After two years of interruption, the Tunisian sugar beet sector is gaining momentum. Ginor company announces that it has successfully completed the sowing phase of the current agricultural campaign, in conditions deemed favorable thanks to rains that facilitated the establishment of the crops.
In total, 1,400 hectares have been sown, an area presented as sufficient to approach the season with a level of balance deemed satisfactory.
1,400 hectares sown, a restart under favorable climatic conditions
In a crop as weather- and calendar-dependent as sugar beet, the sowing period represents a decisive stage. According to the information provided, the start proceeded without major hiccups, which in itself is an encouraging indicator for a sector restarting after a prolonged pause.
But beyond the overall figure, the most striking element of this campaign lies elsewhere: in the geographic expansion of the crop.
Trials in the center-south that change the scale
Last year, experimental crops were conducted on about twenty plots, for a total area of 10 hectares, in several regions of the center and south. The trials notably covered the governorates of Sidi Bouzid, Kasserine, Gafsa, Tataouine, Mahdia, Kairouan, and Gabès.
These trials evidently acted as a trigger: encouraged by the results obtained, the farmers in these regions, according to the same information, broadly joined the project, allowing to reach nearly 500 hectares in the central and southern regions this season.
The progress is spectacular compared with the pilot phase (10 hectares), but it is also explained by the very nature of the experimentation: a limited test before scaling up.
A strategic challenge: taking sugar beet out of the sole north-west
This surge is presented as a turning point: sugar beet would no longer be confined to the north-west, but could gradually settle in new production basins. At stake, several promises: diversification of major crops, new agricultural opportunities, and better organization of rotations.
Here, the link with cereals deserves clarification: the aim is not that beet replaces wheat, but that it integrates into a logic of more efficient rotations, capable of improving soil management, better distributing work cycles, and structuring contractual supply chains around industrial objectives (collection, processing, valorization).
Heading for 3,000 hectares: the ambition of a strong comeback
The challenge now is to consolidate the restart. Ginor states that it aims for more than 3,000 hectares in the next campaign, including about 1,000 hectares in the center and south.
If this objective is confirmed, the sector would scale up in a very short time. Indeed, with a goal of 3,000 hectares, the revival of sugar beet takes on a strategic dimension for Tunisia: it paves the way for partial self-sufficiency and a better securing of national sugar supply.
Beyond volumes, this rising momentum would allow reactivating a complete sector – from farmers to industrial facilities – while creating more value locally, stimulating activity in the affected regions and gradually reducing the pressure on imports and on the country’s hard currency.
