Ten million euros to uproot lavender and lavandin plants, a less noble variety of this plant. The measure, which went a little unnoticed, was adopted on August 4 by Parliament as part of the amending finance law. Supported by three senators from Drôme, Vaucluse and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, it intends to help the lavender sector, which has been in great difficulty for three years.
For producers, the crisis comes after a good period: “We had a very good period for a dozen years, explains Alain Aubanel, producer in Vercors and president of the Interprofessional Committee of French essential oils. On the one hand, industries have turned to natural products rather than synthetic products. On the other hand, climatic and health hazards have made production more complicated. With demand outstripping supply, prices began to rise. »
“We sell at a loss”
In 2019, the price per kilo of lavandin rose to €35, compared to around twenty previously. The sector then became very profitable and attracted farmers established outside the traditional plantation areas. “At the same time, the seed market has collapsed. Many farmers who grew beets, corn or sunflowers for seed have decided to turn to lavandin”specifies Laurent Depieds, president of the Plants Committee for Aromatic and Medicinal Perfumed Plants.
The agricultural area devoted to lavender has therefore increased by 40% over the last three years. Lavandin, grown mainly in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Drôme, Vaucluse and Hautes-Alpes, has been planted as far as the Beauce plain, south of Paris.
Faced with this rapid increase in production and falling demand, due to the Covid pandemic, prices have collapsed. “Currently, the purchase price is between €12 and €15 per kilo, explains Alain Aubanel. The production price is around €20, without taking a margin. So below, we sell at a loss. » Many producers find themselves in great difficulty.
With regard specifically to lavender, exports from Bulgaria, which became the world’s leading producer ahead of France in 2015, caused prices to fall. To empty their stocks, Bulgarian producers sell their lavender two to three times cheaper than the French.
For some Provençal producers, lavender and lavandin have not brought in anything for four years. Installed for the most part in mountainous areas, where these plants are traditionally grown, they suffer a double penalty. On these stony lands, it is not only difficult to diversify the plantations and therefore the sources of income, but the yield is lower than in the plain.
« Nosplots are smaller and in the mountains, you cannot irrigate, recalls Eliane Bres, producer from Drôme and president of the France Lavande cooperative. Inevitably, we produce less and we suffer more from the drought. »
Freeze agricultural land
To reverse the trend, the sector is therefore counting on the success of this grubbing-up premium. “It is estimated that to bring the price back to normal, it would be necessary to go down to 28,000 hectares of lavender and lavandin plantations, against 33,000 currently.explains Jean-Yves Roux, senator of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence at the origin of the amendment. That would amount to a premium of 2,000 euros per hectare grubbed up. » The senator also wants the surfaces to be frozen for five years for the measure to be effective.
It remains to be seen whether the producers who have started recently will follow. Alain Aubanel is confident. “I know that in the spring, some growers uprooted plants that were 18 months old, from which they did not harvest, to replant wheat. They have already understood that it was no longer worth it. »
However, given the investments, not everyone is likely to back down. Last year, for example, the government supported with €200,000 a project by the Cooperative Society of Farmers of Eure-et-Loir to produce and distil lavandin in this department.