The Relationship of Heterodera schachtii Population Densities to Sugarbeet Yields.

Sugarbeet yields were contpared with field populations of Heterodera schachtii Schmidt. The correlation between sugarbeet yields and viable larvae/g of soil was negative and high, but that between sugarbeet yields and viable cysts/g of soil was lower. Sugarbeet yields were also compared with H. schachtii populations by years of rotation with a nonhost crop. The coefficients of correlation (r) between yield and viable larvae/g of soil were negative and high: 0 yr of rotation, -0.935; 1 yr, -0.922; 2 yr, -0.954; 3 yr, -0.935; and combined years, -0.965, with 95% confidence limits of -0.91 to -0.98 for combined years. The comparable correlation coefficients between yield and "viable cysts"/g of soil were negative and lower: 0 yr of rotation, -0.151; 1 yr, -0.022; 2 yr, -0.490; 3 yr, -0.456; and combined years, -0.586, with 95% confidence limits of -0.22 to -0.80 for the combined years.