The Prime Minister, Élisabeth Borne, went to Loiret, in the Center-Val de Loire region, to meet farmers in a context of marked drought.
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The Prime Minister affirmed the Government's determination to prevent the drought situation from deteriorating, to financially support the most exposed farmers, as well as to invest and adapt agricultural practices taking into account the challenges of climate change.
She provided details on the measures that the Government is putting in place to deal with the risks of drought:
• manage water resources. The prefects must preserve resources as much as possible with restrictive measures, if necessary. 19 departments are at risk, specified Élisabeth Borne;
• drought committees will be organized at prefectural level. The objective is to quickly inform the stakeholders in order to reflect on the measures to be taken;
• aid for the most affected farmers, in particular breeders and animal feed, is also planned, such as the exceptional aid of 400 million euros put in place following the consequences of the conflict in Ukraine. The counter for setting up this aid will open on Monday , said the Prime Minister;
• the system of agricultural disasters for fodder will be activated wherever justified;
• the crop insurance project will be continued , assured the Head of Government. Bruno Le Maire and Marc Fesneau aim to set up the system so that it is effective on January 1, 2023.
The Prime Minister also mentioned the necessary adaptation of production methods to make them less vulnerable. She recalled that the “Varenne de l'eau†had led to concrete solutions that must be implemented.
On the financing side, the Prime Minister recalled:
• the release of the additional 100 million to strengthen the actions of the Water Agencies;
• Another 100 million are also planned under France 2030 to support the transformation of agricultural sectors;
• the doubling to 40 million of the amount dedicated to protection and irrigation equipment. ■