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Potato harvest in Rhineland-Palatinate
Photo: Uwe Anspach/ DPA
Potato farmers are complaining about increasing damage from cicadas.
Climate change favors the proliferation of insects, which previously could only multiply slightly in this country, said Christian Lang, Managing Director of Agrarservice Hessen-Pfalz.
The reed leafhopper, for example, has developed from a harmless insect to a highly dangerous carrier of diseases in sugar beets and potatoes.
"As soon as they appear in large numbers, what happens in the field changes massively," said Lang.
Within a few years, the species had become a »mega pest in agriculture«.
The reed leafhopper transmits bacteria that damage the plants.
In autumn 2022, the potato growers commissioned a research team in Worms to find an explanation for the damage.
It was discovered that the cicadas multiply both on sugar beet and on potatoes and then infest new fields, said agricultural researcher Lang.
Europe's largest sugar manufacturer, Südzucker, said it had had similarly bad experiences with the reed leafhopper.
"If the pest occurs on the field, massive yield reductions are associated," says spokesman Dominik Risser.
The situation worsens when it is very dry – like last summer.
sbo/dpa