The effect of methanol and glycine amino acid foliar application on yield and some physiological traits of different fodder beet cultivars

In order to evaluate the morphological, quantitative and qualitative traits of different fodder beet cultivars (genotypes) under foliar application of methanol and the glycine betaine amino acid, the present study was conducted in 2018 in Hamedan and Qom. The experiment was designed as a factorial split plot in a randomized complete block with three replications. The studied factors were methanol at three levels of foliar application (control, 15 and 30% by volume of methanol) as the first factor, glycine at two levels (control and 4 gL-1 of methanol consumed) the second factor, and six fodder beet cultivars (SBSI050, SBSI051, SBSI052, Brunium, Jamon, and Kyros) as the third factor. Results showed a significant difference (P<0.01) among locations. The root yield in Hamedan region was 40.59 tha-1 more than Qom region. Methanol foliar application increased root yield by an average of 16.56 t ha-1 and dry matter yield by 2.85 tha-1 compared with control treatment. Glycine foliar application also made a significant difference in quantitative traits thorough the average total yield by 17.47 tha-1. There was no significant difference between different levels of methanol and glycine in qualitative traits including crude protein and root digestibility. A significant difference (P<0.01) was observed among genotypes. Based on the results of interaction between genotype and methanol, kyros treatment in Hamedan with applying 15% methanol concentration recorded 120 tha-1 root yield, 20 tha-1 root dry matter yield, and 142 tha-1 total yield which is recommended as the optimum option.