Faced with agricultural crises, Marc Fesneau wants to “combine” food sovereignty and the environment
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It will be necessary “to make choices of different crops, more economical in water, varieties more resistant to drought, to diseases”, indicated the Minister of Agriculture.
It front of climatic hazards which follow one another and hit the activities and morale of farmers hard, Marc Fesneau, Minister of Agriculture, wants to “combine“Food sovereignty and ecological transition, in an interview with AFP. Among farmers,there is a feeling of helplessness and there is great distress, on top of which there is general geopolitical uncertainty“, describes the one who succeeded Julien Denormandie in May and was director of local development of the Chamber of Agriculture of Loir-et-Cher.
“We had chronologically or almost the swine crisis, the avian flu, the Ukrainian crisis, the frost and the hail and comes the drought… Over twelve months we had the summary of what we have over 5 or 10 yearssums up the Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty. And the envelopes to help farmers have succeeded: more than a billion euros for actors affected by avian flu, 640 million euros in the resilience plan to support breeders to feed their animals after the outbreak prices driven by the war in Ukraine, “and there, on the hail, we put 40 millioneuros, completes Marc Fesneau.
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Between May and Junearound fifty departments and around 1,500 municipalities» were hit by devastating hailstorms. “The agricultural world knows what calamities are, but when you have three episodes of hail on the vine, in the end you tell yourself that you will not be able to do any more, even if you are compensated“, continues the Minister.
At a time when more than half of the 400,000 farmers are likely to retire within five years, the discouragement of agricultural professionals is worrying. In the “flash missionlaunched following hail episodes, the first recommendation is to identify the most delicate situations, particularly on a psychological level.
A system whichdoes not hold»
A farm can no longer startwithout taking into account the climate risk” then, “integrating the issue of system resilience is an important element“, but for the minister who had the name of the ministry changed on arrival, “food sovereignty” is here “central question“. “Faced with a ”system” which “does not hold”, “we have to manage to combine a question of sovereignty and a question of a model that is more resistant to climatic hazards“, defends Marc Fesneau.
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“The environment affects our activities and agriculture is one of the first victims of climate change“, says the minister. “What we have this year is the typical year we will have in 2050“, but “whatever we do, the fight against climate change is a long timeand will go through the training of new generations of farmers. So, “no it will not be the same agriculture” in the years to come. It will be necessary “making different crop choices, more water-efficient, varieties more resistant to drought, diseases, this also involves research and a multitude of avenues are considered depending on the crops or productions“.
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