Food sovereignty requires research for the Minister of Agriculture visiting Bellegarde

Le ministre de l'agriculture Marc Fesneau (2e à gauche) entouré du préfet, des représentants du CTIFL et d'Interfel lors de la signature d'une convention. Y. B.

Marc Fesneau, Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, visited the CTIFL (Interprofessional Technical Center for Fruits and Vegetables) Balandran in Bellegarde this Friday, April 26. The opportunity to sign an agreement and discover innovative projects.

From his visit this Friday, April 26 to the Interprofessional Technical Center for Fruits and Vegetables, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty Marc Fesneau did not bring back that strawberries from the Balandran site, in Bellegarde.

He also gathered a lot of information on the experiments carried out locally to respond to the challenge of climate change "which already poses a problem for us", like the& rsquo;confided the minister. "Through innovation and investment, we must restore hope", he said launched to the personalities present.

Agreement with CTIFL and Interfel

This Friday, an agreement was also signed by Marc Fesneau, Jacques Rouchassé, president of the CTIFL, and Laurent Grandin, president of Interfel (professional organizations of production as well as of distribution of fruits and vegetables). "The objective of the food sovereignty plan is also to regain competitiveness, launched the minister.< em>For that, we need to find solutions to ensure the transition, I am thinking here of phytosanitary products. This is what we launched this year on the cherry."

The CTIFL (320 employees throughout France, 28 million euros budget, 190 ha for experiments) actively participates in this research. During the ministerial visit, the Ceris’Innov project to fight against Drosophila suzukii, a fly whose eggs wreak havoc on cherries, was presented in one of the greenhouses.

Return to the agricultural crisis

These cherry tree orchards trained under netting must be supplemented by Pilotis, this research on sterile insect techniques, for all of this to be effective. What caught the minister's attention: "Let's admit that we were behind schedule! But we have put in the means with France 2030. I remind you that in planning, it is 250 M€ put into research in all sectors. 84 % of the 100 M€ of France 2030 have been committed. We are going to open a certain number of windows on orchard renovation with France Agrimer. This will be the case on May 30 with 24M€ invested. We will have a topic on the decarbonization of greenhouses."

As part of his visit, Marc Fesneau obviously recalled the issue of water "to find more efficient systems thrifty. For the hydraulic question, an investment fund of 30 million euros; will be unlocked this year".

"Happy" to visit the center of Balandran, the Minister of Agriculture also spoke of the agricultural crisis "which brought back 20 to 30 years of a feeling of abandonment, downgrading, decline in competitiveness. Simplification is needed to make it more readable for producers.

This readability was requested from Marc Fesneau at midday, just before his departure for Vaucluse, as well as the means for the Balandran center to be able to recruit and cope to the challenges of climate change. The minister took advantage of his visit to the Gard to discuss the excellence of the Camargue rice sector: "What we did on&nbsp ;fruits, vegetables, for durum wheat, I would like us to do it for rice. It’is very emblematic and of identity." Food sovereignty also passes through the Gard.

I subscribe to read more