REPORT “It’s worse than the drought”. Market gardeners hit hard by floods in Loire-Atlantique

The rains of recent days have in places had serious consequences on market gardeners in Loire-Atlantique, such as in Belligné, about fifty kilometers northeast of Nantes. The sector is one of the most affected in the department and Prosper Cochet’s harvests have paid the price.

“We are completely clogged…”laments Prosper Cochet, showing the interior of one of his flooded greenhouses in Belligné (Loire-Atlantique), where the water covers his shoes in places.

The market gardener has suffered the full brunt of the storms of recent days. Here, 180 mm of water fell in 48 hours, a disaster for his tomatoes, which the tunnels were not enough to shelter.

“It’s worse than drought, because at least we have a pond which allows us to water the vegetables on our two hectares of production drop by drop. But when there is too much water, we don’t can do nothing”, he explains, into the microphone of our journalist, Cathy Colin.

Prosper settled here six years ago, after a career change in organic market gardening. This damage can cost it its turnover for the year and threaten its operations. LThe disease attacks the productions already launched whileoutside, impossible to plant in slush.

The potatoes are rotting, the earth is filled with water that has fallen since autumn. If its clay soil helps keep humidity in summer, it turns against it today. “I did the calculation and I arrive at 650 mm of water since January 1st, while usually it is between 700 and 800 mm per year.”

In six months, a year of rain fell on me.

Prosper Cochet, market gardener in Loire-Atlantique

Very established in its territory, but too small to be insured, it is at least happy to receive a lot of support from its neighbors. “Again this morning, someone came to me to offer help, but I told him that there was nothing to do at the moment, because the ground is completely soakedhe said, with tears in his eyes. In the next few days, if the sun comes out and it dries out, maybe we’ll get there.”

The multiplication of episodes of heavy precipitation is one of the consequences of climate change. Extreme heat tends to increase the evaporation of the oceans, whose water accumulates in large quantities in the sky before being dumped in the form of rain on the land. A phenomenon that is all the more problematic in areas affected by drought, where dry soils struggle to absorb water quickly, increasing the risk of flooding. A phenomenon also increased by the artificialization of soils and disruptions to the water cycle caused by human activity.