Sandrine Prioul, edited by Juline Garnier 7:55 a.m., March 24, 2022, modified at 7:56 a.m., March 24, 2022

Russia and Ukraine alone account for 30% of wheat exports in the world.

So the European Commission presented at its summit on Wednesday a plan to limit agricultural price inflation and the risk of shortages, in particular by allowing the exploitation of fallow hectares hitherto prohibited.

Less green and more intensive agriculture.

This is the plan presented Wednesday by the European Commission at its summit in Brussels to limit the impact of the war in Ukraine on world food security.

On the menu in particular, a contested measure: the exploitation of the four million hectares of fallow land on European soil, which goes against the objectives of the European green pact and the will of environmentalists.

>> Find Europe Matin in replay and podcast here

Russia and Ukraine represent 30% of wheat exports in the world, so the Europeans will try to boost their production to avoid the risk of shortages and agricultural price inflation.

For the National Federation of Farmers' Unions (FNSEA), despite the contradictions, it is a set of essential measures.

"We can't let people starve to death"

In Brittany, on the farm of Laëtitia Bouvier, a member of the agricultural union, this measure sounds obvious.

"It's not at all what environmentalists are advocating, I'm aware of that. Except that we can't let people starve," says the dairy farmer.

>> READ ALSO -

 Rising fuel prices: farmers denounce the increase in non-road diesel

The conflict is 2,500 kilometers from its 65 dairy cows.

However, the breeder is following this fight closely and is worried.

"Me, I look further than the farm. There, we are in front of the fields, the cows are outside and they have their food with the grass. But the grass, we do not have it all year round. there needs to be supplemented with other types of food and I am thinking of my colleagues who are in poultry, in pigs, who also need food", she explains.

Produce as much as Russia and Ukraine

There remains an emergency for the breeder: to put an end to the restrictions of the common agricultural policy of setting aside 4% of the cultivable land.

“In the context of war, we cannot afford not to produce food on 4% of the surface. It means not setting up the planned fallows. "We are putting all our chances on our side to produce enough food for everyone. The whole Ukrainian area has already been lost. We have to be able to produce as much as they do on fewer areas", explains she.

"So we need products that are natural or chemical," worries Laëtitia Bouvier.

In this context of war, the measures for a more reasoned agriculture will wait.

The European Commission has given up publishing two legislative proposals on Wednesday, one on the 50% reduction in pesticides by 2030, the other on the share of organic increased to 25%.