ABSTRACT
Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) is a herbaceous dicotyledon belonging to the family Chenopodiaceae and it normally completes its life-cycle in two years. There are several different types of beet (Beta vulgaris L.), namely; sugar beet (B. vulgaris L. var. Saccharifera) which is the commercial beet of commerce for sugar production, garden beet (B. vulgaris L. var Esculenta), foliage beet or mangel (B. vulgaris L. var. Cicla) and forage beet (B. vulgaris L. var. Crassa). During the fi rst year it develops a swollen tap root in which much of the sucrose is stored and during the second year a fl owering stem is formed. The mature vegetative beet is an elongated pear-shaped storage organ consisting of a crown, neck and a tap root. The crown is an unelongated stem from which the rosette of leaves emerge. The large leaves are arranged on the crown in a close spiral and are variable in size, shape and colour.
