A major rise in Germany's sugar beet crop and white sugar output is likely in 2007/08 as plantings have risen and beets are developing well, the head of Germany's sugar industry association WVZ said on Thursday.
Germany was likely to harvest 25.8 million tonnes of sugar beet in 2007/08, up from 20.6 million tonnes in 2006/07, WVZ chief executive Dieter Langendorf told Reuters. This was likely to generate white sugar production from beet of around four million tonnes, up from 3.2 million tonnes last season, he said. "Overall the harvest picture looks highly pleasing," said Langendorf. "The rise is partly due to a larger planted area this year and partly due to higher expected beet yields."
German farmers are estimated to have raised 2007/08 plantings by about 14 percent on the year to around 407,000 hectares, he said. Yields of about 58 tonnes of beet per hectare were achieved in field tests in August, up from 47 tonnes achieved at this time last season.
Germany and much of west Europe suffered one of the worst droughts in recent history in April and early May but Germany received repeated rain in July and August. The rain, which seriously damaged grain crops, was excellent for sugar beet, he said.