Marc Fesneau, the Minister of Agriculture, was in Gard this Friday. As part of the sovereignty plan for the fruit and vegetable sector, he visited the Balandran technical center in Bellegarde and signed an agreement associating the State and the inter-professional sector.
The first plan to regain France’s food sovereignty involves fruits and vegetables. Marc Fesneau came to remind us of this, this Friday, April 26, in Gard, precisely in Bellegarde where he visited the inter-professional technical center for fruits and vegetables and signed, at the same time, an agreement associating the State and the inter-profession.
From left. to right. : Jacques Rouchausse (president of the CTIFL), Marc Fesneau (Minister of Agriculture), Jérôme Bonet (prefect of Gard) and Laurent Grandin (president of the fruit and vegetable inter-profession) during the signing of the convention at the CTIFL of Balandran in Bellegarde. (photo FP)
With 320 employees, nine production sites throughout the country, €28 million budget, 190 ha of experimental space, 350 research and experimentation projects and 4 million certified fruit plants per year, the CTIFL is the reference for applied research serving the sector, from production to consumption. Its mission is to help professionals meet production challenges. Challenges that must take into account climate change and the appearance of diseases that were still ignored a few years ago; which must also take into account the question of the transition on phytosanitary products and the ban on certain ones.
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“No ban without a new solution. » This statement sparked controversy. The Minister of Agriculture hammered it home once again. Suffice to say that his words are necessarily appreciated by professionals in the sector. “But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t look for solutions”he took care to clarify immediately.
This is the whole meaning of this convention which is part of the long term, said the minister who took the time to have the work carried out by the Bellegarde center explained to him and to see the experiments carried out in the greenhouses.
“We met a year and a half ago with the industry to list what we need to give hope to producers”said the minister during this visit, adding: “There is what we can do with consumers, mass distribution. There is also what we can do in terms of research and innovation. This has not been pushed far enough, particularly with regard to plant protection products, the bans of which deprive producers of the means to fight against diseases; also about the resilience of cultures in relation to climate change. The convention provides research resources to meet these challenges. »
The Minister of Agriculture says that this is a long-term issue. But it is necessary to say “to young people that there is a future in this sector. »
FP
