Generalities

The sugar beet is a biennial plant. After a first period of root growth, the plant needs a period of low temperature (vernalisation) in order to be able to bolt.

When the plant bolts in the second year, it will flower. By causing the flowering of selected male sterile plants and pollinators next to each other, a specific cross is made. The hybrid seeds are harvested on the male sterile plants. The pollinators are destroyed after flowering.
For most seed reproductions the indirect method is used. By means of this, first little small beets (‘stecklings’) are grown. Then these stecklings are lifted after wintertime and transplanted in the production fields. A small part of these reproductions is realised via the direct method. With this system, separate male sterile plants and pollinators are directly sown on the production field.

The main SESVanderHave sugar beet seed reproduction regions are located in the South-West and South-East of France, Northern Italy, and the South of Ukraine, the state of Oregon in the USA, Turkey and China. A common character for these regions is the specific climate being ideal for the reproduction of high-quality sugar beet seeds.

Production of stecklings

With the help of a first production planning the basic seeds of the needed lines are sown in the month of August. The sowing is carried out by specialised firms. Approximatively 1 million seeds (10 units) per hectare are sown with a precision drill.

After emergence, and during the entire growing period, our technicians frequently check the fields on plant growth and varietal purity. In order to avoid loss of plants by frost the majority of the fields are often covered with fabric in wintertime.

The final objective is to harvest as many uniform plants (of sufficient size) as possible in the month of February.

In practice, the standard is: 1 hectare of stecklings enables you to plant 10 ha of seed reproduction fields. The majority of the stecklings are harvested mechanically.

Sugar beet seed production

Once the definitive production planning has been drawn up on basis of the latest results of the trial fields and the latest adjustments to the sales forecasts, the stecklings are distributed to the seed growers.

For the choice of the production plots a sufficient isolation distance is taken into account in order to prevent subsequent cross fertilisation between plots.

In February-March, 35.000 to 40.000 plants per hectare are transplanted in strips, always 6 rows of male sterile plants and 2 rows of pollinators.

In order to make the plants all flower together in the month of June, our specialised technicians pay frequent visits to the seed reproduction fields in the time between transplanting and start of the flowering. Together with the seed grower a detailed plan for the different methods of cultivation is drawn up: specific manuring, crop protection and cutting of the plants (by hand or mechanically) that flower too soon.

During flowering, it is important that the environment of the seed reproduction fields is free from foreign pollen, as this could lead to unwanted crosses. For this purpose the production zone is very regularly checked on the presence of bolted plants of the beet family (beetroot, spinach beet, fodder beet and wild beet) and action is undertaken if necessary.

The flowering, which lasts about three weeks, is followed by the phase of seed filling. Especially in this period, it is necessary that the plant receives enough water. SESVanderHave then requires the possibility of irrigation of the plants in the growing season.

The ripening comes after the seed filling. The period of ripening is also carefully followed up by our technicians. The right moment for interrupting the cycle is utterly determinative for the final quality of the seed lot.
The cycle is interrupted on the moment determined by the technician: to this end, the flower shafts are put into swaths or chemicals (Reglone) are sprayed in order to destroy the foliage.

As soon as the seed and the flower shafts are dry enough, threshing is the last phase on the field.

If necessary, the seeds are dried after harvest, up to a water content of about 10%. Then they are in an optimal condition to be transported to the factory in Tienen or Kiev for further processing.