The abolition of sugar quotas in the EU as of October 1 is a much greater opportunity for growth in production and exports than a threat to the domestic sugar industry, assessed on Monday by Minister of Agriculture Tomislav Tolušić at the Sugar Beet Field Day held at the experimental field in Meretine near Županja.
– Challenges always exist, but with investments in irrigation and support we can receive from rural development programs, as well as investments in increasing the area under sugar beets and quality, we can achieve higher yields and sugar content in beets and thus be more competitive and better sell sugar, which is our strongest export product, Tolušić stated.
Touching on the damages from drought, he reiterated that, as with damages from floods and other disasters, it can no longer be expected that the state will cover them.
– It simply cannot be like that anymore. What we can do is address such issues through insurance policies that we co-finance through the rural development program, which also pertains to sugar beet insurance, Tolušić said.
He emphasized that crop insurance is the only real way to protect them from potential damages, explaining that the state provides at least 65 percent of the policy amount for each policy.
