Swiss beets have benefited from favourable weather conditions this year
Keystone / Laurent Gillieron
The Swiss sugar industry is expecting significantly higher yields this year as a result of favourable weather conditions in sugar beet cultivation.
This content was published on
1 minute
Keystone-SDA/ts
The measured beet yields of around 59 and 55 tonnes per hectare in the western and eastern sample plots respectively are at least ten tonnes higher than the five-year average, the Agricultural Information Service said in a statementExternal link.
Sugar content is also reported to be well above average. At more than nine tonnes per hectare, the calculated sugar yield could be higher than at any time in the past ten years. The forecast figures are based on initial samples taken at the end of July.
The sugar beets benefited from the warm and dry spring. In addition, the beet bodies gained considerable weight thanks to moist and warm conditions in June. However, experts point out that diseases or a lack of rain in the next four weeks could reduce the harvest.
The Swiss sugar beet industry is struggling, with the area under cultivation continuing to decline. Diseases, stricter regulations on pesticides and a low sugar price have reduced the attractiveness of such crops in recent years.
In March, the Swiss parliament decided to support domestic sugar production with subsidies. In Switzerland, around 4,000 farms rely on sugar beet in their crop rotation.
More
More
Why Switzerland props up its ailing sugar industry
This content was published on
The industry is being kept alive by massive government subsidies. SWI swissinfo.ch reports from the country’s largest sugar factory.
Should raw milk sales be banned or should consumers decide?
Swiss food regulations do not allow raw milk to be sold for direct consumption. However, a loophole allows 400 raw milk vending machines to do just that.
This content was published on
Swiss artist Daniel Spoerri, known for his artworks using leftover food with dirty cutlery and crockery, has passed away in Vienna at the age of 94.
Climate change tipped to alter Swiss avalanche patterns by 2100
This content was published on
Climate change is expected to result in fewer avalanches overall in Switzerland but to increase the danger of wet snow avalanches by 2100.
This content was published on
At the turn of the 20th century, Switzerland was an international hub for the trade in an illegal substance: the artificial sweetener saccharin.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.