Weed management in sugar beet: A review
Tamalika Bhadra1, Chandan Kumar Mahapatra1, Swapan Kumar Paul1
1Department of Agronomy, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh-2202, BANGLADESH
doi: 10.5455/faa.83758 pp: 147 – 156
ABSTRACT
Sugar is an essential commodity and an integral part of the food chain which is the cheapest source of energy. Sugar plays a vital role in the development of taste, texture, colour and keeps baked goods soft and moist. Sugar beet ranks second as a sugar producing crop in the world. Weeds in beet crops reducing the yield in the field level as well as making the harvesting and processing difficult. The weed seeds in soil bank are detrimental as they germinate in subsequent crop cultivation. Weed control failure causes severe yield loss in sugar beet. However, several weed control measures along with herbicides provide a significant increase of average yields in sugar beet. It has become necessary to reduce the use of them in order to protect the human health as well as the other living organisms. For this reason, alternative ways of controlling weeds are being practiced all over the world. The efficient way of reducing the use of herbicides with the revaluation of agronomic techniques is replacing herbicide treatments. Thereby weed control combine herbicidal and nonherbicidal methods in an integrated manner. Basically, integrated weed control approach provides a potential reduction in weed population. However, this system is not as efficient to minimize the herbicide utilization in larger-scale sugar beet production.
Keywords: Sugar crops, Sugarbeet, cultivation, yield loss, weed management