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Sugar Beet

Sugar Crops

The sugar beet is a root crop bred for a high concentration of sucrose, grown commercially for sugar extraction in temperate climates unsuited to sugarcane. Unlike most crops in this atlas, it is not an ancient domestication but a deliberate 18th-century breeding programme: the modern sugar beet emerged in Silesia under the sponsorship of the Prussian king Frederick the Great, with the white Silesian variety, developed from 1786, becoming the progenitor of every contemporary sugar beet cultivar. Beyond sugar, its pulp and molasses byproducts are used as animal feed, and it is also grown for ethanol production. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Scientific Name
Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris (Altissima cultivar group) 2
Crop Class
Sugar 3
Domestication Region
Silesia (a deliberate 18th-century breeding programme, not an ancient domestication) 2
Domesticated When (Circa)
From 1786 (white Silesian variety, the progenitor of contemporary cultivars) 2
Classification
Life Cycle
Annual 1
Life Cycle
Biennial 1
Primary Use
Fuel 2
Era
Era (category)
Early Modern 2
Era (category)
Contemporary (post-1950) 2
In the Other Atlases

Era Of Origin

Also in History Atlas: the era this subject comes from.

Also in History Atlas: the era this subject comes from.

Found In

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Source Wikipedia: Sugar beettier 2
Sources
1. USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database: USDA PLANTS profile data for Beta vulgaris
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS DatabasePlantProfile, Durations
Quote, PlantProfile, Durations
"Durations": [ "Annual", "Biennial" ]
View the Source
2. Wikipedia: Sugar beet
Wikipedia
  • lead section, History
  • lead description or Wikipedia lead (primary-uses)
    Beyond sugar, its pulp and molasses byproducts are used as animal feed, and it is also grown for ethanol production.
View the Source
3. Sugar beet (Wikipedia)
lead: grown commercially for sugar productionView the Source

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