2024-01-05 09:12:58
“Most of my crops had already been destroyed by the last flood. » Mathieu Maurel, market gardener in Clairmarais, near Saint-Omer, is resigned: “The damage was done. » Like many other farmers in Pas-de-Calais, he has his feet in water again. Already in November, the territory was hit by unprecedented floods. Dramatic for the residents, at the end of their nerves, the consequences of these floods should also be felt for several months for the farmers.
The department, 69% agricultural, is particularly vulnerable to flooding. It is very flat, and in places below sea level. The evacuation of water is therefore slower there than elsewhere. Since the record rainfall in the fall, the soils had remained saturated.
“Rotten on the spot”
Last time, Mathieu Maurel’s celery and carrot plots remained submerged for almost ten days, just before harvest. “They rotted on the spot. The carrots were all lost, but I was able to save half of the celery between the two rains. » Since then, the operator and his two employees have been working, in a dry environment, cleaning the products, stored in a cold room. He regularly delivers them to a cooperative in Saint-Omer, but with the recent floods, he will have to deal with closed roads.
“I’ll have to make the detour, it’s double the distance.” » Work and the sale of fall harvests normally keep the team busy until June, time to launch the cauliflower crops. “There, we will be finished in March. It will be necessary to set up partial unemployment for my two permanent contracts. »
Breeders, priority for aid
Last November, the Ministry of Agriculture released emergency aid of 80 million euros, to be shared however with Brittany, hit by storm Ciaran in November, and Normandy. Insufficient aid according to the FDSEA, which estimated losses at 50 million euros. Agents from the Departmental Directorate of Territories and the Sea (DDTM) are currently assessing the damage and supporting farmers with their compensation requests.
Breeders have priority. “For market gardeners, we will see later, it’s another fund”, we admit to the DDTM. Mathieu Maurel must therefore wait. However, he considers himself lucky: after twenty years of activity, he should be able to cope. “For those who have recently settled, and those who have lost all their cultures, it will be complicated,” he admits.
“The market gardeners of Saint-Omer are still waiting to be told about compensation”protested the president of the Hauts-de-France region, Xavier Bertrand, Thursday January 4 on RMC, ensuring that other farmers had been offered “a cash advance rather than aid”.
“In twenty years, we will no longer be able to plant”
In addition to having damaged or washed away crops, these floods would have an impact on the quality of the soil. As water carries part of the land towards the sea, it also removes valuable nutrients. “In twenty years, there will be a shortage of seven or eight centimeters of good silt on certain plots. We will no longer be able to plant, because the soil will be depleted”deplores on TF1 Bernard Quandalle, farmer in Bréxent-Énocq, who has just lost part of his wheat field.
The sequence of bad weather is enough to raise questions. “I have never seen the water rise so quickly beforeMathieu Maurel is surprised. There really is a water drainage problem. » The region is crisscrossed by a system of canals supposed to transport water to the sea. The poor state of this network would contribute to the problem, for some farmers, who regret that work has not been undertaken since November to improve the flow to the sea.
Traveling in the department on Thursday, the Minister for Ecological Transition, Christophe Béchu, announced that dredging actions will begin on Monday January 8 to free the waterways. He also announced an upcoming regulatory change “to facilitate cleaning” waterways, with some local elected officials deploring the excessive complexity of the necessary authorizations.
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