2024-01-21 13:00:00
THE large-scale agricultural areas, in Provence as well as on a national scale, continue to decrease each year. A worrying observation, at a time when we realize the vital necessity of food sovereigntywhile climatic hazards multiply… and the grain exports since theUkraine (world No. 4) or the Russia (n°1) are hindered for one, boycotted for the other.
“Our assistant secretary, Nicolas de Sambucyformalized, in 2020 during the Regional Large Crops Meetings in Arles, then in 2022, during the Regional Cereals Committee of which he is president, a chronic decline in yield and agricultural production areas of oilseeds. Here, in our Provençal territory, this concerns in particular durum wheat, barley, rice and even chickpeas…”, explains, from Salon-de-Provence, Delphine Fraty, the Field Crops project manager from Southern Agricultural Cooperation.
The decrease in agricultural areas of certain oilseed crops (notably durum wheat), between 2017 and 2021 in Provence, is very worrying (Source FranceAgriMer).
“From then on, our federation of cooperatives and all the players in this agricultural sector have decided to take action. So we have just launched a Resilience plan in favor of great Provençal culture. Our objective is clear: reconquer agricultural areasAll by improving their economic profitability and thetheir climate adaptation. These latter elements being closely linked…”
Launched in August 2023 across the South regionthis resilience plan in five axes should ultimately make it possible to stimulate a dynamic of reconquest of agricultural areas by December 2026.
In just 4 years, agricultural areas of durum wheat have fallen by 36%
“There was still 79,000 hectares cultivated, in 2021, in our region, either a decrease of 18% of overall agricultural areas, compared to 2017!” And if we only look at durum wheat, the finding is even worse: 36% less, 13,100 hectares lost in just 4 years!
“Admit that, in a region where the Panzani pasta maker has been historically established since the 1960s, it would be particularly regrettable to perhaps have to import wheat in the future, rather than consuming that of local producers…”
A reduction of cultivated areas mainly induced bythe lack of resilience of the Provençal production system. Indeed, as the climate evolves, droughts and floods become more frequent, farmers tend to modify their 10-year crop rotation planby reducing the proportion of durum wheat… or any other oilseed crop which would represent for them a strong economic risk taking.
All farmers are invited to answer a questionnaire
“The first stage of our plan has begun. And this consists, first of all, of refine the inventory of the agricultural landscape since 2021. Concretely, since November 2023, we have started to collect the testimonies and practices of farmers through a vast survey. Out of 1900 Provençal farms, at least 1000 of them should respond to our questionnaire before March 2024… We really count on them!”
Then, Delphine Fraty and her collaborators of Southern Agricultural Cooperation will have to provide a detailed summary of the situation during a webinar, then during the June 2024 Regional Cereals Committee.
“This restitution is essential to the continuation of our resilience plan, towards stages where will soon be offered to Provençal farmers technological or agronomic solutions aimed at improving the productive yield and economic profitability of their field crops.”
This resilience plan must provide solutions by 2026
Generalize the use of sensors (probes, drones, Sentinel satellite imagery, etc.) in the biomass would allow a improved seeding controlwith optimal modulation of input doses in each plot: enough to effectively reduce the economic uncertainty of exploitation, by promoting reconquest of agricultural areas.
It would still remain, however, to resolve the problem of an aging population of operatorsalas lacking in attractiveness with the educational world and young people, while health, climate, financial, energy and geopolitical crises are multiplying…
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