Effects of soil density on yield and fertilizer requirement of sugar beet

SUMMARY Three experiments (1971–3) on medium-textured soils of low organic-matter content examined the effects of soil density on seedling emergence and yield of sugar beet, and the interactions between soil density and the requirement for nitrogen (N) and phosphate (P2O5) fertilizers. Three soil densities were produced by rolling and harrowing, dutch harrowing twice, and power harrowing once; each was tested with 75, 150 and 225 kg ha-1 N and 0, 100 and 200 kg ha-1 P2O5. Most seedlings emerged on the medium-density treatment produced by dutch harrowing twice. The crop in the least dense soil treatment, produced by power harrowing once, consistently yielded slightly more sugar than the medium-density treatment, which yielded significantly more than the most dense treatment. In dense soil, created by rolling and harrowing, there was a response to more fertilizer N than the less dense ones; the crop did not respond to phosphate fertilizer. Mechanical impedance, not toxic concentrations of ethylene in the soil atmosphere, appeared to be the cause of reduced yield on the dense soils; these reductions were considerable at dry soil bulk densities in excess of 1·5 g ml-1.