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 NameBeta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris (Altissima cultivar group) 1 Domestication RegionSilesia (a deliberate 18th-century breeding programme, not an ancient domestication) 1 Domesticated When (Circa)From 1786 (white Silesian variety, the progenitor of contemporary cultivars) 1 Era
Era (category) Era (category)Contemporary (post-1950) 1 In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. 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 2. Sugar beet (Wikipedia)
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