The government calls on those "who no longer have any activity" to join the "army of agriculture"

The Minister of Agriculture Didier Guillaume launched Tuesday " an appeal to the army in the shadow of men and women " who " no longer have any activity " because of the coronavirus crisis, " to join the great army of French agriculture ”, in search of manpower.

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" Today there is the possibility of having 200,000 direct jobs in the agricultural trades ", deprived of the labor force especially foreign that it usually employs for work in the fields, explained Didier Guillaume on BFMTV , asking those who wish to go " in the fields ".

" I appeal to women and men who are not working, who are confined to their homes, who are waiters in restaurants, hostesses in hotels, hairdressers in my neighborhood, who are no longer active ... And I tell them to join the great army of French agriculture, those who will allow us to eat in a clean, healthy way, "he said.

" You have to produce to feed the French, " he said, referring to " a civic, civil act ". According to the Minister of Agriculture, the volunteers " will be paid by the farmers and we will look at how things can be done ".

" We need 200,000 people over the next three months ," confirmed the president of the majority agricultural union FNSEA, Christiane Lambert, on RTL.

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" There were previously foreigners who came to pick on the farms, they can no longer come but it is a necessity for farmers " to harvest the production. " We can put in place security and distance measures ," insists the president of the FNSEA, who refers to a site (desbraspourtonassiette.wizi.farm) where volunteers can make themselves known.