the essential
A farmer from Clermont-le-Fort is committed alongside the South-East Toulouse Urban Community, Sicoval, to saving the Nigella de France, a protected flower which could have disappeared without the extreme attention given to it. was carried…
The Nature Reserve is essentially wooded pigeons, wetlands and the confluence of the Garonne and the Ariège which shape the identity of the southern Toulouse territory. These natural landscapes also rub shoulders with cultivated land, part of the Reserve. Francis Pressecq, a farmer from Venerque, works there.
His commitment of more than ten years alongside the Nature Reserve is limitless: “My family started in 1886 with 8 ha of mixed farming. I represent the fifth generation to cultivate nearly 180 ha of this land that I manage with the SCEA ( Civil society of agricultural exploitation) of Jordi.” he explains before specifying: “Since 1986, we have devoted ourselves mainly to cereal crops: wheat, barley, sorghum, but also diversification with peas and chickpeas. The succession is assured with my daughter Julie who is taking over a part of the farm dedicated to large crops and my son, who has just graduated with a doctorate in agronomy, is passionate about mixed farming and organic market gardening.”
2010, an important turning point
2010 marks a turning point in this family history. The farmer explains: “Sicoval has become the owner of part of the land that I cultivate. I was associated with the working group aimed at improving the development of the Riverotte woodpigeon, in Clermont-le-Fort. At the time, the woodpigeon already presented many challenges: incivility, illegal deposits and lack of clear boundaries between spaces. My crops were sometimes ransacked.
In dialogue with residents, Sicoval, the Reserve and associations such as Caminarem then worked to install hedges to demarcate walking areas from cultivated areas. “When the Nature Reserve was created in 2015, the idea of bringing an agricultural activity to life in a protected area immediately appealed to me. We worked together to preserve the Nigella de France,” explains the operator. .
Adapted practices on the plot
“The Nigella de France is a nationally protected plant, which aligns its life cycle with that of crops. It is called “messicole” (linked to harvests, Editor’s note). The species grows on one of the fields cultivated by Francis Pressecq , when the culture is favorable (crop of straw cereals) The Nigella de France flowers for the first time just before the harvest, and can flower again after the harvest. The plant can thus go to seed and then spread. unless the land is being worked at that particular time.” “I adapted the cultivation practices on the plot where Nigella grows,” explains Francis Pressecq, who notes that “the most sensitive period for the species occurs at harvest time, as well as in the following weeks. We therefore tried to set up a so-called dethatching late. After the harvest, the plot remains dormant until the end of September-beginning of October. I then resume traditional work to prepare the crop for the following year.”
And the result is there: according to the farmer, Nigella de France has progressed on the plot since 2019. In 2024, 286 plants were recorded compared to around fifty in 2019.
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