SIDNEY, Mont.—When sugarbeets are stored in piles, managing the beets is vital to prevent storage losses.
“There can be in the 10s of millions of dollars in storage losses with sugarbeets,” according to Barry Jacobsen, Montana State University Extension plant pathologist.
Sugarbeets are a major crop in Montana, grown under irrigation from the south central to the eastern region of the state, and in the north central region of Wyoming in the Big Horn Basin.
With the help of new varieties and technologies, sugarbeets have generated some $75-100 million in ag revenue for the states, so any storage loss is significant, Jacobsen said.
One of the main problems is weather. When beets are stored during cold weather, and it then warms up unexpectedly, the constant freezing and thawing of beets can cause storage losses from molds and bacteria.
Losses also regularly occur without the freeze-thaw cycle.
“Penicillium species are the most important storage molds in Montana sugarbeet piles,” he said. “It is a very common infection.”
MSU researchers have found some 4-6 percent of sucrose can be lost during storage due to Penicillium, and there can also be significant increases in invert sugar that result in poor sucrose extraction at the factory.
As mold grows in the pile, it uses sugar, heat, and water, Jacobsen said.
There was a problem with sugarbeet storage and molds developing during harvest in 2014 as the weather fluctuated between cold and warm days.
“Western Sugar Cooperative alone had 10s of millions of dollars in storage losses last year,” Jacobsen said.
Jacobsen said MSU has begun a new avenue of research into how to successfully manage sugarbeets during storage and thus prevent sucrose losses.
“Penicillium mold only infects through wounds in the harvested crowns, and if we can protect the beets during this 14-24 day timeframe, the wounds close and there is no longer any danger,” he said.
In 2013, they applied Syngenta’s Actigard at 50 ppm or the biological inducer BmJ (from Certis USA under EPA review) at seven days before harvest.
BmJ was discovered by Jacobsen as a naturally-occuring bacterium on the leaves of a healthy sugarbeet plant in a field of beets that were riddled with Cercospora leaf spot at Eastern Ag Research Center in Sidney, Mont., in 1994.
A significant amount of work was put into demonstrating that BmJ (Bacillus mycoides isolate J) biopesticide was beneficial in fighting bacterial, viral and fungal diseases in not only sugarbeets, but in a variety of crops.
“It works by activating the plant’s own immune defenses in a phenomenon known as systemic acquired resistance, or SAR,” Jacobsen said, adding that when induced, the plant “switches on” resistance genes, causing metabolic responses to stop infections and diseases from developing. “It is an example of what we call ‘induced resistance.’”
Jacobsen said BmJ induces the same genetic resistance pathway as the class of chemical SAR inducers, known as benzothiadiazoles, but for longer periods and with lower risk of phytotoxicity.
BmJ is awaiting EPA approval before Certis USA can release it commercially. When it is released, there are several crops it may be labeled for, especially vegetable crops like tomatoes and nuts like pecans.
BmJ will also be a help in sugarbeet Cercospora leaf spot, potato virus Y, gummy stem blight on cucurbits, downy mildew on leafy vegetables, late and early blights of potatoes and bacterial leaf spot diseases of tomatoes and peppers, so it has wide applicability, Jacobsen said.
Jacobsen has also done fieldwork with BmJ, utilizing it in programs for management of fungicide-resistant Cercospora leaf spot in sugarbeets. There may also be similar benefits in other crops where resistance to conventional fungicides is a problem, he added.
In December 2014, the EPA registration was underway. But one thing holding it up is the EPA now requires a joint registration with Canada, and that could be part of the delay.
“I expect to get a call any day now telling me it has been registered,” Jacobsen said.
Actigard is a plant activator, according to Syngenta. It activates the natural defense systems in several crops like sugarbeets to help the plant to protect itself against attack, much like a vaccination. Its systemic movement lets Actigard move through the plant quickly for all-over protection, Syngenta reports.
“Actigard and BmJ have the same gene mechanism on sugarbeets,” Jacobsen said. However, BmJ lasts longer than Actigard, about a week longer.
After conducting the treatment with Actigard and BmJ on sugarbeet storage piles in both 2013 and 2014, researchers found there was excellent control of Penicillium for 14-21days in both 2013 and 2014.
“This demonstrates the applications would be important to sugarbeet companies as they store beets at piling stations and plants,” Jacobsen said.
Biofungicides are a technology that could save producers and companies around the world millions of dollars by providing disease control when used alone, reducing fungicide use when used in combination with fungicides and by helping to manage fungicide-resistance outbreaks, he added.
Support for the research was provided by the USDA, National Science Foundation, Western Sugar Joint Research Board, the Montana Potato Improvement Association, Syngenta, BASF, Sumitomo, Betaseed, Syngenta Seeds and American Crystal Seeds.
Source: www.theprairiestar.com