Emmanuelle Ducros 8:50 a.m., February 28, 2024

Every morning after the 8:30 a.m. news, Emmanuelle Ducros reveals to listeners her “Journey into absurdity”, from Monday to Thursday.

Still live from the agricultural show.

Today a story that concerns our daily lives.

That of hazelnut cultivation.

I met the vice president of Koki yesterday.

It is the main agricultural cooperative producing hazelnuts in France: it is 40 years old, it brings together 350 farmers, and it produces 10,000 tonnes of hazelnuts per year.

But at Koki, we bang our heads against the walls.

The cooperative has just written to the Head of State, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Agriculture Marc Fesneau.

The message: France must stop punishing local production and favoring cheaper imports.

What's going on at Koki's?

Koki's setbacks began in 2016, with Ségolène Royal.

Then Minister of Ecology.

It had decided to ban a series of phytosanitary products in the neonicotinoid category in France, ahead of Europe.

Typically what we call an overtransposition.

One of the banned products is still certified by the European Union until 2033.

For Koki, it was terrible.

Yes, because at the same time voracious pests attacked hazelnut production.

“Evil bugs” from Asia.

They have been on the rise for several years.

The attacks cause 30% to 80% of crop losses.”

The industry no longer knows what to do.

The means of struggle that remain are paltry.

It is losing momentum, farmers are discouraged.

It's annoying, because major customers in France like Ferrero would like to source French hazelnuts.

The industry needs 25,000 to 30,000 tonnes of hazelnuts; French producers cannot supply a tenth of that.

So, France imports hazelnuts.

80% of its needs.

Hazelnuts from Turkey or 244 pesticides are permitted to treat trees, the vast majority of which have been banned here for a long time.

However, they cross borders without problem.

Worse: some of the hazelnuts come from Italy, where producers are subject to European rules and can save their crops.

French hazelnut farmers are disgusted at being disadvantaged by their own country.

Is there no solution for them?

They would like biocontrol methods, using wasps to combat bedbugs, to prove their effectiveness, but these experimental techniques will not emerge for ten years.

If France does not align with European rules, what will remain of Koki by then?

Mystery.

Comment from one of the cooperative's farmers: “Gabriel Attal said that by washing whiter than white, we become transparent.

This is exactly what happens to French hazelnuts.