In certain countries, sugar cane is eaten raw in minor quantities. It also is used in the preparation of juices and for animal feed. However, sugar and syrups are also produced from the sap of certain species of maple trees, from sweet sorghum when cultivated explicitly for making syrup and from sugar palm. Sugar beets that are cultivated solely as a fodder crop and red or garden beets that are classified as vegetable crops are excluded from the FAO list of sugar crops.
Sugar beet is an annual crop that is propagated by the seeds of the flowers.
It is cultivated in cooler climates than sugar cane, mainly above the 35th parallel of the Northern Hemisphere. Both sugar beets and sugar cane have a high water content, accounting for about 75 percent of the total weight of the plants. The sugar content of sugar cane ranges from 10 to 15 percent of the total weight, while that of sugar beets is between 13 and 18 percent. The protein and fat content of both beets and cane is almost nil. Production data on sugar beets and sugar cane relate to the harvested crop, free of soil, plant tops and leaves.