At least 500 tractors and some 2,000 farmers will converge on Paris on Wednesday morning February 8, during a demonstration against the ban on neonicotinoids in beet farming, announced the National Federation of Farmers' Unions (Fnsea) and the prefecture. Paris police in press releases.
Many farmers' unions and associations, such as the National Union of Potato Producers (UNPT), the General Association of Wheat and Other Cereals Producers (AGPB) and the Association of Corn Producers (AGPM) , relayed the call to protest.
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The convoys, coming from the A13, A10, A6 and A4 motorways, will park on the boulevards located around the Porte de Versailles from 7 to 8 a.m., after having taken the outer ring road.
They will then join the esplanade des Invalides, passing by rue de Vaugirard, boulevard Pasteur, avenue de Suffren and avenue de la Motte-Picquet.
The Paris police headquarters expects traffic "
very strongly disturbed in a wide area
", from the ring road to the 7th and 15th arrondissements of Paris.
The farmers will disperse at the beginning of the afternoon by joining the ring road at the Quai d'Issy.
“
It is strongly recommended that motorists drive around the area widely
,” warn the authorities.
“Hecatomb of the agricultural sectors”
The government decided on January 23 to abandon the authorization of neonicotinoid insecticides for the cultivation of sugar beet, following a decision by the Court of Justice of the European Union making any derogation illegal.
These substances, toxic to bees and banned since 2018, had benefited from a derogation in France for two years, which allowed them to be applied preventively to sugar beet seeds - to protect them from jaundice, a viral disease threatening yields.
The subject of neonicotinoids is "
the tip of the iceberg
", told AFP the president of the Parisian FNSEA Grand Bassin and farmer in Essonne Damien Greffin, who cites the ban on the insecticide phosmet, which "
compromises
” the cultivation of cherries, or that of a weedkiller for endives.
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We are witnessing, according to him, a “
hecatomb of the agricultural sectors one after the other (…) at this rate, French agriculture will disappear
”.
While affirming that there is “
no question of making the apology of phytosanitary products
”, he is in favor of a reintroduction of neonicotinoids “
as long as there is no other solution
”.
For the FNSEA, it is “
food sovereignty
”, “
displayed as a government priority
”, which is at stake. The union calls on the executive to “
move from rhetoric to action
”.
This protest movement comes the day after a third day of mobilization against the pension reform, the bill of which is currently being considered in Parliament.
On Wednesday, disruptions are also expected in Ile-de-France transport, the SNCF having warned of "disturbed" RER and TER line traffic.
