Anger of farmers: “Now, we will remove the obstacles, be less red tape”, promises the prefect of Gard

Le préfet Jérôme Bonet : “Arrachage, gestion de l'eau… de gros dossiers à suivre désormais”. Midi Libre – Mickaël ANISSET

Jérôme Bonet looks back on the eight days of peasant anger which paralyzed the A9: he discusses crisis management, violence… and the application of new measures.

Three days after the outcome, what do you remember from this unprecedented mobilization of farmers ?

We had a very long week, with a crisis unit mobilized in the prefecture seven days a week, and security and traffic issues, the A9 blocked… manage. There was both public order management and the dimension of the farmers' profession after the Prime Minister's announcements which arrived at the very beginning of the crisis. 

Day to day, how did you manage this crisis ?

We have not discovered the problems of agriculture today. Moreover, in the midst of the crisis, we held a meeting on viticulture which had been scheduled since November.

During the demonstration, I was in daily contact with farmers and union leaders. Even if they did not inform us of all their actions upstream, we had to be very responsive. 

In the end, we had a visit from Marc Chesneau, the Minister of Agriculture. Did you weigh in so that' he comes ?

I relayed the request of the Gardois, that a passage in the Gard, just after Hérault, would make it possible to better relay the specificities of local agriculture . It took a very long time to answer all the farmers' questions. His visit symbolized the end of the mobilization.

What will be the role of the prefecture in the application of the new measures, starting with the uprooting of the vines ?< /p>

The subject of grubbing first requires a passage through the European Commission but this is where it will happen for concrete application.  

For the standards, we will check the prefectural decrees to see if we have not taken excessive measures and if necessary, do some cleaning up. 

Finally, there are also specific questions such as access to the RSA for young farmers that we will study on a case-by-case basis.

The subject of water is very significant, particularly in the Cévennes foothills. What will your role be ?

Consensual projects must emerge locally, on hillside water reservoirs for example, and the State will be supportive. For example, for sweet onions in the Cévennes which need water, we can remove obstacles, be less red tape, and have everyone work together to go faster. nbsp;

The Ecophyto plan is suspended. There is no consensus on this among all agricultural unions, notably the Confédération paysanne.

This is not a departmental subject. But this is not a step backwards, the minister clearly pointed out this. We must find a balance between production and protection of biodiversity. We are on a crest line. I hear when farmers say "Don’don't ban a molecule until we have an alternative, otherwise our production and our income will fall' . But I haven't heard any farmers say 'Open bar on pesticides' either. But it is certain that these questions are experienced differently, in a department where many very different types of agriculture coexist. 

How did you manage the violence during the mobilization ?

My line was that the movement could proceed as long as it did not descend into violence or serious degradation. A state building (customs, editor's note) was attacked, which I strongly condemn. A prosecution investigation is underway. There has also been serious damage, a cellar in Grézan, and complaints from transporters are pending. I regularly sent messages to union leaders to remind them of the framework. 

The crisis is over, monitoring will take place over the long term ?

Monitoring the measures will be a big job with some things implemented in the short term, others in the longer term. The question is what to do if we want to maintain this Gard agriculture, we need to think about short circuits, a farmer's son tells you this. We could imagine improving public procurement. with local products for canteens, order rice from the Camargue for example rather than importing it. And beyond that, there will be great projects to come….

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