The sugar beet has a conical, white, fleshy root (a taproot) with a flat crown. The plant consists of the root and a rosette of leaves. Sugar is formed by photosynthesis in the leaves and is then stored in the root.
The root of the beet

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Modern sugar beets date back to mid-18th century Silesia where Frederick the Great, king of Prussia, subsidised experiments aimed at processes for

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The sugar beet, like sugarcane, needs a peculiar soil and a proper climate for its successful cultivation. The most important requirement is the soil must contain a large supply of nutrients, be rich in humus, and be able to contain a great deal of moisture. A certain

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In 1935, the inputs required to process 1 short ton (2,000.00 lb; 907.18 kg) of beets to sugar was outlined as follows:
• 80

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The world harvested 250,191,362 metric tons (246,200,000 long tons; 275,800,000 short tons) of sugar beets in 2013. The world's largest producer

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Beverages
In a number of countries, notably the Czech Republic and Slovakia, beet sugar is used to make a rum-like distilled spirit called Tuzemak.

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Sugar beets are an important part of a crop rotation cycle.
Sugar beet plants are susceptible to Rhizomania("root

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