Banned pesticides: Mark Feno says he’s ‘concerned’ about handling apples and endive

Attention in some French fruit and vegetable sectors. “There is an urgent need” to find solutions for processed apples and endive that are likely to be banned, Agriculture Minister Mark Fesno said Thursday. “We are at a technical impasse” regarding these products and “we have concerns for 2024,” he emphasized at the Agrosalon.

“We should have been concerned about this a long time ago,” admitted the minister, who regularly uses the phrase “no ban without a solution” about pesticides.

“The endive sector has no information about its ability to produce beyond 2024, following the announced withdrawal of several key active ingredients to guarantee the technical and economic sustainability of this traditional crop from Hautes-de-France (90% of production in France). ),” the French endive growers’ association emphasized in an open letter to Gabriel Attal in early February.

France’s food sovereignty plan

The minister presented the assessment on Thursday a year after launching a plan aimed at “recapturing” French sovereignty over fruits and vegetables, 50% of which are currently imported.

In particular, this made it possible to allocate 100 million euros to equipment modernization projects, for example for greenhouses or irrigation, as well as 40 million euros to food aid associations for the purchase of fruits and vegetables.

The plan provides for an additional 100 million euros in 2024. “It is important to have this continuation because in the current environment we might wonder if the continuation of the plan would be delayed,” stressed Alexis Deguy, CEO of the Interprofessional Division of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables. (Interfel).