The sugar producer Cristal Union will increase the purchase price of a tonne of beets by around 12% in 2023 to encourage farmers to plant them despite the end of neonicotinoid seeds, he said on Friday.
The cooperative group announced in a press release that a tonne of sugar beets would be purchased for 45 euros for 16 degrees of sugar content, compared to just over 40 euros in 2022 – i.e. nearly 12.5% increase.
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Cristal Union (Daddy brand) says it wants to "
help its members get over the course
" after the "
mass blow
" given last week by the Court of Justice of the European Union, which considered that the States could not derogate from the European ban on seeds treated with neonicotinoid insecticides.
“
In this context, we are sending a strong signal to our cooperative members in order to support them and encourage them to maintain or even increase their sugar beet areas.
», Explains in this press release its president, Olivier de Bohan.
Neonicotinoids, which protect beets from jaundice but are harmful to bees, were banned in 2018 in Europe.
A dozen European countries had taken derogations including France, which planned to renew this exception in 2023 before giving it up on Monday.
During the 2022 crop campaign, Cristal Union had planned to pay its 9,000 planters 29.37 euros per tonne of beet, before raising their remuneration to 40 euros per tonne in October, taking advantage of the surge in world sugar prices and bioethanol.
“
The strong improvement in the sugar and alcohol/ethanol markets observed for more than a year gives us the means to do so.
The important thing is that farmers continue to sow beets
, ”underlines its managing director, Xavier Astolfi.
Read alsoFrance gives up authorizing neonicotinoids for beet seeds
The group had recorded a 40% increase in net profit in its staggered 2021/22 annual financial year.
For this 2023 campaign, the first without derogation since 2020, Cristal Union will set up "
with the interprofession and the public authorities monitoring, alert and plant protection protocols
".
In 2020, the jaundice virus had destroyed a third of the harvest in France, Europe's leading sugar producer.
