Paris (AFP)

While the coronavirus crisis puts thousands of workers on short-time working, the government has urgently devised a plan to facilitate the employment of thousands of them in the harvest of fruits and vegetables, with cumulative unemployment benefits and an agricultural salary, in order to find "arms for our plates".

Tuesday morning, the Minister of Agriculture Didier Guillaume had launched "an appeal to the army in the shadow of men and women" who "have stopped working" because of the coronavirus crisis, inviting them to "join the great army of French agriculture", in search of labor for harvesting fruits and vegetables or spring sowing.

The appeal is all the more important since the start of the coronavirus crisis, the food sector has become a priority behind that of health, to feed the French confined to their homes.

"I appeal to women and men who are not working, who are confined to their homes, who are waiters in restaurants, hostesses in hotels, hairdressers in my neighborhood, who are no longer active ... And I tell them to join the great army of French agriculture, those who will allow us to feed us in a clean, healthy way, "he said, asking those who wish to go" in the fields".

"You have to produce to feed the French," he said, referring to "a civic, civil act".

The needs were quantified by the main employers 'and employees' union in the agricultural sector, the FNSEA: 200,000 people over the next three months.

"We need 50,000 people in March, 80,000 in April and 80,000 in May," detailed FNSEA president Christiane Lambert on France Inter Tuesday evening.

She encouraged all volunteers to register on the site in conjunction with Pôle Emploi and the National Association for Employment and Training in Agriculture (Anefa).

- 12,400 registrations on the site in one day -

"There were previously foreigners who came to pick on the farms," ​​she said. Many from the Maghreb or Eastern countries can no longer come since the closing of the borders of the Schengen area, "but it is a necessity for the farmers" to harvest the production, she said. The problem is similar in agriculture in other countries of the European Union.

"I have colleagues in the Vaucluse who threw 10 tonnes of asparagus. The worst thing would be to leave the products in the fields for lack of harvesting them," added Ms. Lambert.

According to her, on Tuesday alone, "12,400 people came to the wizi site".

She specifies in particular to have been contacted by bosses whose staff is unemployed, who would be eager to participate: "the boss of C&A told me that he had 1,400 employees" some of whom would like to "lend a hand".

Tuesday evening, three ministries, those of the Economy and Finances, Labor and Agriculture published a press release specifying the methods according to which this solution could be implemented.

Before the end of the week, a practical guide will be distributed offering solutions to guarantee safe work against the spread of Covid-19, assured the three ministries.

However, no Covid19 test obligation was mentioned.

In addition to the "arms for your plate" initiative, the Ministry of Labor is setting up a dedicated platform with Pôle emploi.

The employee may "combine his partial activity allowance with the salary of his employment contract in the food industry, provided that his initial employer gives him his agreement to respect a notice period of 7 days before resuming work", ensure the three ministries.

The employer in the food industry who hires the employee in partial activity must release the employee from his obligations subject to the same period of seven days.

Finally, beneficiaries of the solidarity fund for very small businesses, the self-employed, micro-entrepreneurs and liberal professions, will be able to accumulate the payment by the fund (1,500 euros at the beginning of April on request from the tax site) with short contracts in businesses agricultural and agrifood.

An employee in the para-agricultural sector, herself part-time unemployed and requesting anonymity, found Tuesday evening the initiative "interesting" when it is necessary to "stick together". But wondering who will benefit from this initiative when the outdoor markets have just been closed: "To the food industry and supermarkets more than farmers," she told AFP. .

© 2020 AFP