Strips of uncultivated agricultural land due to pesticide spraying bans could generate income for farmers in the future, President Emmanuel Macron suggested on Saturday February 22 when he visited the Paris Agricultural Show.
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" We will see how to promote these bands with environmental services, tips (...) that allow you to have income ", he said to a farmer and brewer from Vexin who called out on the subject non-treatment zones (ZNT) imposed by decree since January 1 to protect residents from chemicals.
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" These ZNTs will play against French farmers and I, who have just settled, I had not planned 5 or 10 meters, and it will be very complicated, " said the young man to the president during his visit from the living room.
During the conversation, Emmanuel Macron assured him that the farmers would be " accompanied ". The government has indeed announced Friday the release of an envelope of 25 million euros to compensate for the loss of income on land that can not be exploited.
Emmanuel Macron, who was questioned many times on the subject along his journey, also pledged to provide " legal certainty " to farmers so that the next sowing can be done " in a peaceful environment ".
A decree and decree published at the very end of December by the government has imposed since January 1 minimum distances for spraying phytosanitary products recommended by the French Health Security Agency (ANSES): five meters from housing for so-called low crops such as vegetables and cereals, ten meters for tall crops, fruit or vines, and 20 meters for the “ most dangerous ” products, which however only represent around 0.3% of the active substances used.
