DUTCH SUGAR BEET PLANTING HALF FINISHED
Roughly half of this year's expected
130,000 hectare Dutch sugar beet crop is already in the ground,
a spokesman for Suiker Unie, the largest sugar processor in the
Netherlands, told Reuters.
    Conditions are generally good and the average sowing date
for the crop is expected to be around April 11, against April
23 last year, and a 10-year average of April 14, the spokesman
added.
    "It is far too early yet to say what kind of output we can
expect when it comes to harvest in September, but at least the
crop is off to a very good start," he said.
    Last year, the Netherlands planted a record 137,600
hectares of sugar beet and produced a record 1.2 mln tonnes of
white sugar, substantially more than the country's combined "A"
and "B" quota of 872,000 tonnes.
    This year, however, a self-imposed quota system has been
introduced with the aim of cutting plantings to 130,000
hectares and reducing white sugar output to around 915,000
tonnes to minimise the amount of non-quota "C" sugar produced.
    Only farmers with a record of growing suger beet have been
allotted quotas. This is expected to prevent the area being
boosted by dairy or cereal farmers moving into sugar.
 Reuter
