La betterave à sucre

Sugar beet
Sugar beet, illustration of root, leaf, and flowering patterns
Species	Beta vulgaris
Subspecies	Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris
Cultivar group	Altissima Group
Origin	Silesia, mid-18th century

A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and which is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (Beta vulgaris). Together with other beet cultivars, such as beetroot and chard, it belongs to the subspecies Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris. Its closest wild relative is the sea beet (Beta vulgaris subsp. maritima).

In 2013, Russia, France, the United States, Germany and Turkey were the world's five largest sugar beet producers. In 2010–2011, North America and Europe did not produce enough sugar from sugar beets to meet overall domestic demand for sugar and were all net importers of sugar. The US harvested 1,004,600 acres (406,547 ha) of sugar beets in 2008. In 2009, sugar beets accounted for 20% of the world's sugar production and nearly 30% by 2013.