Sugar- and starch producing crops produce sugar or starch in large amounts, and therefore are grown commercially. For sugar production the main crops are sugar beet, Beta vulgaris, and sugar cane, Saccharum officinarum. The first one is important in temperate areas (Sugar and starch plants 2), the second in the tropics (Sugar and starch plants 3).

Several palms yield sugar as well, e.g. the sugar palm, Arenga pinnata (see Phoenix dactylifera); the African fan palm, Borassus aethiopicum; and the date palm, Phoenix dactylifera. In Canada and the northern part of the US, maple sugar is obtained by boiling the sugar-containing juice, which is extracted by cutting the bark of the sugar maple, Acer saccharum (Family Aceraceae or Maple family), in spring.

For starch production, the potato, Solanum tuberosum; and the cassava, Manihot esculenta, are the most important species. A large variety of substances are made from starch. Also edible canna, Canna edulis (Family Cannaceae), is grown commercially for starch.

Cereal starch is mainly obtained from bread wheat, Triticum aestivum; maize, Zea mays, and rice, Oryza sativa. Starch from the sago palm, Metroxylon sagu, provides the staple food for the populations of the South-western part of the Pacific Ocean.
Fine grained starch, easily digested, is obtained from the arrowroot, Maranta arundinacea, and the taro, Colocasia esculenta.

Other starch containing crops, not having industrial purposes, are root crops and cereals; both are used as food. See also Root crops and Grain crops and pseudo-cereals.