Hérault 2030 agricultural project: “We see anger rising”, Yvon Pellet is worried about the wine crisis

Yvon Pellet will open the steering committee for the Hérault 2030 Departmental Agricultural Project this Friday, October 11. Midi Libre – JEAN MICHEL MART

The vice president delegated to the agricultural economy and rural development of the Hérault Department will Yvon Pellet will open the steering committee for the Hérault 2030 Departmental Agricultural Project this Friday, October 11, in a very difficult context for the department's second largest economy: viticulture.

What is the global context of viticulture?

It's very complicated, especially with difficult harvests and prices that aren't rising, especially for reds. Uprooting in the line of fire means diversification for some, abandonment for others. And it's going to be very complicated for cooperative wineries, with volumes falling but fixed costs remaining the same. There's real concern with costs that are becoming unsustainable for many winegrowers.

Anger is rising, as we can see with the Rural Coordination…

Not only that, there are also the Young Farmers, the FDSEA, the Peasant Confederation and the upcoming elections to the Chamber of Agriculture which only serve to make the situation a little worse. But the economic reality automatically leads to discontent and we see anger rising. After the demonstrations at the beginning of the year, there have been too few concrete results, not to mention the procrastination that followed the dissolution.

Are there reasons to be hopeful ?

For this to happen, the market would have to be less sluggish, and traders and large-scale distribution would have to come to their senses. We must hope that the uprooting will not be massive and then we must believe in the young people who are coming up even if some are desperate and considering retraining. But there too, it is only possible in irrigated areas because without water, only vines and cacti grow.

What can the Department do to get through this crisis ?

We are working on irrigation issues with three water retention projects underway; we are working a lot on promotion, on wine tourism. We are working on diversification to support winegrowers. We are in the crisis cells but we cannot do everything. Our finances are also constrained. But we put our means and heart into it because it represents a major economy, 2nd in the GDP of the Department behind tourism, but the vine is also what structures our landscapes and organizes our space and our environment.