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Published Date: 2013-05-22 12:15:01
Subject: PRO/PL> Undiagnosed disease, sugar beet - UK: (England)
Archive Number: 20130522.1730468

UNDIAGNOSED DISEASE, SUGAR BEET - UK: (ENGLAND)
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Date: Wed 15 May 2013
Source: BBC News [edited]
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-22536822


Sugar beet 'mystery' condition halts 50 percent of some crops
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Farmers are counting the cost of "mystery" symptoms affecting sugar beet crops across parts of England. In some areas more than 50 percent of the beet has failed. The British Beet Research Organisation (BBRO) said many varieties had been affected and growth was "erratic".

Mark Stevens, BBRO, said germinated seeds were "failing to emerge" or emerging "erratically". The 1st reported case was on 29 Apr [2013], but since then farmers in Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Bedfordshire, and Essex have been affected.

"We're seeing some very strange and mysterious symptoms including roots corkscrewing, and deformed plants," Mr Stevens said. The cause of the problem is being investigated, but the BBRO said it was unlikely to be an issue with a single seed supplier.

[A farmer] said: "Significant numbers of seeds have failed to make it above the ground. In extreme cases only about 35 percent of crops are coming through." He has lost about 120 hectares (300 acres) of beet to the mystery condition, which he calculated would cost him GBP 50 000 [approximately USD 75 500]. "The strange thing is, not every field is affected," he said. "I drilled fields on the same day, in the same weather conditions, using the same variety -- some are fine, others not at all."

The BBRO investigation has so far found no indication of disease, nematodes (worms) or fungal infection. The full extent of crop loss has yet to be calculated as the BBRO said information was still coming in from growers and agronomists using different types of seeds in different soils.

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[Sugar beet (_Beta vulgaris_ var. _vulgaris_) is a valuable crop of temperate areas and shares a large number of pathogens with other species and varieties of _Beta_. The genus also includes several important root vegetables (for example table beets, beetroot) and leaf (various chards), as well as crops used for animal feed.

Maps
UK:
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/europe/united_kingdom.gif,
http://www.picturesofengland.com/images/mapofengland/england-counties.gif, and
http://healthmap.org/r/1fj0

Pictures
Photo gallery of beet diseases:
http://www.ipmimages.org/browse/Areathumb.cfm?area=141

Links
Information on some sugar beet diseases in the UK via:
http://www.kws-uk.com/aw/KWS/united_kingdom/Information1/Product_Development/Sugar_Beet/~dqq/Diseases/
List of major diseases and pathogens of beet:
http://www.apsnet.org/publications/commonnames/Pages/Beet.aspx
History of sugar beet cultivation:
http://cropwatch.unl.edu/web/sugarbeets/sugarbeet_history and
http://www.actahort.org/books/182/182_41.htm
Species and varieties of genus _Beta_:
http://www.f-lohmueller.de/botany/gen/b/Beta.htm
British Beet Research Organisation:
http://www.bbro.co.uk/
- Mod.DHA]

See Also

2012
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Basses richesses, sugar beet - Germany: 1st rep. 20121205.1439837
2009
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Rust, sugar beet - UK: alert 20090717.2541
2007
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Cercospora & powdery mildew, sugar beet - UK 20070801.2478
Fungal diseases, sugar beet and barley: alert 20070628.2078
2002
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Beet necrotic yellow vein, sugar beet - UK (England) 20020827.5164
2001
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Rhizomania, benyvirus, sugar beet - UK 20011121.2851
and additional items on beet diseases in the archives
.................................................dha/mj/jw