b'Furthermore, the tolerance and resistance level can be tested in bioassays and in field trials.Loock says sugar beet cultivation feeds various value chains, as they:(1)are used for the production of sugar and ethanol(2)serve as substrate for biogas plants and(3)form one valuable feedstock in livestock farmingWhile most of the agronomic breeding targets are the same such as abiotic & biotic stress tolerance, effective weed control, nutrient-efficiency, certain differences in breeding targets are notable. Loock shares some examples: A) The processing quality of beets, i.e. the content of Amino-N/Sodium/Potassium, the so-called molasses-formingHendrik Tschoep Christophe Verlaineconstituents, is not of relevance for the use in biogas plants or livestock farming, but is highly important in the production of sugar as it determines the rate of recovery of sugar from the beets; B) the position of beets in the soil which, for the use in extensive feeding systems has to be high, to allow animals to easily grab and pull out beets from the ground. Our company therefore develops varieties for a specific "grazing beet" profile (vs. standard sugar beets). BREEDING FOR SUGAR, ALCOHOL AND BIOETHANOLFriehe underlines that Betaseed has a clear focus on the key success factors resistance breeding and sugar yield since both simultaniously increase the effeciency for bioethanol production and other usages like biogas. At the moment, sugar beets are primarily cultivated forHenning Friehe Andreas Loocksugar production by the sugar industry (more than 95% of global sugar beet acreage). The requirements from thisvalue chain dominate the portfolio and breeding targets of KWS compared to beets for the use in biogas plants/beet feeding, says Loock. According to him, the use of sugar beets for ethanol/alcohol pro-duction does not go along with specific breeding targets today as it is a side product of large sugar producers, which only during the season will determine whether beets are used for sugar or ethanol production. Hence, the features which are relevant for production of sugar form the set of breeding targets, he adds.Past studies have shown that the varieties with the best sugar yield have also the higher potential in alcohol/bioethanol production, says Tschoep. We follow the trends carefully and integrate the demands into our R&D pipeline. He also under-lines there certainly is a physiological limit to the capacity to store sugar in a sugar beet tap root. We believe there is still a bit of margin to increase sugar content, but this will certainly be at the expense of overall sugar yield.The main targets of alcohol and bioethanol production areMichael Stangethe same as for sugar consumption: sugar yield per hectare, EUROPEAN-SEED.COMIEUROPEAN SEED I 7'