FRIEDRICHSDORF/OFFSTEIN (dpa-AFX) - Farmers in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate fear the further spread of two diseases in sugar beet and other crops. The diseases are caused by bacteria that are transmitted by the so-called reed glasswing cicada. In some cases, this leads to massive yield losses, said Marie-Christin Mayer, Managing Director of the Wetterau Sugar Beet Growers' Association and advisor for arable farming and crops at the Hessian Farmers' Association, to the German Press Agency.

Mayer explained that it is still too early to take full stock of this year's harvest, as some of it will continue into January. The sugar beet is processed at Südzucker AG sites in Wabern in northern Hesse and Offstein in Rhineland-Palatinate.

Cross-state search for solutions

Farmers from both federal states are working together with scientists to find solutions in the fight against plant diseases and the cicada. So far, southern Hesse has been particularly affected, but the diseases have also occurred in parts of Rhineland-Palatinate and in central and northern Hesse, said Mayer. The bacteria are transmitted when the reed cicadas suck on the plants. In doing so, they ingest the bacteria or introduce them into the leading tissue of the plant. The spread of the heat-loving insects is also a consequence of climate change.

The diseases are known as "low sugar syndrome". In addition, there is Stolbur, also known as rubber beet disease, which makes the actually firm beets pliable, leads to rotting and, in the case of potatoes, also to poorer storability. Other vegetables such as carrots, beet and onions are also affected./csc/DP/zb