Effect of Date of Sowing on Growth, Yield and Quality of Beetroot (Beta vulgaris L.) Varieties at Kapilakot, Sindhuli, Nepal

A field experiment was carried out in the Horticulture farm of the College of Natural Resource Management, Kapilakot, Sindhuli, Nepal, from October 2020 to February 2021 to determine the optimum date of seed sowing on growth, yield, and quality of beetroot (Beta vulgaris L.) varieties. The experiment was laid out for nine treatment combinations from two factors in a randomized complete block design with four replications. The first factors comprised the three sowing dates (October 15, November 1 and November 15) while the second factors included three beetroot varieties (Action, Madhur and Ruby Red). The results revealed that sowing date and varieties significantly influenced the growth, yield, and quality parameters of beetroot. Among the date of sowing, plant height (43.04 cm), number of leaves per plant (14.24), leaf length (40.7), root length (10.66 cm), root diameter (64. 48 mm), individual root weight (192.72 gm), shoot weight per plant (133.69 gm), economic yield (32.11 t ha-1), biological yield (52.7 t ha-1), root dry matter (10.66%), and leaf dry matter (9.16 %) were significantly highest in October 15 date of sowing. Similarly, canopy diameter (39.97) and leaf breadth (11.4 cm) were statistically higher on the November 1 date of sowing. Likewise, among the varieties, plant height (43.12 cm), leaf length (40.7 cm), root length (10.66 cm), root diameter (63.83 mm), individual root weight (190.37 gm), shoot weight per plant (128.4 gm), economic yield (31.72 t ha-1), biological yield (53.12 t ha-1), and root dry matter (10.66%) were significantly higher in Action variety. Likewise, a total soluble solid was found to be maximum (12.040Brix) on October 15 sowing date and the pH of beetroot juice was recorded as highest (6.62) on November 1 sowing date. Therefore, based on the results of the experiment, October 15 sowing and variety Action was better for optimum yield and quality beetroot production in Sindhuli, Nepal.