Louise Sallé / Photo credit: AFP/Eric Piermont 9:53 a.m., February 27, 2024

On the occasion of the Agricultural Show, "Axa Climate", a subsidiary of the insurer Axa responsible for modeling the impact of climate change in order to develop insurance models in agriculture, published a report this Tuesday with SEMAE.

It details in particular how seeds will be exposed to global warming in the future. 

An upheaval by 2050. Seeds are seeds produced on our territory which are not intended to be consumed, since they are intended to be sold to farmers to sow their crops.

France is thus the leading European producer country, and the world's leading exporter of seeds... An essential culture, the basis of our food sovereignty.

This study, published this Tuesday by SEMAE, the inter-professional association for seeds and plants, details how all seeds (wheat, corn, carrots, potatoes, etc.), without exception, will be exposed to very high heat and low precipitation. by 2050. For the sector, there are no other solutions than to adapt to global warming. 

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Chickpeas, lentils and red beans

To hope to obtain seeds more resistant to drought and extreme temperatures, the report recommends planting chickpeas in the south-east of France, but also increasing the number of crops of lentils and red beans. 

“Clover, which is used to feed livestock, is currently produced in Jura, Cher and Indre,” explains Antoine Denoix, CEO of Axa Climate.

“We consider that we will have to produce much further north in the coming years, even in the Ardennes, by 2030-2050,” he continues.

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Corn in the North and sunflowers in Brittany

“For corn which is widely grown in the South-West, we can expect corn seeds to be located more in the north of France, or even north of Paris by 2050,” adds Antoine Denoix.

The Côtes d'Armor, which will have less rain, will become suitable for growing sunflowers.

And in Aude, it will be rapeseed.

For corn, however, moving it further north won't be enough.

It will also be necessary to change agricultural practices.

“We usually plant corn at the end of April, but we are saying to ourselves that we will have to do it at the end of March, so as to avoid too hot temperatures in the summer,” continues the CEO of Axa Climate.

“Drip” irrigation techniques and better soil quality can also improve yields. 

All these seeds, produced in France, are partly exported.

It is for this reason that the adaptation of the sector constitutes an important economic issue.

This financial windfall is indeed worth gold abroad since it brought the country more than two billion euros in 2023.