French sugar beet pesticide alternative could be five years away
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[June 27, 2023]
By Sybille de La Hamaide
PARIS (Reuters) - Research into alternatives to neonicotinoid
pesticides, found to be toxic to bees, is unlikely to deliver a solution
capable of fully protecting sugar beet crops for five years, a leading
French scientist said.
After the beet yellows virus carried by aphids reduced the French
harvest by 30% in 2020, and farmers and sugar makers lobbied the
government, France suspended a European Union ban on neonicotinoids
until 2023 and launched a research program to find alternatives to the
chemical in the meantime.
But an EU Court of Justice ruling that member states cannot offer
exemptions to the bloc's ban forced France to drop its exemption before
an effective solution could be found.
"Maybe some varieties in 2024 will bring 10%-15% more yield than what we
had in 2020 but finding a replacement won't happen overnight," Fabienne
Maupas said. She is head of research at French sugar beet technical
institute ITB, in charge of the PNRI program to find alternatives to
neonicotinoids.
"We will not have protection levels as efficient as neonicotinoids for
another five years," she added.
She said this year's aphid attacks are relatively low so the delay
should not have a major impact on France's sugar beet crops this year.
The greater issue for now is late sowings due to wet weather earlier in
the year and reduction in the area sown as farmers were deterred by
potential crop damage.
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![](../images/062723PIX/news_j16.jpg)
A farmer harvests a sugar beet field in
Bourlon, France, November 3, 2020. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol/File
Photo
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Maupas said any solution was likely to comprise a combination of
several techniques and products and would not be as simple as
neonicotinoids that are applied as a coating around seeds.
Several seed makers, including Germany's KWS Saat, are working on
new sugar beet varieties that would be protected from aphids and the
yellows virus, but developing new seeds tends to take years.
Other ways to protect sugar beet include growing other crops, such
as spring barley and oats, in the same field to attract aphids, or
perfumed granules that repel pests before they damage crops - a
technology developed by French startup Agriodor.
Extra costs for farmers from using these alternatives are estimated
at 60 euros ($65.45) per hectare, Maupas said. Based on an average
yield, this would amount to 0.75 cents per ton. European sugar was
trading at a record-high 812 euros per ton in April, the latest EU
data showed.
($1 = 0.9167 euros)
(Reporting by Sybille de La Hamaide; editing by Barbara Lewis)
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