Antoine Vecten, a farmer specializing in wheat, barley, rapeseed and beetroot, sowed 12 hectares of sunflower in the spring on his Saulnières farm near Dreux. When he opted for this crop, “which existed here 20 years ago, but which was discontinued because of varieties that were poorly adapted to our soils”, he did not expect to meet the needs of growers. oil which will have to do without the Ukrainian and Russian harvests, one of the world’s major suppliers of raw materials. “I didn’t think we were so dependent on Ukraine and Russia,” he admits.
In the great cereal plains of Beauce, sunflower fields have partly replaced corn cultivation. The conflict in Ukraine has had several consequences for the agri-food sector, accelerating the increase in the costs of fertilizers and energy, as well as the scarcity of sunflower oil.
From 700,000 to 900,000 hectares
In France, the agricultural profession hopes to increase from 700,000 hectares of sunflower cultivated in 2021 to 900,000 hectares within 3 years. Eure-et-Loir will follow this national movement, according to Éric Maisons, elected to the Chamber of Agriculture of the department. “But, for the moment, we are not able to estimate the production area, which is on the rise anyway,” he says.
Economic opportunities are there. “Sunflower production, which does not require – unlike corn – very energy-intensive drying time, will be all the more sustainable if prices remain high on the markets. “.
For his part, Antoine Vecten had decided to relaunch the production of sunflowers even before the outbreak of the conflict in Eastern Europe “to meet the specifications of the new CAP which invites us to diversify our farms”. . Other farmers organize the sector and the direct sale of oil as at the Ferme d’Orvilliers, in Broué.
The stakes are high. In the coming months, the demand for sunflower oil will explode. Some supermarkets, overwhelmed by consumer purchasing behavior, are already forced into rationing.