French minister for agriculture Annie Genevard has announced the resumption of the search for solutions "to the impasse in which the successive bans on phytosanitary treatments have pushed a growing number of agricultural sectors."
Crop protection is essential to plant production and therefore to a major aspect of our food sovereignty.
The withdrawal of active substances and plant protection products has been accelerating over the last 20 years, undermining a growing number of sectors, large and small, to the point of threatening the survival of certain crops. Endive, chicory and hazelnut growers, in particular, have alerted the minister in recent weeks to the threats hanging over the continuation of these crops in France, and the consequent risk of the market being supplied by imported products treated with substances banned in France.
To respond to this urgent need, Annie Genevard has brought together representatives of the farming profession, chambers of agriculture, agricultural technical institutes, INRAE and ANSES, to relaunch the search for alternatives to these technical impasses, which have unacceptable consequences for the diversity of French farms and their ability to produce everything that the varied dietary habits of the French demand.
Chair of this "Solutions Committee", the minister asked ANSES to double its efforts to examine the marketing authorisation applications submitted in recent months to make available in France products authorized in other European countries, through mutual recognition or extension of use. She also urged the agency to prioritize its work on alternatives that will rapidly offer prospects to the sectors most threatened in the short term.
She also pointed out a budget of 146 million euros [155 million USD] to fund 27 research projects dedicated to finding alternatives through the strategic action plan for anticipating the potential European withdrawal of active substances and developing alternative techniques for crop protection (PARSADA).
The minister set the next meeting of the Committee for December, calling for collective action.
"Since I took up my post, not a day goes by without a sector telling me about the difficulties it is facing because of the disappearance of means to combat insect pests and diseases. Our producers need visibility, fairness and solutions so that they can look forward to a future in which they will still be able to produce. I have told all those involved - producers, technical institutes, INRAE and ANSES - of my determination not to leave any of the sectors in a deadlock when it comes to crop protection. It is all the more urgent today to draw conclusions from the work carried out by this committee, given that most sectors have been weakened by all the economic, climatic, health and diplomatic crises that are currently converging on French farms.
Our producers must have the same or equivalent alternatives as in other European countries. This is a dual issue of food sovereignty and competitiveness, on which we can no longer compromise."
For more information:
agriculture.gouv.fr
Photo: Cheick Saidou / agriculture.gouv.fr