the government announces an aid plan for fruit and vegetable producers

Are you eating enough French fruits and vegetables? This is the question posed by Marc Fesneau, Minister of Agriculture with his visit to the Salon de l’Agriculture. The Minister has set himself the objective that French consumers consume more fruits and vegetables grown in the country. Today, this proportion is only 50%. So the government announced the launch of a sovereignty plan for the sector: 200 million euros will be invested in 2023.

“A loss of sovereignty”

According to Marc Fesneau, the government had been considering aid for fruit and vegetable producers for more than a year. “On fruits and vegetables, we had a very obvious loss of sovereignty, almost all sectors combined in this area and which nevertheless poses a problem in a country which, not so long ago, was capable of export a certain number of these products and which is now a fairly marginal subject”, explains the Minister.

This investment represents the first stage of a plan which will be multi-year and which seems to convince the producers, as evidenced by Laurent Grandin, president of the Interprofession of fresh fruits and vegetables. “We have reached a crossroads. We have 50% of national production in consumption. If we let things slide, we will end up like in industry. We know that in industry, everything you buy, there is only 30% of the added value left in the territory. So if we do nothing, we go, “he worries.

These 200 million will be invested in various areas, in particular for better crop production. This involves modernizing greenhouses, for example, by fighting predators, but reducing the use phytosanitary products. The idea is ultimately to invest in research and development.