Launched on October 8 in Longchamps, the campaign started later, also to give the plant a little more time to flourish. With an average of 18,000 tonnes of “crushed” beets per day, the Eghezian factory, now at full capacity, should have finished its season in mid-January.
An insect and a mushroom
Having lost some of its momentum in recent years, beets seem to have regained strength. Some 3,700 partner planters of SudZucker (Raffinerie tirlemontoise group) have cultivated around 40,000 hectares.
“There was in fact competition from other crops, such as potatoes or vegetables, more risky but also more profitable,” we recognize at Longchamps. “But as prices, linked to the sugar price set at European level, started to rise again last year, this probably made beet more attractive again.”
However, the sector is not going through a completely comfortable period. “Periods of long drought can wreak havoc, even though beets are a resilient plant that can also sink their roots deep into the earth,” recalls the agro-manager.
Other threats have also emerged in recent years. Growers in our regions must also fight against Sigatoka, a fungal disease (parasitic fungi) which attacks the leaves and affects yield.
“In Germany and France, we find the leafhopper, an insect which also wreaks havoc and drastically reduces the richness and sugar content of beets, continues Sylvie Decaigny. It is not yet in our region but there is also alert and prevention work, this is the interest of evolving in a large group but also in a sector where information circulates.”
By varietal selection, we also make the beets more adapted to this changing climate and these weather conditions, which are often unstable and sometimes very harsh. . “But to develop a new variety, it takes eight to ten years.”
It’s not enough with the snap of a finger. Growers have always known that to do things well, you sometimes also have to take the time.
