Sugarbeet

Sugarbeet (Beta vulgaris L. subsp. vulgaris) is an industrial crop grown commercially as a hybrid, with sucrose refined from the root as the plant constituent of interest. Yield of refined white sugar produced per unit area is a complex trait. Sugar yield is calculated by the root weight times the proportion of root that is sucrose, minus the amount of sucrose lost during processing, often expressed as percent loss to molasses or juice purity. Yields have risen in the last 100 yr from about 10% sucrose and 22.4 Mg ha?1 (10 t ac?1) to 18% sucrose and more than 65 Mg ha?1 (29.3 t ac?1). There also has been a shift in acreage from the western United States (especially California and Colorado) to the northern Midwest (Red River Valley). Although not all of this improvement is attributable to genetic improvement in the crop, a strong collaborative effort between commercial breeders and public breeders (USDA-ARS) has increased yield potential, while improving resistance to many diseases, leading to increases in yield. This continuing collaboration between private and public breeders will be necessary to meet the challenges of climate change and the utilization of beet as a sustainable biofuel and chemical feedstock