2024-08-21 09:30:53
France, Europe’s leading producer and exporter of soft wheat, is expected to experience one of its lowest harvests in the last 40 years this year. Caused by severe weather, this exceptional episode puts environmental issues back at the centre of concerns in the agricultural sector.
It has been official since Friday, August 9: soft wheat production is down by almost 25% compared to 2023. Indeed, the statistical data published by Agreste[1] report that “ in 2024, Soft wheat production is estimated at 26.3 million tonnes (Mt) “; this is a quantity down by almost 24% compared to the average of the last five years.
At 62.4 quintals per hectare, the yield is down 15.5% compared to that of 2023; 2024 is thus one of the three smallest soft wheat harvests of the last 40 years.
This decline of almost a quarter of production does not, however, reach the level observed in 2016, which remains, in people’s memories, a dark year for the harvest of bread cereal.
The weather conditions involved
The factor explaining this low harvest is mainly due to the weather situation in the country. The winter of 2023 was marked by an abundance of rain of exceptional duration affecting the entire territory; the spring with little sunshine resulted in a lack of light.
The month of March saw a rainfall surplus which reached around 85% (compared to 1991-2020 normals); this is the 5th wettest month of March recorded since measurements began in 1958.
These heavy rainfalls disrupted the sowing of crops in the autumn since the fields were flooded. The areas devoted to soft wheat cultivation were therefore reduced by almost 11% in one year, according to the Agreste note. This significant decline in cultivated areas explains a large part of the poor results for wheat production.
Agriculture faces environmental challenges
The main water resource for agriculture in France is rainwater; this is rain-fed agriculture which is to be distinguished from irrigated agriculture. Agriculture is a field for which water management, whether it is abundant or insufficient, is essential to guarantee stable harvests.
To mitigate the impact of rainfall fluctuations, it is imperative to develop processes to store water when it is in excess to allow its use during drought years. This can be done by a channel by diversion from a watercourse or by a damDroughts, which have become more frequent in recent years, make irrigation systems increasingly necessary to ensure the regularity of production.
Even if this historic drop in the soft wheat harvest remains cyclical, its origin may also be due to structural problems.
France has some of the most fertile fields in the world and is the fifth largest wheat producer in the world, with almost one in six hectares devoted to wheat cultivation. With its production exceeding domestic demand, France is one of the ten wheat-exporting countries in the world, with more than half of its harvest destined for export. These gigantic productions go hand in hand with highly industrialized and hyper-specialized agriculture. However, monoculture leads to long-term exhaustion and impoverishment of the land, forcing the use of chemical fertilizers that pollute the soil and water.
In addition, encouraging the planting of trees and hedges within wheat fields would improve water circulation and storage. However, « Since 1950, 70% of the linear hedges have disappeared from French bocages »It is therefore essential to replant, because agroforestry helps combat drought. by creating a microclimate that prevents evapotranspiration.
[1] Statistics Service of the Ministry of Agriculture
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