Three New Top-Perfoming KWS Sugar Beet Varieties Make UK List

At 105.7% of controls, Carissima is over 2.1% higher yielding than the number two rhizomania resistant type Sophia, which is also a Recommended List newcomer from the KWS stable.

And, at the same time, in out-yielding the nearest Fully Recommended traditional variety by nearly 5%, Carissima is also likely to prove highly popular in situations where rhizomania is not already widespread.

Finally, for growers not yet ready to switch to a rhizomania resistant variety, the third new variety from KWS UK, Mandella with a sugar yield of 104.1% beats all last year’s newcomers and takes second slot on the 2009 UK Recommended List.

According to KWS UK sugar beet manager, Volker Utesch, all three new KWS varieties will be strong performers in the UK.

“Carissima sets new standards for sugar yields,” he says. “With a consistent top-performing yield performance in both dry and wet seasons as well as in rhizomania infected soils it will produce some of the best possible sugar yields.

“Combine this very high sugar content with impurity levels that are lower than all other Recommended varieties and Carissima becomes an exceptional variety for high quality, high yielding sugar production.

“Sophia is also one of the highest yielding varieties on the new 2009 Recommended List. With a high sugar content and with good resistance to powdery mildew, low impurities and good field establishment, it is also likely to be a popular choice.”

The final variety, Mandella, as the highest yielding non-rhizo variety on the UK Recommended List has good, proven field establishment, coupled with low levels of bolting. “As a result, growers can plant it early, whenever conditions are suitable, to maximize its very high yield potentials,” he suggests.

“Mandella is also one of the few varieties with good disease resistance to both powdery mildew and rust. This also helps explain why it produced consistently high yields, whatever the season, across all three years of official testing,” says Volker.