Innovations
with roots
Preparing sugarbeet for new challenges
Sugarbeet is one of the highest-yielding arable crops in temperate climates. However, climate change, requirements to reduce the use of crop protection products, and diseases such as Cercospora and the recently emerged SBR-RTD disease complex are challenging cultivation. Under these circumstances, how can sugarbeet remain high-yielding and resilient? We take a close-up look at a crop that has allowed KWS to demonstrate the potential of plant breeding for 170 years.
Sugarbeet is
cultivated on
around
4.1 million ha
worldwide
In the mid-19th century, a success story began in the village of Klein Wanzleben in the fertile Magdeburger Börde region that continues to shape sugarbeet to this day. It was here that Matthias Christian Rabbethge recognized its potential early on and acquired a majority stake in a sugar factory in 1856. Just two decades later, seed production had replaced sugar production as the company’s core business. The unique understanding of the requirements of crop cultivation and sugar production still shapes KWS today.
A crop that sets the standard
More than 170 years of breeding work have fundamentally transformed the performance of sugarbeet. While the average sugar yield per hectare in Germany was still in the low single-digit metric ton range around 1860, it can now reach more than 13 metric tons.
For Jens Christoph Lein, Head of Sugarbeet Breeding at KWS, this is also due to the crop’s remarkable capacity for development: “Hardly any other crop offers as many breeding opportunities as sugarbeet,” says the expert. “What fascinates me about sugarbeet is that we have a broad range of scientific and technical possibilities in breeding and research and can translate them into products that offer our customers real added value.”
Sugarbeet must continuously prove its value in crop rotation. That’s why we’re working simultaneously on increasing sugar yield, improving leaf health, and developing additional resistance traits.
Jens Christoph Lein |
Head of Sugarbeet Breeding at KWS
New risks, new challenges
Today, these opportunities in breeding are particularly relevant. “Climate change is altering the conditions under which sugarbeet is grown. New pests and diseases are becoming more widespread, and regulations on crop protection are becoming more restrictive. That’s why we need to make the plants themselves more resilient,” says Jens Christoph Lein. In many agricultural regions, Cercospora is now one of the most economically damaging diseases affecting sugarbeet. It is caused by the fungus Cercospora beticola, which can spread rapidly under warm and humid conditions. The result: significant yield losses and reduced processing quality.
In addition, SBR (Syndrome Basses Richesses) and RTD (Rubbery Taproot Disease) occur in Central and Southeast Europe. The pathogens are transmitted by different species of glass-winged planthoppers. SBR causes widespread yellowing of leaves and a decrease in sugar content, while RTD turns the beet into what is known as a rubber beet, making it difficult to process. This disease complex is putting significant pressure on cultivation in some regions of Europe.
KWS background
More control in the field
Modern sugarbeet breeding does not focus solely on positive variety traits. It also enables integrated solutions in which variety, crop protection, and cultivation management work together. One example is the CONVISO® SMART system.
Weed control plays a particularly important role in sugarbeet cultivation. The plants develop slowly in their early stages and are therefore particularly susceptible to competition from weeds during this phase. The CONVISO® SMART system combines sugarbeet varieties specially developed by KWS with a corresponding, broadly effective herbicide, which was not previously available for this crop. The system helps control even hard-to-manage weeds that would otherwise reduce the yield.
Breeding provides answers
At KWS, breeding takes a holistic approach. Although increasing sugar yield per hectare remains the primary goal, it is not enough on its own. At the same time, modern varieties must become more resistant to pests and diseases and perform reliably under different cultivation conditions. But progress doesn’t happen overnight. “It often takes fifteen or more years of research and breeding work to go from identifying a promising trait to developing a marketable variety,” explains Jens Christoph Lein. KWS sugarbeet breeding programs cover a broad spectrum – from Cercospora, SBR, and RTD to virus yellows and soil-borne fungi such as Rhizoctonia.
Cercospora is a particularly good example of the contribution that long-term, forward-looking breeding efforts can make. KWS varieties with CR+ genetics are now grown on more than 500,000 hectares in Europe and North America and deliver consistent yields even under high disease pressure. When combined with an appropriate cultivation strategy, they form an important component of integrated disease management. Because Cercospora beticola is highly adaptable, KWS is consistently refining its approach and is already working on the next generation of resistance solutions.
Good to know
A native sugar champion.
Today, about 20 percent of the sugar produced worldwide comes from sugarbeet. While sugarcane is grown primarily as a perennial monoculture in tropical and subtropical regions, sugarbeet is the most important native sugar crop in temperate climates. It is primarily used to produce sugar, but is also in demand for energy production and animal feed.
KWS breeding efforts have also resulted in significant progress with SBR and RTD in a short period of time. With varieties such as JOSEPHINA KWS, MARABELLA KWS, or ELSABELLA KWS, there are now products available that were developed specifically for affected regions and still deliver high performance under disease pressure.
However, in the development of solutions, breeding does not focus solely on cultivation requirements. Close exchange with sugar producers and other companies in the food sector also provides important input. “We discuss almost daily: What is actually needed in the different markets?” says Jens Christoph Lein. KWS continues to deliver a very high standard in key characteristics such as juice quality and sugar content.
KWS background
Sugarbeet in numbers
Sources: BLE, Bericht zur Markt- und Versorgungslage Zucker 2026; WVZ/VdZ, zuckerverbaende.de
The power of wild relatives
Breeders are also looking to wild beets of the species Beta maritima to find answers to tomorrow’s challenges. These can carry genetic traits that are not yet present in the current breeding material, such as resistance to diseases, heat, or drought. The resistances to rhizomania, nematodes, and Cercospora developed by KWS are already based on such genetic resources. “We’ve been investing in research on wild beet for years and see a great deal of potential there for the next generation of varieties,” explains Jens Christoph Lein.
From the earliest breeding work in Klein Wanzleben to modern high-yield varieties, sugarbeet has undergone constant change. The next chapters of this success story are already being written: in trial fields, in laboratories, and through close collaboration with farmers and sugar producers
History
The journey to the modern beet
The breakthrough of the sugarbeet as a sugar crop is also thanks to Napoleon. When his Continental Blockade in the early 19th century made it difficult to import cane sugar, sugar from locally grown beet was suddenly in high demand. The foundation for this had already been laid by the scientist Franz Carl Achard. By selecting beets with particularly high sugar content, he paved the way for their use in large-scale sugar production – an important step toward the modern sugarbeet.
