Hervé Lingrand, organic farmer near Douai, in the North, in his beet field very little affected by jaundice.

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G. Durand / 20 Minutes

  • While jaundice is ravaging beet fields, organic producers, without treatment, seem less affected by the disease.

  • This finding shows that there are alternatives to neonicotinoids, this insecticide which is the subject of a debate on its next release on the market.

Neonicotinoids, the only solution to fight against beet yellows?

For several weeks, the debate has raged around the bill re-authorizing the use of this insecticide suspected in particular of being a bee gravedigger.

A project which must pass in the Committee on Economic Affairs of the National Assembly these days, before being discussed and voted on in plenary session on October 5.

“Without neonicotinoids, you have to treat more when the plant is affected.

I don't know if it's better, ”admits Hervé Lingrand, the last farmer in Leforest, near Douai, in the North.

"The only treatment is elbow grease"

At the head of his 130 hectares, operated jointly with his brother, he has always cultivated beets on a few plots.

However, both have not milked at all since they decided to convert their production to organic, two years ago.

“The only treatment is elbow grease,” jokes Hervé Lingrand.

A conversion he does not regret.

While jaundice ravages the beet fields of his colleagues in conventional, his plots have been rather spared, "as with all organic farmers in the region," says one at Bio in Hauts-de-France.

Some beets affected by jaundice in an organic plot, near Douai, in the North.

- G. Durand / 20 Minutes

“The most serious, for the moment, is the lack of water.

With the attacks of aphids that bring jaundice, there is a risk of having about 10% loss in sugar and fodder.

It remains reasonable, ”predicts Hervé Lingrand.

Later sowing

For Loïc Tridon, head of the organic beet sector, “two causes explain this virtual absence of jaundice: the later sowing date, after the passage of aphids and the less mineral fertilization of the soils which make beets less appetizing for these aphids. ".

"The problem of jaundice is not agronomic, but is linked to the economic model", estimates one at Bio in Hauts-de-France.

Arguments to accelerate the conversion of beet growers?

In Hauts-de-France, rare are those who have taken the plunge.

“There is the fear of the unknown, because the technical benchmarks are totally different, says Hervé Lingrand.

And then it's complicated to weed, even if effective mechanical solutions start to appear.

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"For now, it remains very marginal"

He himself, by switching to organic, had to divide his twelve hectares of beets by two.

“Too much work and we wanted to see first what opportunities existed,” he slips.

Indeed, it was only last year that a Téréos sugar refinery, in Attin, in the Pas-de-Calais, began processing certain organic volumes: 200 hectares in 2019, 500 for around sixty producers, this year.

A drop of water in the sugar industry.

Nevertheless, the first organic crystallized sugars Vergeoise type should see the light of day in 2021. “By converting, we accept the whims of nature,” underlines Hervé Lingrand.

Now consumers have to pay a higher price.

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