" We must unblock the situation in one way or another, " alarmed the Minister of Agriculture, Didier Guillaume, this Thursday morning at the microphone of Sud-Radio. The minister denounced the " worrying situation " of agricultural trade when several tonnes of products destined for China - milk, pigs, wines - are blocked because of the Coronavirus. " It's a real drama, " he lamented. “ With my Chinese colleagues, we plan to go by the silk route (between Asia and Europe, note). Passing through Russia, we can transport products by train because China is going to have an early problem of food shortages . ”
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" We also export a lot of milk, " said the minister. “ It is also a worrying subject because it can be a danger for the sector. If we stop exporting there is going to be a price slump. "
Asked also about the failure of the CAP discussions, the minister said he was “ delighted ” because “ if there had been an agreement, it would have been bad for our farmers. It is not up to them to pay for Brexit and I will not accept a cut in the budget, ”he said. " The President of the Republic continues to fight to maintain good aid ".
Didier Guillaume also spoke on farmers' pensions, after a farmer called Emmanuel Macron during the week to ask him to revalue current pensions. " I can't take care of pensions for the past forty years, " he conceded. " But Edouard Philippe has set up a working committee to look at what can be done around current pensions ".
Read also: In Brussels, pitched battle over the CAP
Finally, while organic farming in France has crossed the 10% mark (with an objective, in 2022, of reaching 15% of useful agricultural area), the minister reacted to a critical Senate report on public funding devoted to agriculture, published a few days before the Agriculture Show. The report accuses the state of " trickery ", in the words of one of the contributing LR senators, Alain Houper, questioned by Public-Sénat , and of doing " communication ". The text also points to the law " a disengagement of the State in aid " which " recedes " and the impossibility of respecting in time the objective of 15% of organic agricultural areas in 2022. " It is a politician report which does not take into account the real, ”accused Didier Guillaume. " I dispute the basis of their figure. "
