Another disappointing beet campaign in EU: Weather, lack of active substances, massive imports…

Another disappointing campaign, with mounting difficulties: EU institutions must stop dragging the sugar beet sector into disaster! This year’s sugar beet campaign is shaping up to be another disappointment for many European growers, except in a few regions. Once again, spring, summer and autumn have brought challenging and unpredictable weather conditions for many of us. These adverse climatic factors have exacerbated the current difficulties in adequately protecting crops from pests and diseases, challenges that are becoming increasingly structural. Plant health status remains a priority issue as weed, pest and disease pressure continues to increase. Foliar diseases, mildew and in particular cercospora have been particularly severe in many European regions with excessive rainfall. The result? Extremely low sugar content in numerous countries, with some recording record lows, leading to a significant reduction in sugar yields per hectare. The increasing variability in beet ...