Cultural Beet Root
Season	Mid Aug - Dec
Climate	It grows well in warm weather, but it attains best colour, texture & quality in a cool weather. Excessive lt hot weather causes - zoning - the appearance of alternating light & dark red concentric circles in the root. They are sensitive to low temperature 0 0 (4.5 -10 C), if exposed to such temperature for 15 days, bolting likely to occur before the roots reach marketable size. Requires abundant sunshine for development of storage roots.
Nursery	Direct Sowing
Soil & Land Preparation	Deep, well drained loams/sandy loams are considered best. In heavy soils- roots are likely to be unsymmetrical in shape, also results in poor stand as seedlings may not come out due to formation of hard earth crust, in rainy season. Sensitive to soil acidity (below-5.8 pH). It is one of the few vegs. that can be successfully grown in saline soils
Seed Rate	2 kg/acre
Irrigation	Irrigate as & when required based on the soil type & the local practices.
Spacing	Row to Row : 40 cm & Plant to Plant : 10 cm
Fertilizer Kg/Acre	NPK - 25:40:25
1st Picking	Maturity in 65-70 days
Growth Regulator	Apply manganese sulphate when grown in alkaline soil.
Yield T/ha	15-20 T
Avg. per Fruit Weight (g)	125 g
Major Impediment	i) Internal black spot / brown heart (Disorder): Bo deficiency / long dry spell - followed by wet period may cause it. Plant dwarf / stunted, leaves assumes variegated appearance, twisted with longitudinal splitting. ii) Viral dis: Mosaic / Curly top / Yellow - vector - Aphids, mottling with chloratic, zonate ring spots. iii) Beet Leaf Minor: Feeds on tissues between upper & lower layers of the leaf, making it unfit for manufacturing of food as a result plant growth completely checked.
Harvesting:	Harvested as they attain a diameter of 3-5 cm. They are usually pulled by hand; tops are removed & after washing the roots are graded according to size.
Key Points	i) Morphologically, the upper portion of the root develops from the hypocotyl and the lower portion, from which the secondary roots arise, develops from the taproot. ii) Inflorescence large spike, normally develops in the second year, flowers sessile, in cluster of 3-4
Care	i) Thinning is an essential operation, because the seed ball is actually a fruit consisting of 2-6 seeds, each of which may germinate produce a plant. ii) Irrigation: Deficiency of water leads to reduction in size.