Paano Magtanim ng Sugar Beet: How to Plant Sugar Beet the Traditional Way
Paano magtanim ng sugar beet? Here is how traditional Filipino farmers usually plant sugar beet, step by step from getting the field ready to the harvest, with the day of each step and what to change for a higher yield.
This guide shows how traditional farmers usually plant sugar beet. Use it as a starting point. For a higher yield, update it: plant certified seed or clean planting material, test your soil, and follow the right spacing and fertilizer.
Sugar beet is rarely grown in the Philippines: there is no beet sugar mill here, and only trial plots of tropical sugar beet types have been planted. This short guide shows how those few growers handle it, sown in the cool dry months and dug about five months later.
Before you plant, get the field ready with our land preparation guide for root crops.
When to plant sugar beet
Tropical sugar beet does best when sown at the start of the cool dry months, around November, in the lowlands or mid elevations, so the roots fill before the hot months. Late sowing gives smaller roots and less sugar.
What you plant
Seed of tropical sugar beet types, sown straight in the field, usually two seeds a hill, thinned later to one plant.
Paano magtanim ng sugar beet, step by step
The crop is ready about 160 days after sowing.
Before planting (Bago magtanim)
14 days before sowing: Plow deep and fertilize
Plow and harrow until the soil is deep and fine. Work in the phosphorus, potash and boron with about a third of the nitrogen during the last harrowing.
Planting day (Pagtatanim)
Sowing day: Sow in rows
Sow two seeds a hill in rows about 50 cm apart with hills about 20 cm apart, and water if the soil is dry.
Care while it grows (Pag aalaga)
Day 20: First weeding
Hand weed the rows while the seedlings are small. Young beets cannot compete with weeds.
Day 40: Second weeding and thinning
Weed again and pull the weaker seedling so one plant stays in each hill.
Day 60: Top dress and earth up
Give half of the remaining urea, weed for the last time and pull soil up around the roots.
Day 70: Check for root rot
Look for wilting plants with rotting crowns or white fungus at the base, and pull them out.
Day 100: Last top dressing and earthing up
Give the rest of the urea and earth up again. Water in long dry spells.
Harvest (Anihan)
Day 160: Dig the roots
Roots are richest in sugar at about 150 to 165 days after the seedlings come up. Dig them out, cut off the tops and deliver them quickly, since sugar drops after digging.
Watering sugar beet, stage by stage
Sugar beet is very rarely grown in the Philippines, only in trials. It is sown into moist soil at the start of the cool dry months, around November, and watered by furrow in long dry spells, with the rows kept draining because standing water rots the roots. Furrow irrigation between the rows, in the morning or late afternoon.
Sowing to a full stand. Leaf growth and root filling, when the plant builds its size.
| Stage | When | How often | How much |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sowing to coming up | Sowing day to day 14 | Sow into moist soil after the rains. Water the furrows if the soil is dry | A light furrow watering that wets the rows without crusting them |
| Leaf growth | Day 14 to 60 | Furrow water in dry spells. Water before thinning and after top dressing | Soak the rows, then drain |
| Roots filling | Day 60 to 130 | Keep watering by furrow in long dry spells. Water in the last top dressing | Soak the rows, never standing water |
| Before harvest | Day 130 to 160 | Stop watering about three to four weeks before digging, but keep some moisture so the roots do not break | No water, or one light watering if the soil turns hard |
Without irrigation. Sow at the start of the cool dry months, around November, so the crop starts on the moisture left after the rains. Late sowing gives smaller roots and less sugar.
In the dry season. Water by furrow in long dry spells through leaf growth and root filling, and stop about three to four weeks before digging. Water when the leaves stay limp into the late afternoon.
In the rainy season. Plant on ridges with open furrows and avoid fields that flood. Standing water rots the roots.
- Too little water: Leaves wilt through the afternoon, the canopy stays thin, and the roots stay small.
- Too much water: Leaves yellow and the roots rot from the tip or crown.
To water better for a higher yield: Water steadily through leaf growth and stop three to four weeks before digging for more sugar. Watering every other furrow saves water with little loss of yield.
Spacing, water and fertilizer for sugar beet
Spacing
Rows about 50 cm apart and hills about 20 cm apart, thinned to one plant a hill.
Water
Sown into moist soil after the rains and watered by furrow in long dry spells. Standing water rots the roots.
Fertilizer
Trial plots use balanced fertilizer by soil test, with about a third of the nitrogen at land preparation and the rest as urea in two top dressings at about 60 and 100 days. Beets need boron. To read what a bag really gives, see our guide to fertilizer for this crop.
Care and harvest
Care while it grows
Hand weeding at about 20, 40 and 60 days, thinning to one plant a hill at the second weeding, and earthing up at the top dressings.
When and how to harvest
Dug about five to five and a half months after the seedlings come up, topped and sent to the buyer the same day or the next.
Common mistakes when planting sugar beet
- Planting without a buyer or mill nearby to take the roots.
- Sowing late in the cool season, which cuts root size and sugar.
- Skipping thinning, so roots stay small.
- Planting on poorly drained land, where root rot spreads.
How to get a higher yield of sugar beet
The traditional way gets a crop, but small changes add up. These are the first things to change, one season at a time.
- Plant only under contract or a trial program with a sure buyer.
- Use tropical sugar beet seed, not temperate types.
- Test the soil and include boron.
- Sow on time at the start of the cool dry months and harvest on time.
anee.io helps with each of these. The NPK Plus calculator checks that your fertilizer plan feeds the yield you want, the pest and disease finders tell you what is on the leaves before you spray, and Anee, the smart farm technician answers your questions in Tagalog or English.
Members open this guide in the How to Plant tool and send every step to the Protocol Builder in one tap, each on its own day. There you can change the seed, the spacing and the fertilizer, then turn it into a cropping calendar for your lots.
Start from the traditional way, make it better, and let anee.io date every task from your own planting day. Free to start.
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