Transcript Slide 1

Growing sugar beet
Learning objectives:
• Recognise the stages of farming sugar beet
• Understand why sugar beet contains a high
concentration of sugar
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Sugar beet
Sugar beet is a large pale brown root crop, similar to parsnip and has a sugar
content of approximately 16% when it is harvested. It grows in the temperate
climes of Europe and North America.
Britain's first sugar beet crop was grown and
processed in Norfolk almost 100 years ago.
Today there are over 4,000 sugar beet
growers in the UK, many of whom are
situated in East Anglia. This is mainly due to
the flat land which is suited for farming.
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Introduction to the UK
In the United Kingdom sugar beet provides just over half
of all the sugar consumed.
The beet sugar industry in Britain began in the 1920s to:
• Make Britain more self-sufficient in sugar production
after the shortages of World War I (1914-1918)
• Boost the depressed agricultural industry by growing a
valuable cash crop
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Growing sugar beet
Preparing the fields for sugar beet begins in August and September when the
soil is tested to check the level of minerals and acidity in the soil before the field
is ploughed.
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Planting the crop
Drilling (sowing) seeds in the earth, generally takes place in early March to mid
April, but can be influenced by seasonal weather conditions.
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Choice of seeds
There are six different types of seed, which
are selected for their:
• Early or late germination
• Resistance to disease
• Suitability to different soil types
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Spraying
Nitrogen fertilizer is applied in April and May to help the crop grow. Specialist
herbicides may be sprayed over the fields between April and June to help
prevent weeds growing.
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The campaign
Timing is critical in the growing and harvesting of
sugar beet.
The harvesting period, known as the campaign,
takes place between September and February when
the amount of sugar in the beet is at its highest.
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The campaign
Harvesters cut off the top and leaves of the sugar beet. The tops are used as
animal feed for cattle and sheep or are ploughed back into the land as a natural
fertilizer.
Sugar beet fields create important resources for wildlife, in particular rare
species of birds, such as pink footed geese which feed on the remaining beet
tops.
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The campaign
The crop is harvested and delivered according to factory demands and is spread
evenly through the delivery period. A small percentage of the crop towards the
end of the campaign is stored in clamps, which are protected from potential frost
by clamp covering materials, such as hay bales, before delivery to the factory.
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Transport
Sugar beet is a heavy, bulky crop and
the sugar factories have been built in
the beet growing areas to reduce
transport distances.
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Producers or consumers?
When a plant grows, it uses light (from the
sun) to make its food.
Plants are called producers because they
make (produce) their own food.
Insects and animals that eat plants are called consumers.
This is because they eat (consume) the plants for food. They
do not make their own food.
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Photosynthesis
All green plants produce sugars. They take up
water and minerals from the soil through their
roots and carbon dioxide through their leaves.
Leaves contain a green substance called
chlorophyll (this gives plants their characteristic
colour).
Photosynthesis is the process which plants
use to produce their food (glucose, a simple
sugar). Chlorophyll absorbs light from the sun.
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Photosynthesis
The sugars produced by photosynthesis provide
an immediate source of energy for plants to live
and grow.
If a plant makes more than it uses up, it must
store it. The excess glucose is turned into sugar
or starch. Sugar is made by sugar beet and
stored in the root.
Excess sugars can be stored as sucrose. This
provides an energy reserve at night, when plants
cannot photosynthesise.
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Respiration
Respiration is the process where plants use
the food they make, allowing them to grow
and produce leaves, flowers and seeds or
fruit. Respiration occurs at any time of day
or night.
If plants are placed too close together, they
will compete for light, nutrients and water in
the ground and not grow well.
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Label the parts of a beet:
Word bank:
•Leaves
Leaves
•Stem
•Roots
Stem
Roots
Which part of the sugar beet is used to make food?
Which part of the sugar beet absorbs the water?
What is the main route of transfer from the leaves to the root?
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KS4
Producing sugars
The term used to describe the process by which plants make sugar is
photosynthesis. It comes from the Greek word photo (light) and synthesis
(putting together), so in simple terms plants use light to join water and carbon
dioxide.
The chlorophyll uses light energy from the sun to combine carbon dioxide and
water to produce sugar. The by-product of this process is oxygen.
sunlight and chlorophyll
6 CO2 + 6 H2O
→
C6H12O6+ 6O2
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KS4
Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis is carried out in cells in the leaves. As a result of photosynthesis
the sugars glucose, fructose and sucrose are produced. The process of
osmosis allows glucose molecules to move out of cells in the leaves and around
the plant.
Sugars are also used as building blocks for making all the other substances
which plants need for growth and repair. For example, sugars can be used to
make complex substances (dietary fibre) which form plant cell walls and provide
the plant with structure and support.
Glucose can be used by plants to make starch which is made up of long,
branched chains of glucose.
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Describe in detail where the parts of the
plant below would be found:
Stomata
Word bank:
•Xylem
•Phloem
•Root hairs
•Stomata
Xylem
Phloem
Root hairs
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KS4
KS4
Parts of the plant
The xylem carries water from the roots to the leaves and stems of the plant.
Inside the cell where photosynthesis occurs, the concentration of glucose and
sucrose (sugar) will be higher.
The main function of the stomata is to allow gases such as carbon dioxide,
water vapor and oxygen to move rapidly into and out of the leaf.
The glucose and other sugars move from the cells in the leaf to be stored in the
root through the channel called the phloem.
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