In the Rhône, the cherry harvest has started. Rain, lack of sunshine and harmful insects make the work of arborists difficult. Some producers are taking radical measures to protect their production.
The particularly rainy spring certainly allowed the water tables to fill up. However, in the agricultural world, some suffer from a lack of sunshine. This is the case for cherry producers in the Rhône.
In addition to the rains, the Drosophila or fruit fly damages cherry crops. This harmful insect is attracted to the fruits in which it lays its eggs, making them unfit for consumption.
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© France 3 Rhône-Alpes
Florent Bouttier travels around his farm in Charly, he knows, this year he will once again lose 30% of his cherry harvest. Blame it on the rain, the lack of heat and the fruit fly, a devastating insect. The arborist had to take drastic measures. “JI pulled out a late variety, he explainsbecause Drosophila comes on late varieties, but now, deplores Florentit also mutates on early varieties.”
Without adequate protection, a cherry grower can lose up to 30% of their harvest.
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© France 3 Rhône-Alpes
The farmer says other producers are throwing in the towel. The cherry harvest has become too random. “In the south of France, someone who has a farm, and who wants to make 100 tonnes of cherries, is like an industrialist, he wants to be able to count on it. If the next year, you tell him, there are only 50 tons, and the next year, more than 30 tons, he uproots, he does something else: vines, apple trees, pear trees …”
To guarantee harvests, there is a solution: tarpaulins and protective nets. Patrick Reynard is a cherry producer, he has equipped his 10 hectares with them. Its production is assured. “There was slight damage with the rain on the branches which exceed the protections, notes the producer. But thanks to the protections, he assuresthere is only a small percentage of damaged fruit, there is a nice harvest.”
At 100,000 euros per hectare, the investment is significant. Only the largest producers can equip themselves today. And that’s without taking into account the landscape which is transformed.
The nets protect crops but they are expensive and radically change the Rhône landscape.
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© France 3 Rhône-Alpes
“It’s a transition that we are going through because we are constantly evolving, nets have become essential, assures Patrick Reynard. If we want to guarantee quality and a harvest.”
The Rhône is the leading cherry producing department in France. With the vagaries of the weather and the change in culture, the volume drops a little more each year.
