Xbeet, a new generation of seed priming treatment could advance sugar beet emergence by one or two days, over the current standard Advantage, according to Veronique Heyes of Germain’s Technology Group.

The new treatment took the priming process, which temporarily starts germination in the factory prior to the seed being pelleted, a stage further by putting more heat units into the seed, she explained. “The degree of advancement is higher without any detriment to the seed. Seed safety is perfect.”

It meant that when the seed was planted it typically emerged one to two days faster than Advantage-treated seed, which itself was one to three days earlier than untreated seed, according to trials and commercial experience in the USA.

The faster establishment meant sugar content per hectare had increased by about 5% over Advantage in those trials, she said.

Growers should grasp Xbeet, already commercially available in the USA, as soon as it became available in the UK – possibly as early as 2009 – to help lift yields towards the 70t/ha target, British Sugar’s Robin Limb told growers. “It has shown real benefits.”