In Austria, sugar beet growers have had to watch idly as thousands of hectares of beets are destroyed by the sugar beet weevil (Asproparthenis punctiventris). Since this year, emergency authorizations for neonicotinoids as beet dressings have been banned throughout the EU. As a result, there are no longer any effective means of combating some beet pests. In Austria, the ban has currently led to mass proliferation of the beetroot weevil - and to massive damage. More than 10 percent of the beet area has had to be plowed up. Around 4,000 of the 38,000 ha of beets in Austria were so badly damaged by the weevils this spring that they had to be plowed up. According to estimates by the Austrian Growers' Association, around 2,500 to 3,000 ha were again planted with beets. However, this replanted area is also threatened by weevils. Several insecticide treatments had to be carried out on these beet areas and individual rows or areas had to be overseeded.