Beet growers were awarded the highest SAI sustainability level: FSA Gold
All Suiker Unie’s sugar beet growers have been awarded FSA Gold level. The Sustainable Agricultural Initiative platform supports sustainable farming initiatives and assesses the sustainability of the farms themselves. The growers have been awarded the highest level – Gold – thanks to their use of Suiker Unie’s unique Unitip crop registration programme.
Unitip is part of our Beet Advisory System (BAS). Bas collects and analyses crop data from many sources to generate advice on how individual growers can increase their yields and make their farms more sustainable. The growers themselves record their own data in the system, entering details about when they sowed their fields, worked and fertilised the land, the pesticides and herbicides they used and how big their yields are. The data are used to make comparisons of, for example, fertiliser and pesticide use from field to field and from farm to farm. The system enables the growers to constantly improve their performance, yields and sustainability. By realising higher returns per hectare at lower cost they are also benefiting the environment. What’s more, Unitip helps them realise Suiker Unie’s commitment to being the most sustainable sugar producer in Europe.
Hard work
Through its Farm Sustainability Assessments (FSA) SAI benchmarks and ranks farmers’ sustainability at Bronze, Silver or Gold level. Thanks to Unitip, Suiker Unie’s growers have been awarded the highest level: Gold. And our growers have every reason to be proud. “It’s nice to be recognised for all our hard work. But we haven’t finished yet. We’re going to carry on making our crops even more sustainable.”
For more information see: https://saiplatform.org/fsa/