyoming indicate that the disease has been found in many sugar beet fields with significant reduction in yield in various counties.