Sudzucker Moldova insures its sugar beet fields

About 1,700 hectares of sugar beet fields owned by Sudzucker Moldova have been insured against storm, erosion caused by heavy rain and hail. At the same time, the company provides technical credits to farms for insuring the sugar beet under the contracts signed for the agricultural year 2009, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting a communiqué from the company. This year, the weather conditions are not the best for cultivating sugar beet. Only 30% of the fields where the sugar beet sprouted can be assessed as good, while about 40% are in a satisfactory condition. The plants on approximately one third of the fields sprouted unevenly or there are no crops seen, the communiqué says. The May rain penetrated only about 5-7 millimeters into the soil. This is not enough for the seeds to germinate. However, if there will be heavy rain, the risk of erosion and damage will be higher. That’s why Sudzucker Moldova urges the partner farmers to insure their fields. The company is ready to provide technical credits worth the same amount as the insurance premiums. The state also contributes to insurance, paying 60% of the total sum to the insurance company. The insured – the agricultural producer - pays 40% of the premium. The sugar beet fields insured by Sudzucker Moldova make up exactly 10% of the 16,000 hectares of land sowed with this crop this year. The fields contracted to be used together with all its partners, which were sowed with sugar beet from the 2009 crop, total about 22,000 hectares. Earlier, Sudzucker Moldova has announced that it offered seeds, mineral fertilizers, substances to protect the plants and diesel oil worth 100 million lei to the farms located near its factories.