Improvement of the competitiveness of the sugar beet crop in the Netherlands

The Dutch sugar industry and sugar beet research institute initiated the project SUSY (Speeding Up Sugar Yield) as a reaction to decreasing beet prices in relation to the reform of the European Unions sugar regime. The project was aimed at softening the reform¿s impact on growers income by improving their knowledge on raising sugar yield and identifying possible cost savings. From each sugar beet growing region in The Netherlands, 26 pairs of ¿type top¿ (high yielding) and ¿type average¿ (average yielding) farmers were selected, based on the average yield of the farm in 2000-2004. All measures of sugar beet cultivation, costs calculation and phytopathological, agronomical and soil characteristics were investigated from 2006 and 2007 on 75 fields of ¿type top¿ and 74 fields of ¿type average¿ growers
in relation to yield and quality. The factors year and grower caused most of the significant effects on yield, quality and cost variables. The ¿type top¿ growers had significantly 20% higher sugar yield in each year compared to ¿type average¿ growers, but the total variable costs did not differ. This makes the ¿type top¿ growers more efficient in resource use. Costs for manure and fertiliser, ¿other¿ and irrigation significantly increased the total variable costs. With higher fungicide costs, sugar yield significantly increased. However, there was no significant relation between the intensity of sugar beet production and sugar yield so that the observed differences in sugar yield were not caused by economical constraints. Based on this study, it can be concluded that the most profitable strategy for the growers is maximising sugar yield and optimising costs.