Detroit Dark Red

Detroit Dark Red is the standard main-crop beetroot grown across India and much of the world, an open-pollinated variety with round, smooth, dark blood-red roots about 5–7 cm across, fine even internal colour, and little of the internal ring-zoning that spoils lesser types. The compact plant carries dark green, red-veined leaves. It has been the benchmark variety for decades and remains widely available and easy to source, making it the safe default choice for most growers.

Plant typeOpen-pollinated
Maturity~80–90 days
Yield potential25–30 t/ha
Disease resistanceNo special resistance; good field tolerance of leaf spot
SoilLoam
SeasonRabi

• Sowing timeSeptember to November in the northern plains; October to December further south
• Seed rate6–9 kg/ha sown in lines (about 2.5–3.5 kg/acre)
• SpacingRows 30–45 cm apart; thin to 8–12 cm between plants

Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.

• Uttar Pradesh
• Maharashtra
• Karnataka
• Punjab
• Haryana

• Crimson Globe

  A popular main-crop open-pollinated variety with globe-shaped, smooth, medium-large roots of deep crimson flesh and a sweet, mild flavour — similar in use to Detroit Dark Red, sometimes a little quicker.

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• Early Wonder

  A quick early open-pollinated variety with slightly flattened-globe (top-shaped) roots and tall, upright, bronzy-green tops that make a good "bunching beet" sold with the leaves on.

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• Crosby Egyptian

  An old, very early open-pollinated variety with flattened, top-shaped, smooth dark red roots and small tops — fast to a marketable size, suiting catch-cropping and the earliest sowings.

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• Ooty 1

  A TNAU (Horticultural Research Station, Ooty) selection with round roots and a uniform deep blood-red flesh, bred for the Nilgiris and hill conditions, high-yielding under cool hill weather.

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• Ruby Queen

  A widely sold variety with small-to-medium, smooth, round roots of tender, sweet, deep-ruby flesh with little zoning even when slightly over-mature — good for the tender young-beet and salad trade.

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• MSH-102 (hybrid types)

  Private-company F1 hybrid beetroots (from Indo-American, Nunhems, Syngenta and others), sold under names like MSH-102, grown by larger commercial and processing growers for very uniform, high-yielding roots.

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