“The spotlight offered by the Agricultural Show is an opportunity not to be missed”, believes the president of the Department of Gard

La présidente du Département, Françoise Laurent-Perrigot, défend l'importance de la présence du Gard au SIA. Département du Gard – Yoann Galiotto

Cette année encore, le Gard est présent au Salon de l'agriculture, porté par le conseil départemental. Sa présidente, Françoise Laurent-Perrigot, revient sur les difficulté que connaît le secteur agricole.

This year again, the Department of Gard will be present at the Salon de l'Agriculture. Why does this substantial financial investment seem essential to you ?

I consider that our presence at the show is a necessity in our commitment to the agricultural world. For 10 days, we will highlight our terroirs and our producers in an event on a global scale. The 11 farmers present on our stand will represent the diversity of our territory and our sectors. The spotlight offered by the show is an opportunity not to be missed, particularly in times of crisis. We assume the investment, it is an important political choice to take charge of this fantastic week of promotion.

In recent weeks, multiple actions have been carried out by farmers in Gard. Despite the government's announcements, this Show is likely to have a special flavor. How can the Department play a role in helping the agricultural world ?

As you know, the law took away direct economic competence from us. After careful consideration we have found solutions to help our farmers. First we deployed an offensive territorial food policy. We strive to provide our college students with quality food, favoring local produce as much as possible. To this end, we have set up a vegetable packaging unit (UCL) which buys locally (according to the rules of public markets of course), peels, packages and delivers to the kitchens of 26 of our Gard colleges. We support the structuring of organic and local sectors through awareness-raising and incentive actions through partnerships that we build with local stakeholders. Then we carry out a whole series of initiatives to promote local production via our registered brand Le Gard Militant du Gout. It is a real label of quality and Gard provenance of products, which reaches a high point each year with our Gard gourmand competition. Finally, as part of our mission of territorial solidarity, we come to the aid of affected farmers when the elements are unleashed and damage the harvests. These climatic events are unfortunately increasing. This is one of the critical effects of global warming and our departmental territory is not spared. So in 2023 we supported winegrowers, breeders and producers of sweet onions in the Cévennes affected by the summer drought, as we did following the frost of 2021 by releasing nearly 600,000 euros via the #39;Gardoise Association of Disaster Farmers of Gard.

The transfer and takeover of farms are also at the heart of the concerns of the agricultural world. Does the Department have any support levers to intervene in this area ?

Yes it’s a subject. On the one hand,  there is a vocation crisis within families where children often do not want to commit to a career that they find too restrictive. On the other hand, candidates who come from other backgrounds sometimes have difficulty finding employment, due to lack of means or opportunities. We participate in installation assistance operations as is the case with our acquisition of a stake in the cooperative society of collective interest (SCIC/SAS) "Vignobles associés& ;quot;. The project consists of acquiring land to offer it to young farmers wishing to set up or in the process of setting up. In the same way, we created with the Chamber of Agriculture and Safer Occitanie the SCIC ECOTERRE which will allow us to effectively manage agricultural land covered by land compensation. This SCIC aims to facilitate agricultural compensation for projects by renting to farmers (with specifications) land made available by the project leader.

The Bienvenue à la ferme network will be at your side at the Show. Do you think promoting the short circuit is an important area of ​​development ?

Absolutely ! Our partner Bienvenue à la Ferme is doing excellent work in this regard and that is why we have renewed our trust in him as operator of our stand at the agricultural show, alongside the Maisons Rural families in Gard. We know we can count on Patrick Viala and his teams, on their very detailed knowledge of Gard producers and their products to put on a very beautiful show to promote the influence of our agriculture. Our Territorial Agricultural Policy goes entirely in the direction of short circuits which we fully favor with for example our vegetable platform which I have already spoken to you about, and we have also set up partnerships with the Chamber of Agriculture and its President Magali Saumade, but also with the Federation of Civam du Gard, Agricultural Cooperation and others. Thus we provide our support for the structuring of local networks.

The Gard is a territory as exceptional in its agricultural wealth as it is fragile, for example in terms of its water resources. How can the Department act to defend and "protect" this heritage ?

It’s true, our department concentrates all the difficulties linked to water, whether it runs out – as was the case in the past The summer of 2022 with the episode of drought which has so affected Gard agriculture – or that it represents a risk of devastation with floods and other episodes in the Cévennes. Finally, there is the question of the sustainability of the drinking water resource, which will also require changes in practice on our part at the risk of causing serious problems, including in terms of public health. To address these issues linked to climate change together, we launched our Water and Climate approach in order to bring all water stakeholders around the table, move forward on its governance and raise awareness among the widest public about better use of water. the resource. I will see you in 2025 for a first assessment.

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