Sugar beets
<p><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/276_Beta_vulgaris_L.jpg/220px-276_Beta_vulgaris_L.jpg" />
<b>Beet sugar</b>, a cultivated plant of <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_vulgaris" title="Beta vulgaris" class="mw-redirect" >Beta vulgaris</a></i>, is a plant whose<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuber" title="Tuber" >tuber</a> contains a high concentration of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sucrose" title="Sucrose" >sucrose</a>. It is grown commercially for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar" title="Sugar" >sugar</a> production. Sugar beets and other <i>B. vulgaris</i> cultivars such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beetroot" title="Beetroot" >beetroot</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chard" title="Chard" >chard</a> share a common wild ancestor, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_beet" title="Sea beet" >sea beet</a> (<i>Beta vulgaris maritima</i>).<sup id="cite_ref-springer_0-0" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_beet#cite_note-springer-0" >[1]</a></sup></p>
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In 2009, France, the United States, Germany, Russia and Turkey were the world's five largest sugar beet producers.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_beet#cite_note-1" >[2]</a></sup> Despite the sugar beet harvest, in 2010-2011, North America, Western Europe and Eastern Europe did not produce enough sugar from sugar beet; these regions were all net importers of sugar.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_beet#cite_note-2" >[3]</a></sup> The U.S. harvested 1,004,600 acres (4 065 km²) of sugarbeets in 2008.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_beet#cite_note-3" >[4]</a></sup> In 2009, sugar beet accounted for 20 percent of the world's sugar production.<sup id="cite_ref-agrisugar1_4-0" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_beet#cite_note-agrisugar1-4" >[5]</a></sup></p>
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