Complete: Early-sown bolting trials to characterise varietal bolting

The BBRO vernalization-intensity bolting model for sugar beet - initially reported in the final report of an earlier BBRO Project and published in its final version in a peer-reviewed scientific paper - provides an objective way of quantifying seasonal intensities of vernalization and defining the bolting characteristics of particular varieties. It has the potential to predict the numbers of bolters that varieties will produce when sown on particular dates in the different factory areas in a given growing season. However, this requires the threshold vernalization requirement and bolting sensitivity parameters of the model to be characterised for current commercial varieties and those likely to replace them in the future. The parameterisation requires varietal bolting to be assessed under more intensively vernalizing conditions than those provided by the present system of BBRO early-sown bolter trials.