Skip to main content
ARS Home » Midwest Area » East Lansing, Michigan » Sugarbeet and Bean Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #97001
Title: SUGARBEET SEED GERMINATION AND EMERGENCE IN THE LABORATORY AND FIELD: A NEWAPPROACH TO AN OLD PROBLEM.

Author
item McGrath, Jon

Submitted to: American Society of Sugarbeet Technologists
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/13/1999
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Establishment of sugarbeet field stands is a recurring problem for growers. Predicting field emergence using laboratory testing would be advantageous, particularly if the factors governing sugar beet seed germination related to the process of stand establishment were targeted. We developed a strategy to examine germination under a set of easily reproduced conditions where moisture was not limiting. Thirty-nine seedlots of 25 commercial seed, breeding lines, experimental hybrids and related germplasm were germination tested using a pleated paper test, germination in water and germination in hydrogen peroxide. Germination in water showed marked differences among seedlots with high germination under standard (paper or peroxide) conditions. Relative germination percentages in water corresponded with relative field emergence, although absolute values were different.