Beet-growing in Ireland will be wiped out if the EU proceeds with its plans to cut the price of sugar, the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) president, John Dillon, said yesterday.
He was addressing a protest meeting in the EU Commission's offices in Dublin, following the formal announcement of the commission's sugar reform proposals in Brussels.
The well-leaked proposals aim to cut the sugar price by 39 per cent over two years beginning 2006/2007, compensate farmers at 60 per cent of the price cut, and abolish the intervention system.
The impact of this, said Mr Dillon, would be a 47 per cent price drop for Irish farmers, leading to a 67 per cent price income drop for farmers in two years' time even after compensation was paid.
"It is a complete assault on the cornerstone of Irish tillage and it will wipe out the livelihoods of the 3,750 beet farmers, and place in real jeopardy the future of the last remaining sugar-processing plant in Mallow," he said.
"What is being proposed is unsustainable because farmers cannot be asked to produce a tonne of beet for €30 for which they will receive only €25," he said.
Urging the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mary Coughlan, to resist the cuts with all her might, he said that what was at stake was the entire future of an industry which had sustained farmers and the Irish economy for the last 80 years.
"If the EU succeeds in closing the industry, full and proper compensation will have to be paid directly to the beet growers and the EU must support viable, alternative enterprises for Irish farmers," he added.
Ms Coughlan said the proposals were simply not acceptable in their present form.
She acknowledged the need for reform but the proposals were unbalanced and could lead to drastic consequences for the sugar beet industry in a number of member states including Ireland.
This was unprecedented in reform proposals presented by the commission for any sector.
Fine Gael's agriculture and food spokesman, Denis Naughten, said the proposals in their current form will decimate the Irish sugar industry and must be opposed vehemently by the Minister.
David Dilger of Greencore said the proposals went "too far, too fast" and, if implemented in their current form, would cast doubt over future supplies of beet.
The Labour Party's agriculture spokeswoman, Dr Mary Upton, also expressed concern about the future for the Mallow sugar beet factory workers if the reforms were agreed. She said while reform was inevitable, alternative crops should be looked at.
Sinn Féin's Martin Ferris said he wanted the threat posed to farmers and the factory to be lifted.
He urged the Government to resist the proposals.
The EU agriculture commissioner, Mariann Fischer Boel, who said there was no alternative to what was being proposed, visits Ireland today.