Science News Roundup: French sugar beet pesticide alternative could be five years away

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French sugar beet pesticide alternative could be five years away

Research into alternatives to neonicotinoid pesticides, found to be toxic to bees, is unlikely to deliver a solution capable of fully protecting sugar beet crops for five years, a leading French scientist said. After the beet yellows virus carried by aphids reduced the French harvest by 30% in 2020, and farmers and sugar makers lobbied the government, France suspended a European Union ban on neonicotinoids until 2023 and launched a research programme to find alternatives to the chemical in the meantime.