The Times (London)

By Frankie Edozien

THE Internet has spawned a host of new celebrities, but few more esoteric than Bertie the sugar beet, which receives dozens of e-mails a day.

Bertie, which now spans 20 inches, is being grown at a Suffolk farm where a webcam has been trained on it since it was planted in April. The website has an international following. Fans of Bertie, an acronym for Beet Report to Interested Enthusiasts, have followed its life from seedling through an adolescent phase -it stopped growing -to its current battle with sapsucking aphids.

Bertie was originally designed as part of a weekly Internet information bulletin from the Broom’s Barn Experimental Station at Higham, near Bury St Edmunds, but it became so popular after being featured on the farm’s website that a separate site was set up. Dr Alan Dewar keeps a diary of its progress. He said that Bertie’s fans were worldwide.

“It is as if Bertie knows that he has superstar status because he is coming on in leaps and bounds. He is all green and healthy, but neighbouring plants have been attacked by a virus that turns the leaves yellow. Bertie is a real star,” Dr Dewar added.

Fans have worried over the aphids that carry the growth-stunting yellow virus lurking in his foliage and noticed spiders, larvae, and flies. Bertie’s stardom will, however, be short lived. It will be harvested in October by hand and that too will be on camera.

“I am sorry to say that it won’t be a terribly pleasant end for Bertie. He will be sliced up and then boiled to extract the sugar inside him which will eventually end up on supermarket shelves,” Dr Dewar said. Fans can click on www.bertiethebeet.co.uk