Marathon and eventful day for Emmanuel Macron, debate around the consumption of alcohol, an overcrowded Saturday… It is a significant edition of the Agricultural Show which ended this Sunday evening. More than 80 official visits, 3,500 accredited journalists and hundreds of thousands of visitors: the president of the International Agricultural Show, Jean-Luc Poulain, hailed on Sunday a “beautiful edition” 2023 of the great meeting of the French with the agricultural world.
“It’s a good living room. We are reconnecting with the influx of editions before the Covid”, rejoiced the boss of the show, at the time of the closing of the halls of the Porte de Versailles which recorded 615,204 visitors. On Saturday, a record crowd forced the organizers to close access to the show earlier, also marked this year by the increased presence of groups of drunken young people. “We did it for security reasons: the atmosphere was friendly but the slightest crowd movement could have been dangerous given the crowds,” he said.
The organizers of the event – which is held over nine days, including two weekends – are considering ways to avoid a bottleneck in the future: tickets that are currently valid for any day of the fair, could for example be increased on Saturdays and Sundays, or valid for a particular day – which would make it possible to control the daily tonnage of visitors.
Very attentive politicians despite the absence of elections this year
In 2022, the year of reunion after the health crisis, the Salon had welcomed 503,000 visitors. The record dates back to 2014, with more than 700,000 visitors. A year after the start of the war in Ukraine and while the vagaries of the weather are weighing on agricultural production, the Show has made it possible to show the expectations of the agricultural world, affirms Jean-Luc Poulain, himself a farmer in the Oise.
“What was taken for granted – abundant and inexpensive food – is facing a series of constraints: inflation, geopolitics, the climate, which raise the question of France’s food sovereignty”, he said. he assures. The show once again coincided with the closing of annual negotiations between supermarket chains and their suppliers, which ended Wednesday at midnight, suggesting a 10% increase in prices paid to manufacturers.
The president of the Chambers of Agriculture, Sébastien Windsor, for his part noted a “particular sensitivity of the policies this year on the agricultural subject”, with more visits than usual “while we are not in an election period”. . Since Saturday February 25, when the Head of State Emmanuel Macron opened the ball, the visits have not stopped. A hundred personalities, political leaders, ministers or elected officials, French and foreign, walked the aisles. Marc Fesneau even spent the nine days there for his baptism of fire as Minister of Agriculture.
Phytosanitary products, fuel, water… Political announcements at the Show
With the aid announced by the government, in particular for fruit and vegetable producers, a committed reflection on phytosanitary products and water. The government promises to help fund research into alternatives to products that may be banned in the next few years.
The executive is also working on a water plan to be presented in March. Among the avenues: increased storage, the reuse of wastewater – less than 1% in France against 8% in Italy or 14% in Spain – and the development of crop varieties that are more resistant to water stress. The checkbook opened even before the official inauguration, with the announcement to fishermen by Emmanuel Macron of the extension of their fuel discount. A measure that costs “around 2.5 million euros per month”, according to the Secretary of State for the Sea Hervé Berville.
Other envelopes have been announced. Thus, 400 million euros must be released to help invest in “innovative” agricultural equipment. While France imports 50% of its fruits and vegetables, “the objective is to mobilize 200 million euros” for the sector, half of which is already included in the investment plan for agricultural equipment.
Big disappointment on the other hand for the organic producers, who judged “contemptuous” the announcement of a cash aid of ten million euros while the fall in consumption plunges the sector into the doldrums, with a decline in the number of conversions to organic by 32% over one year, according to the Agence bio.