Bordeaux winegrowers have requested the uprooting of 9,251 hectares as part of an aid plan for the first French AOC vineyard, weighed down by overproduction and hit this summer by an intense episode of mildew, announced the interprofession on Wednesday.
Some 1,085 pre-applications for a grubbing-up premium of 6,000 euros per hectare have been submitted, said Allan Sichel, president of the Bordeaux Wine Interprofessional Council (CIVB) during a trip to Gironde by the Minister of Agriculture, Marc Fesneau, devoted to the damage caused by mildew.
300 winegrowers want to stop their profession
Of these 1,085 files, which still represent 20% of winegrowers in Gironde, there are 300 winegrowers who wish to stop their profession completely, added the manager.
The uprooting campaign, which should begin in the fall after the harvest, could cover up to 9,500 hectares, or an envelope of 57 million euros co-financed by the state and the interprofessional organization. This health plan intended to fight against flavescence dorée, a disease that threatens abandoned vines, indirectly reduces production volumes.
Obviously, the device was appropriate for winegrowers, congratulated Marc Fesneau.
Regarding mildew, a parasite half-algae half-fungus which hits the vineyards of New Aquitaine with full force with 90% of the vines affected according to the chambers of agriculture of the region, the minister did not announce any particular aid, claiming to favor the insurance system.
I am going to meet the insurers to ask them how we do it, he said, suggesting that mildew, favored by humidity, could enter into compensation cases linked to climatic hazards.
For me, there are elements (…) that make the correlation between the weather (and mildew). We will look at it with (the insurers) and you will have the state on your side to give credibility to the file, said the minister, adding that crop losses could only be really assessed after the harvest.
Among the other measures to help the sector, a national plan for the distillation of surpluses, amounting to 160 million euros for 3 million hectoliters, has also been launched, but the requests exceed the allocated envelope.
The applications show 4.4 million hectoliters to be distilled, including 2 million in Languedoc and one million in Bordeaux, Jrme Despey, president of the specialist wine council of FranceAgriMer, told AFP, pleading for an extension of 40 million euros. .