Detroit Dark Red
The standard main-crop beet across India and much of the world — round, smooth, dark blood-red roots with fine internal colour and little zoning, the safe default choice.
Quick facts
- Type
- Open-pollinated
- Season
- Rabi
- Maturity period
- ~80–100 days (TNAU)
- Seed rate
- 6–9 kg/ha sown in lines (about 2.5–3.5 kg/acre)
- Expected yield
- 25–30 t/ha
- Suitable soil
- Loam
- Disease resistance
- No special resistance claimed
Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.
About this variety
Detroit Dark Red is an open-pollinated main-crop beetroot, grown across India and widely elsewhere. NHB describes perfectly round beets with smooth, uniform red skin and dark red flesh with light red zoning. The flesh is tender and fine-grained, the tops are small, and the crop matures in 80 to 100 days. NHB and TNAU both call it a heavy yielder, and TNAU names it among the popular beetroot varieties. The roots are about 5 to 7 cm across, and the leaves are dark green tinged with maroon. It has been the reference variety for decades and the seed is easy to find, which makes it the safe first choice for most farmers.
Should you pick this variety?
Choose Detroit Dark Red if you want the variety most buyers already know and you do not want to experiment. TNAU names it among the popular beetroot varieties and calls it a heavy yielder. It takes 80 to 100 days, gives round, smooth roots of 5 to 7 cm with dark blood-red flesh, and shows light red zoning. Do not choose it for the earliest market, since TNAU gives 55 to 60 days for Crimson Globe and Crosby Egyptian. Do not choose it either if you need the highest yield, since the hybrid types are listed at 30 to 40 t/ha against its 25 to 30 t/ha.
Sowing & cultivation
- 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
Advantages & considerations
Why farmers may choose it
- Round, smooth, uniform roots that grade well.
- Deep blood-red flesh with only light zoning (TNAU).
- Widely available and easy to source every season.
Things to consider
- No special disease resistance — a good seedbed still decides root shape more than the variety
Suitable regions
States this variety is recommended for — check locally, since a state can have more than one recommended zone.
- Uttar Pradesh
- Maharashtra
- Karnataka
- Punjab
- Haryana
From sowing to selling: a three-lot calendar for an 80 to 100 day crop
Detroit Dark Red takes 80 to 100 days. Sown on 15 October, it is ready between about 3 and 23 January. If you sow the whole plot on one day, you also lift it in a short window and hand your buyer a glut.
TNAU's lecture note recommends staggered sowing at 1 to 2 weeks interval for a steady supply. Split the plot into three lots 15 days apart. Sow the first on 15 October, the second on 30 October and the third on 14 November. The lots then come ready around 3 to 23 January, 18 January to 7 February and 2 to 22 February. Each lot is a third of the plot, so your labour, washing and transport are spread over about seven weeks.
Use TNAU's field steps for every lot. Plough to a fine tilth, form ridges 30 cm apart, sow on the ridge, irrigate heavily straight after sowing, and thin to one seedling per hill at 20 days. If the later lots meet warm weather, they are the ones to watch. TNAU's lecture note says high temperature causes zoning, the pale and dark rings in the root, so check that the last lot is not pushed into rising heat.
Can you keep your own planting material?
This is an open-pollinated variety, so seed from a healthy crop of your own can be sown again. Keep seed only from disease-free plants, dry it properly, store it cool and dry, and bring in fresh certified seed every three to four years so the variety does not drift.
How it compares with other varieties
Every Beetroot (Chukandar) variety with a page on this site, side by side. The row for this page is highlighted.
| Variety | Best for | Maturity | Yield | States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crimson Globe | Farmers who want a quick main-crop beet with crimson flesh and no ring-zoning | ~55–60 days (TNAU) | Best plot 31.7 t/ha marketable in a Gujarat trial (30 October sowing, 30 x 15 cm) | Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Bihar |
| Crosby Egyptian | Farmers who need a very quick beet to fill a gap between crops or to start a staggered sowing | ~55–60 days (TNAU) | No variety figure published (25–30 t/ha is the general beetroot figure) | Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana |
| Detroit Dark Redthis page | Farmers who want one safe, widely available main-crop beetroot with deep red flesh | ~80–100 days (TNAU) | 25–30 t/ha | Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab, Haryana |
| Early Wonder | Farmers near a city who can sell roots tied with their tops as a bunching beet | ~55–60 days | No variety figure published (25–30 t/ha is the general beetroot figure) | Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Delhi |
| MSH-102 (hybrid types) | Larger commercial and processing farmers who need very uniform, high-yielding roots and will buy fresh seed every season | ~80–95 days | 30–40 t/ha | Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab |
| Ooty 1 | Hill farmers in the Nilgiris and similar cool areas of Tamil Nadu who want a beet bred for their weather | ~120 days (TNAU) | ~28 t/ha (TNAU) | Tamil Nadu |
| Ruby Queen | Farmers who sell small, tender, sweet beets to the young-beet and salad trade | ~55–65 days | No variety figure published (25–30 t/ha is the general beetroot figure) | Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka |
Tools for this crop
The numbers you need next: how much seed to buy, whether the lot germinates, what the fertilizer bill looks like and what Beetroot (Chukandar) is selling for.
- Seed Rate CalculatorHow much seed your Beetroot (Chukandar) plot needs, corrected for the germination of the lot you bought.
- Germination CalculatorTest 100 seeds from the bag before sowing and see whether the lot is fit to sow.
- Seed Variety FinderFilter every Beetroot (Chukandar) variety on this site by state, season, duration and soil.
- Fertilizer CalculatorTurn the NPK recommendation for Beetroot (Chukandar) into bags of urea, DAP and MOP for your field size.
- Crop CalendarMonth-by-month sowing, weeding, irrigation and harvest dates for Beetroot (Chukandar) in your state.
- Crop Profit CalculatorPut your seed, labour and input costs against the yield you expect from this variety.
- Mandi Price CheckerToday's Beetroot (Chukandar) rate in your nearest mandi, before you fix a price with a trader.
Subsidy and government support
Schemes that help with the cost of Beetroot (Chukandar) seed or planting material. Rules and the application route are on each scheme page.
Frequently asked questions
What yield should I plan on for Detroit Dark Red?
TNAU gives two figures for beetroot in general, not by variety. Its Agritech page says 20 to 25 t/ha for a crop of 120 days. Its lecture note says 25 to 30 t/ha. NHB calls Detroit Dark Red a heavy yielder that matures in 80 to 100 days. Plan on the lower 20 to 25 t/ha until you have weighed a crop of your own. A Gujarat trial shows how much management matters: its weakest plot, 7.48 t/ha marketable, was Detroit Dark Red sown on 15 October and spaced 15 x 15 cm. One hectare is about 2.5 acres, so 20 to 25 t/ha is roughly 8 to 10 tonnes an acre.
Why must I thin Detroit Dark Red, and when?
A beet 'seed' is really a dry seed ball holding 2 to 6 seeds, so a row comes up crowded. TNAU says to thin to a single seedling per hill about 20 days after sowing. TNAU's Agritech page sows 10 cm apart on ridges 30 cm apart with about 6 kg of seed a hectare, and its lecture note gives rows 45 to 60 cm apart, plants 8 to 10 cm apart and 5 to 6 kg a hectare. Use 6 to 9 kg of seed a hectare with plants 8 to 12 cm apart. Crowded plants make small, misshapen roots.
How much manure and fertiliser does beetroot need?
TNAU gives 20 t/ha of FYM and 60:160:100 kg/ha of N, P and K as basal, then another 60 kg/ha of N at 30 days. For drip fertigation it gives 120:160:100 kg/ha over a crop of 120 days. These are TNAU figures for beetroot in general, not for Detroit Dark Red in particular. A soil test from your KVK will tell you whether your field needs the full phosphorus dose.
Which diseases and pests hit Detroit Dark Red?
TNAU names leaf miner and flea beetle as the pests, and Cercospora leaf spot and Rhizoctonia root rot as the diseases. Its lecture note adds web worms, semi-loopers and downy mildew. This variety has no special resistance. TNAU drenches root rot spots with carbendazim at 1 g a litre. The lecture note also warns that beet needs boron, and a shortage causes internal black or dry rot. Product choices change, so ask your KVK which sprays are allowed now before you buy any.
Can I save my own Detroit Dark Red seed?
It is open-pollinated, so seed from your plants will come true to type, unlike hybrid seed. But TNAU's lecture note says every beetroot cultivar is a temperate biennial. Seed is made in hills above 1400 m, where a cold spell of 4.4 to 7.7 degrees C for 6 to 8 weeks makes the plant flower. The usual way is root-to-seed: sow in July, dig good roots in November and December, and replant them in rows 60 cm apart with plants 45 to 60 cm apart. Beet is wind-pollinated, and TNAU asks for 1000 m isolation for certified seed. Average seed yield is 2.0 t/ha. On a plains farm, buy fresh seed every season.
Sourced from: Beet root (Beta vulgaris) — TNAU Agritech Portal, Horticulture, Beet root: origin, varieties, package of practices — TNAU eAgri HORT 281, Lecture 30, Beet: varieties, soil and climate — National Horticulture Board (NHB), Patel et al., Production and profitability of beetroot cultivars to date of planting and spacing, north Gujarat, Int. J. Chemical Studies 5(5), 2017. editorial policy.