Irrigation schedule for sugarbeets grown in an experiment organized on a loamy soil in the continental part of Serbia, which is characterized by variable climatic conditions, has been determined on the basis of soil moisture readings obtained by the gravimetric method. The experiment was conducted in the period 2002-2005, in which 2002 and 2003 were very dry and 2004 and 2005 were moderately dry. Irrigation was scheduled on the basis of two pre-irrigation soil moisture levels: A – 60-65% of FWC andB – 75-80% of FWC. The nonirrigated variant C served as control. The rainfall levels during the 2002-2005 growing seasons (April -September) were 274, 236, 442 and 530 mm, respectively. The rainfall distribution varied from year to year and between months in a single year. In variant A, 360 and 330 mm of irrigation water were applied in the two very dry years and 120 mm in each of the two moderately dry years. In variant B, 300 and 270 mm were applied in the very dry years and 150 mm in the moderately dry years. The average yields of sugarbeet roots in variants A, B and C were 89.86, 94.44 and 75.36 t/ha, respectively. The respective average sugar contents were 14.62, 14.91 and 14.81%.
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