Beetroot is also considered a garden beet, a healthy, sweet vegetable loaded with antioxidants. It’s really these antioxidants that contain the heart-protecting and cancer-preventing properties. This antioxidant is also packed inside beetroot’s red pigments. Beetroot is generally easy to grow and has consistently been considered one of the top 10 vegetables grown in India. When growing the beetroot, they need durable equipment such as a tractor and other attachments. When you buy or use any tractor, you should find the best tractor tyre with proper air pressure. Apart from this, you can easily check the tractor tyre price online.
Beetroot Production Process in India
Let’s look at the beetroot cultivation process with complete specifications.
Beetroot production – Climatic Requirement
Farmers grow the beetroot best in cool conditions, and you can grow it successfully almost all year round. Crops grown in cold climates tend to produce better quality roots (darker interior color and higher sugar content), although plant growth slows down in prolonged cold periods. Beetroot has reasonable tolerance to moderate frosts at all stages of growth. It grows well in warm climates but achieves its best color, texture, and quality in cool weather conditions. Extremely hot weather, however, causes zoning, a condition characterized by the presence of alternating light and dark red concentric circles at the root. Roots grown at relatively high temperatures have been reported to have poor color, while roots planted in colder months have excellent color and quality.
Beetroot Plantation – Soil Requirement
Farmers produce the garden beets on a variety of soils, but deep, well-drained loam and sandy loam are considered best. Heavy soils are not satisfactory for beets as roots are likely to be heterogeneous in size when grown on such soils. The pH range between 6.3 and 7.5 is best suited for sugar beet cultivation. Beetroot prefers neutral, moist, fertile soil without a lot of lime or acidity. The soil should be soft and not contain too much clay or too much sand. However, since the root develops on the surface, clay soil can be tolerated if the top has been loosened by adding lots of well-rotted organic matter (do not add this unless the soil Doesn’t have too much clay).
Apart from this, we should make soil suitable for beetroot farming by preparing it with the help of farming implements and machines, including tractors, tillers, cultivators etc. So, you can also get tractors from several companies at a fair tractor price to make your farming more efficient and easy.
Propagation of Beetroot
In the process of beetroot cultivation, reproduction is mainly done through seeds. You can sow the beet seeds about 1.5 cm deep, leaving a distance of approximately 7 cm in between. You should keep the distance between the rows 30 to 40 cm. April to July is the ideal time for sowing, though it may differ with the climatic conditions of different areas. If growth is checked, you should grow the beetroot quickly; the edible roots become hard and indigestible.
Watering should be steady but not over the top, and a light weeding will keep weeds away. Thorough watering is essential in dry conditions. The seedlings, depending on the weather, will appear in about 15 days. When the shoots are about 3 – 5 cm high, thin them to a distance of 7 to 10 cm so that there is only one seedling in one spot. Remove the weakest shoots, leaving only the strongest for growth. It takes about 2 months for the beetroot to grow from sowing to maturity. The mature height of the plant is about 9 cm.
Planting, Spacing, and Sowing For Beetroot Farming
Like other root crops, sugar beet also requires well-pulverized soil for its successful cultivation. The field is plowed once with the earth-turning plow, and then 4-5 plows are done with the indigenous plow. Planking is done after each plowing to crush the clumps. Beetroot is primarily a cool-season crop but grows well in warm climates and can therefore be grown during winters throughout the plains. The best sowing time is slightly too late than carrot or turnip sowing time.
All these root crops are sown at the same time during the winter. Generally, sugar beet can be sown any time from August to November. In some parts like Bangalore, it is sown in June-July also. The sowing time on hills is from the end of February to May. Like other root crops, it is also preferred to be sown on ridges keeping row to row distance of 30 to 40 cm and plant to plant distance of about 15 -25 cm. About 10-14 kg of seed is required for sowing in a one-hectare area. Seeds are sown in soil 2-3 cm deep and irrigated immediately after sowing in light soils.
Beetroot – Fertilizer Requirement
One ton of beet extracts 2 kg of nitrogen, 4.5 kg of phosphorus, and 4.5 kg of potash. Generally, 60-70 kg of nitrogen and 100-120 kg of potash per hectare of soil is applied at the time of field preparation. In addition, 10-15 tonnes of farm manure (FYM) can be mixed thoroughly in the soil at the time of field preparation. There is also a possibility of boron deficiency in the sugar beet crop, due to which the roots break from the inside. Therefore borax or boric acid can be applied in boron deficient soils.
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