After the announcement of the ban on neonicotinoids in France, the concern of beet growers

Clotilde Dumay, edited by Yanis Darras 8:24 p.m., January 24, 2023

This is a victory for environmentalists.

Following the decision of European justice, France announced on Monday that it will no longer grant an exemption for insecticides that protect sugar beet seeds from aphids, neonicotinoids.

Pesticides effective in protecting fields, but which have a significant impact on bees, to the point of being nicknamed "bee killers" by these opponents. 

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But this ban, which comes a few weeks before the first sowing, worries beet growers.

In his field, Alexandre Pelé, farmer and vice-president of the Confederation of beet growers, still remembers the year 2020 when neonicotinoids by seed coating were banned. 

A surprising announcement

"All my beet fields were yellow, which led to a 60% loss of yield on my farm", he explains at the microphone of Europe 1. And he is not the only one to be surprised by this announcement, he acknowledges.

"I've had a lot of farmers on the phone saying to me, 'If I don't have insurance, I won't sow beets'" this year. 

And the consequences could be catastrophic for the economy: "We could not have sugar or ethanol in our pumps", in the months to come, warns Alexandre Pelé.

Or worse, "we could massively import beets that will not be produced locally," adds the farmer. 

Alternatives available… coming soon

However, alternatives to neonicotinoids are well considered, such as "the adoption of so-called tolerant varieties, products that are called biocontrol products, and then plants that are sown at the same time as the beet and which will either attract the aphid or repel it", explains the vice-president of the Confederation of beet growers. 

The only problem: none of these solutions will be ready before at least 2026.

So, the sector warns that in the event of poor harvests in 2023, compensation without deductible will be expected by farmers.