Sugar coating?

A proposal to revive the sugar beet industry has drawn a mixed response from the tillage sector, reports

COULD a revival of the oncebuoyant sugar beet industry really be a catalyst for an upturn in the fortunes of the tillage sector? Among the recommendations in the Oireachtas report on the future of the tillage sector is one calling for a review of potential opportunities in the sugar beet industry.

It recommends a review of the sugar beet industry in line with the findings of the Tillage Sector Plan 2012 and also emphasises the potential of homegrown sugar beet for poitín production. The 2012 plan found investor and grower interest was high in establishing a sugar beet industry based on bio-ethanol production. Sugar quotas were since abolished in October under the CAP 2015 reform and now Beet Ireland are calling on the government to “step up” as there are no longer barriers to production.”

Fine Gael TD Pat Deering, chairman of the joint committee on agriculture which produced the latest tillage blueprint, said that reviving the sugar beet industry would be a “challenge” but not an insurmountable one.

“There’s been a lot of discussion about it and enthusiasm to see it come back. I would love to see it back. I do think we need to look at the situation. We recommend that a new visibility study be done as the work that has been done is five years old,” he said.

“We’re starting from a very low base, there’s no industry or facilities at the moment but the demise of the tillage sector arrived with the end of the beet sector. It would be a huge help. It’s worth another look at to see where it is at the moment.”

However, the report highlights how returning to inten-