Europe’s Sugar Bounty Under Threat as EU Ponders Pesticide Ban

A ban on pesticides linked to bee deaths could put a lid on Europe’s ample sugar-beet harvest.

The European Union is due to vote this week on whether to extend a ban on the use of the neonicotinoid pesticides to crops such as sugar beet, threatening future output. That follows increased production by the continent’s farmers in the past year after the bloc of 28 countries ended a system of quotas restricting output, adding to a global glut that’s hurt prices.

“If these neonics are banned, it would cause a serious decline in production in the EU,” said Robin Shaw ...