Manure dumped in front of the northern prefecture in Lille. - M.Libert / 20 Minutes

They had promised to come back in force. On the night of Wednesday to Thursday, farmers carried out punching actions in various places of the department to protest against the establishment of zones of non-treatment (ZNT) to pesticides. In Lille, tons of manure were dumped in front of the prefecture.

Place de la République, in Lille, several tractors rolled out around 4:30 am on Thursday. In their trailers, tons of slurry which was mixed with different agricultural waste. The whole thing was dumped in front of and around the prefecture. In the early afternoon, Thursday, the city's cleaning services were still on the job to clear away the manure.

Large shortfall according to farmers

On January 22, farmers had already carried out an impressive action against the ZNTs, managing to gather more than 500 tractors in the city center. After being received by the prefect, the farmers left while promising harsher actions if they were not heard. This is what they did in Lille, but also in Douai and Valenciennes.

Non-treatment zones are strips of fields near dwellings on which farmers cannot use plant protection products. Protesters say that not treating these areas represents a significant shortfall.

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