• The beginning of May, which was particularly hot, caused the onset of drought in certain French regions, but Ile-de-France was relatively spared.

  • But faced with climate change and rising temperatures, players in the agricultural world are thinking about the best ways to adapt.

  • The Ile-de-France region plans to support farmers for better irrigation and water management while the question arises of a reorientation of crops towards plants that consume less water.

Despite the heat stroke at the beginning of May, the drought is not currently threatening the Ile-de-France region.

According to the map of territories at risk by the end of summer 2022 established by the Ministry of Ecological Transition, the risk is only "possible" in Ile-de-France when it is "probable" in Burgundy -Franche-Comté, even “very probable” in the former Poitou-Charentes region.

“For the moment, things are pretty good, there is no drought, confirms Daniel Evain, market gardener and cereal farmer in Dourdan (Essonne) and member of the peasant confederation.

Shallow land may have a lower yield, but nothing catastrophic.

»

The farmer rejects the comparison with the terrible year of 1976 when "from memory, it had not rained between the beginning of April and July 14".

He is mainly waiting for the month of June when he hopes for a little water, but for the moment, the season looks rather good.

Thanks to the high temperatures, “the vegetables arrived faster than usual”.

The bedpan hypothesis

But if the situation in Ile-de-France is not alarming, this does not prevent the actors of the agricultural world from wondering about the problem of water management.

“With climate change, it has become a real concern, underlines Valérie Lacroute, vice-president of the regional council in charge of agriculture and food.

The beginning of the drought arrived in May, whereas in general it is July-August, it is getting earlier and earlier.

And the community will have to play a growing role on these subjects since from January 1, 2023, the regions will have to manage the second pillar of the CAP, namely rural development.

"And the objective of Ile-de-France is to open a line of budgetary intervention on the water component", announces Valérie Lacroute.

This “support for farmers” on this issue would therefore focus on issues of storage, irrigation and water management.

Concretely, and according to the Vice-President, this could take the form of “aid for investment in equipment for drip irrigation, for example”.

The elected official does not rule out the possibility of basins which have caused so much talk in New Aquitaine, in particular.

“The idea is not to do huge things, but to store rainwater to then irrigate the crops.

»

Reorient cultures?

In the longer term, Valérie Lacroute believes that it is also possible to promote crops that consume less water.

"We will have to revise certain crops downwards, such as corn or sugar beet, which require a lot of water," says Daniel Evain.

Corn can be replaced by sorghum and reducing beets could go hand in hand with reducing sugar in our food consumption.

»

The farmer also proposes to make more legumes such as beans or lentils, large suppliers of vegetable proteins without consuming a lot of water.

But for the vice-president of the region, this reorientation must not be done to the detriment of our food sovereignty, in particular with the consequences of the war in Ukraine on the world production of cereals.

“There is a fair balance to be found,” she says.

As in any agricultural system.

Planet

Weather: Should we expect a scorching summer, while a heat wave hits France?

Planet

Drought: "It is urgent to work on better soil management", according to hydrogeologist Florence Habets

  • Paris

  • Ile-de-France

  • Drought

  • Agriculture

  • Weather report

  • Water

  • Global warming