Beetroot  Production

Among the world’s top beetroot producers is Russia with 51,366,830 tonnes of annual production volume, followed by France which comes second with
33,794,906 tonnes of annual production. While Italy comes 21st with 2,046,297 tonnes. Overall, around 279,396,160 tonnes of beetroot are produced annually globally.

Characteristics and needs of Beetroot

Beetroot belongs to the Chenopodiaceae family and it is an herbaceous plant with a biennial cycle. In the first year there is a stage of the plant called
vegetative, while in the following year the plant enters into the productive stage.

Roots: the root is large and pulpy, reaching sometimes up to two metres in length.

Stem: it has an angular, erect and highly branched stem.

Leaves: they are characterised by being long and thick, green in colour, always gathered in extended spikes, heart-shaped at the base, rather rounded or often
tapered, 5 to 20 centimetres long.

Flowers: the flowers, on the contrary, are rather small, so much so that they often do not exceed 5 mm in diameter: the flowers are green or red and consist
of a corolla with 5 sepals.

Fruit: the beetroot fruits are called glomeruli and they have a rounded, angular shape, also they are rather wrinkled and very tough.

Seeds: they are greenish, sometimes brown, yellow or black, and have a typically lenticular shape.

Climate: they are adaptable to various types of climates and soils, but they prefer temperatures ranging from 16 to 24°C, preferring therefore temperate climates: indeed, the European and the former Soviet Union climates are particularly favourable to its growth. The ideal temperature for the plant to
germinate must be at least 5-6°C, although the optimum temperature is around 10-12°C.

Soil: it prefers deep, medium-textured soils, rich in organic matter and with good water capacity. It needs neutral pH soils (pH 6.5-7), while acidic soils with
waterlogging are not suitable.

Soil preparation: it is characterised by slow germination and a deep root system (in the first two months the radicle extends by several tens of
centimetres), but with little perforating power. Rather deep ploughing (even >50 cm, especially in clay soils) is also required, followed by various complementary tillings for optimal seedbed preparation.

Crop care: before sowing, it is necessary to enrich the soil with well-matured manure and granular fertiliser, which will dissolve over the months of cultivation. Fertilisation is generally avoided during the vegetative period of the plants, although it is recommended to keep the soil soft and weed-free, which may compete with the beetroot in absorbing nutrients from the soil. This is why periodic weeding operations are carried out, which
eradicate weeds and improve soil drainage.

Beetroot varieties

The beet is a herbaceous plant that is subdivided into several categories, each of which is adapted to various types of climates and soils. The most commonly cultivated species of beets are chard and slicing beets.

Chard beet
It has broad, fleshy leaves with a blistered surface and it can be up to 20-30 cm long. The main characteristic of these chard is that they have highly developed
stalks that form the ribs, which are very thick and long with a very fleshy texture. The leaves are clustered in a rosette that rests on a broad base from which a deep root branches out to a depth of up to 2 metres.

Slicing beet
Here, however, the stalk is long and narrow and the rosette containing the leaves is less compact. The leaves are smoother and smaller than in chard beet.

It is also important to outline the difference between table beet and sugar beet, in particular:

• table beet is cultivated for its enlarged root that forms a tuber called a turnip. The botanical characteristics are very similar to those of the beet except for the leaves, which in the turnip have a long but very narrow dark green or purplish stalk and the limbs are narrow and smooth. The root remains superficial and takes various shapes. The tuber that forms is red on the outside, while inside the pulp varies from white to purplish red and may have concentric areas coloured differently;
• sugar beet has the same characteristics as table beet with the difference that the tuber is greyish in colour. It is cultivated for its tuber which, once harvested, undergoes processing to obtain sugar.

How to irrigate beetroot

The beetroot is a plant that necessarily requires irrigation for its cultivation. Despite this, as the tuber is the end product, one must be very careful not to
exceed woth irrigation thus inducing root asphyxia and consequent rot.

The ideal irrigation for leaf and tuber beetroot is drip irrigation. This technique allows easy control of soil moisture and concrete savings in terms of both water and energy. In fact, hose irrigation allows irrigation with very high hose irrigation efficiency and with great uniformity of distribution, if the system is properly designed.

Furthermore, the use of the drip system avoids wetting the leaf apparatus of the plants, thus decreasing the possibility of leaf pathologies linked to temperature
and humidity (fungal attacks, bacterial diseases, etc.).