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BREAKTHROUGH IN BEET BREEDING
by agweek
Some Growers Try Out Cercospora Resistant Seed Varieties In 2021 Season
BY MIKKEL PATES
FOXHOME, Minn. — New sugarbeet varieties resistant to cercospora leaf spot disease were commercially available for growers to plant in southern North Dakota and Minnesota in 2021.
The improved varieties will save tens of millions of dollars in spray and processing costs and could save hundreds of millions in crop losses.
Mohamed Khan, a professor and Extension sugarbeet specialist for the University of Minnesota and North Dakota State Unviersity, said he expects to see most farmers to adopt the technology in the next three years. He thinks its use in the next two or three years will extend to Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, Colorado and Wyoming.
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