Growing organic beets becomes attractive in Switzerland

Ecologically produced Swiss sugar is popular and demand cannot be met. It is in fact particularly demanding to cultivate sugar beets without any recourse to phytosanitary products. What daring farmers attempted to plant this spring, rather than sow it, could be harvested - successfully (photo SP). More and more consumers want to buy Swiss sugar that meets sustainability criteria. Since 2014, sales of organic sugar have increased from 30 tonnes to 690 tonnes, according to a joint press release published on Tuesday, January 4 by the Interjurassian Rural Federation (FRI), Sucre suisse SA, the Swiss Beet Center and Bio Suisse. The supply does not meet the demand, the production of organic sugar being insufficient, he further notes. Many growers remain skeptical of organic farming because they fear that the yield will be insufficient for the effort put in. This year again, daring farmers and consultants carried out tests at various sites in Switzerland to see if the use of seed pieces ...