Six priority projects for the future of French agriculture

• The main problems of French agriculture are a negative impact on the environment and an inability to generate a decent income for its many representatives, according to our partner The Conversation.

• Salvation requires, among other things, the reduction of pesticides and greenhouse gas emissions, the development of organic agriculture, etc.

• This analysis was conducted by Cécile Détang-Dessendre, director of research in economics, Christian Huyghe, scientific director for agriculture, Hervé Guyomard, researcher and Xavier Reboud, researcher in agroecology.

With 77 billion euros of production in value for 2019, France is the leading European agricultural producer.

On 48.5% of the metropolitan territory, the 390,000 farms identified in 2020 shape the landscape.

In 2022 and in the years to come, however, many challenges remain.

On the one hand, French agriculture has a negative impact on the environment and the climate, being a source of gross greenhouse gas emissions that are not offset by the carbon stored in soils and biomass.

It also fails to generate a decent income for many farmers, despite significant public support.

The gap is also widening between farmers and consumers, who are demanding but often reluctant to spend more on their food.

In such a context, French agriculture must resolutely take a different path by responding to six major challenges.

​1.

Reduce (finally) the use of pesticides

At the end of the Second World War, "intensive" agriculture was built on mechanization and chemistry.

Its negative impacts on the health of humans and ecosystems are established.

Since 2008, the French government has implemented a plan for the massive reduction of phytosanitary products, a translation of European directive 2009/128/EC, an ambition taken up at European level within the framework of the Green Pact.

But if it has made it possible to accelerate the withdrawal of certain molecules among the most worrying and in particular CMRs (carcinogenic, mutagenic, reprotoxic), this initiative has not produced the expected reduction.

Spraying pesticides in northern France (2013) © Philippe Huguen/AFP (via The Conversation)

The various Ecophyto plans have nevertheless made it possible to identify many areas for progress:

• agroecological practices to manage soil fertility and contain pests;

• precision agriculture driven by geolocation and digital technology to increase the efficiency of pesticide use (with an expected gain of around 10%);

• varietal selection geared towards the genetic resistance of crops to diseases, with real progress already recorded in wheat and vines in particular;

• the development of biocontrol.

The network of Dephy farms set up within the framework of Ecophyto shows that such developments are possible.

On the other hand, the system of agricultural advice, really separated from the sale of phytosanitary products, must be put at the service of the generalization of these experiments.

Public policies, in particular the common agricultural policy (CAP), must be mobilized by reinforcing the fee for diffuse pollution applied to pesticide purchases, by obliging the sellers of these products to participate in the reduction effort (by offering alternatives within the framework of the phytosanitary product savings certificate system), by remunerating farmers for major reduction efforts (including by covering risk-taking) and by supporting investments in equipment to reduce the use of pesticides.

​2.

Reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions

Agricultural greenhouse gas emissions © Ministry of Agriculture, from CITEPA data (via The Conversation)

According to CITEPA, agriculture represented, in 2020, 21% of French greenhouse gas emissions in the form of methane CH₄ (45%), nitrous oxide N₂0 (42%) and carbon dioxide CO₂ ( 13%).

These emissions are stable (-0.1% between 2015 and 2018).

Methane emissions are directly linked to the size of the herd, in particular of cattle in which they are mainly produced during the digestion of cellulose in fodder.

They can be slightly reduced by modifying animal feed – thanks in particular to the incorporation of linseed meal and additives, the effects of which are promising, but remain to be confirmed –, by increasing animal productivity, which allows to reduce their numbers at constant production, and by reducing the size of the herd in the context of human diets less rich in red meat.

N₂O and CO₂ emissions will be reduced by adjusting the forms and methods of application of fertilizers, and above all by using less mineral and organic nitrogen fertilizers thanks to increased use of legumes and better coordination of crop production and animals in the territories.

Carbon storage in soils, promoted with the 4/1000 initiative, has the additional benefit of improving soil fertility and structure.

Agriculture can also contribute to the production of renewable energy in various forms (methanization, photovoltaics, etc.)… provided that there is no competition with food production and the return of carbon to the soil.

These paths of progress are at the heart of many approaches: soil conservation agriculture, living or regenerative agriculture, permaculture, etc.

These practices are to be encouraged by public policies, according to the same logic as that applied to pesticides, ie by more strictly mobilizing the issuer-payer and storer-beneficiary principles.

​3.

Ensuring the development of organic farming on a large scale

The specifications of organic farming (AB) guarantee production without chemical inputs, with benefits for the quality of soil, water and air, the preservation of biodiversity, and the health of farmers, inhabitants and consumers due to less exposure to contaminants.

Its nutritional benefits and its impact on the climate are still the subject of debate.

While organic farming practices do make it possible to reduce greenhouse gas emissions per hectare, this is not always the case when they are measured per unit of product due to lower productivity.

For the same reason, organic farming will require more land to produce the same amounts of goods.

Evolution of areas cultivated organically in France © Agence Bio (via The Conversation)

These lower yields require higher end product prices.

The economic equilibrium of organic farms has been ensured until now by a market that tends to be buoyant and by aid, in particular during the period of conversion to organic farming during which the products are not labeled.

The continued development of organic farming requires innovations (varietal selection, agronomic practices, etc.) to increase and stabilize yields.

It also requires that the market remain dynamic and accessible to all.

Public policies must therefore promote access to organic food for the most vulnerable, for example through a system of food vouchers.

Organic farming will also benefit if the negative services of agriculture are more explicitly penalised, and the positive services rewarded.

Finally, changes in diets and the reduction of losses and waste will be necessary, in particular to limit the need for land due to the lower yields of organic farming, as highlighted in the 2018 IDDRI TYFA scenario.

​4.

Adapt the agricultural offer to the necessary changes in diets

Diets that are too high in calories and too unbalanced (too much sugar, fat, salt, cold cuts and red meats; not enough plant protein and fibre, fruit and vegetables) have negative effects on health, leading to overweight, obesity and chronic diseases.

In France, in 2016, the annual social cost of overweight and obesity amounted to 20.4 billion euros, comparable to that of tobacco and higher than that of alcohol.

However, nutritional policies, essentially based on standards, recommendations, information and labeling (Nutri-Score), and very little on tax incentives (taxes or subsidies), remain very modest.

The burden of obesity on healthcare systems © Statista (based on OECD data)

Changes in diets will not be without consequences for agricultural (and agri-food) supply.

They will have a negative impact on the consumption of animal products, a drop for which producers must prepare by offsetting the reduction in volumes with an increase in quality.

This prospect is also an opportunity to review the marked specialization of dairy and beef cattle herds by favoring mixed breeds, such as the Normande or the Aubrac, which value both milk and meat production, and can make it possible to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cattle.

At the same time, the development of structured and competitive fruit, vegetable and vegetable protein sectors should be encouraged.

These require working on production, collection, processing (new recipes), and consumption habits through education and information.

Several experiments, like that of the “Sustainable Food 2030” innovation territory in Dijon, are promising.

​5.

Reconciling environmental protection and agricultural income

The income of French farms is very dependent on budgetary support from the CAP which, in 2019, represented on average three quarters of current income before tax.

This dependence is even greater, over 100%, for certain categories of farms (250% for beef cattle, 136% for beef and dairy cattle, 128% for cereals and oilseed and protein crops).

It makes it very difficult to modify the methods of granting aid, in particular to meet ecological objectives, which would jeopardize the economic viability of many farms.

However, the ecological status quo is no longer an option.

Getting out of this dilemma requires strengthening the bargaining power of farmers to better distribute the value (grouping of supply, goods adapted to consumer expectations, development of short circuits).

It also requires the development of complementary sources of income, by mobilizing these different axes: reducing production costs by mobilizing all sources of progress (genetics, digital, optimization of the use of biomass, open innovation, etc.);

harness consumers' willingness to pay for products from systems that are more climate- and environment-friendly, and at the same time provide the poorest households with aid to enable them to access these products;

develop payments for environmental services financed by the taxpayer, but also the user;

limit distortions of competition between farmers in the European area and those in third countries through the introduction of adjustment mechanisms at European borders in terms of climate, environment and health.

On the other hand, a more global reflection will have to be engaged on the use of the savings made thanks to the reduction in health and depollution expenditure.

It would be more than 50 billion euros which would be spent each year in France for the only depollution of water in pesticides and nitrates...

​6.

Make farming more attractive

In 2019, 55% of French farmers were over 50 years old.

And when 10 of them retire, only 7 settle down.

To the aging of this population is therefore added the non-renewal of generations.

The current paradox being that a more agroecological agriculture requires more labor (to monitor plants and animals, ensure the mechanical weeding of crops, develop processing and sales activities, etc.), with more extensive qualifications and higher.

These difficulties are not specific to France and are found, with national specificities, in the various European countries.

In Lyon in December 2008, during a demonstration against the drop in the price of milk © Fred Dufour/AFP (via The Conversation)

According to the European Economic and Social Committee, several unfavorable factors explain this double negative spiral: income gaps between agriculture and other sectors of activity;

the administrative burden of access to CAP aid;

more stringent European standards than in most other countries;

cash flow, investment financing and access to land difficulties;

the weakness of agricultural pensions;

and constraints related to life in rural areas (more difficult access to public and private services).

The action levers should combine social, land, agricultural and territorial policies.

The revaluation of pensions and their conditioning on the transmission of land to entrants will limit the retention of land by the oldest.

An effective land policy will target two objectives: protection against land take and priority access to agricultural assets.

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This analysis was written by Cécile Détang-Dessendre, director of research in economics;

Christian Huyghe, scientific director for agriculture;

Hervé Guyomard, researcher;

Xavier Reboud, researcher in agroecology (all four at the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment – ​​INRAE).

The original article was published on The Conversation website.

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