Agriculture professionals in France’s île-de-France region came together last week to demand that the government investigate the possibility of compensation for those affected by the heavy rain and severe floods that have devastated the Paris region this past week.
According to a common statement from the île-de-France chamber of agriculture, producers located in the valleys of the Mauldre, the Yvette and the Seine have been the hardest hit, not least by the effect of stagnant water and humidity.
For producers of lamb’s lettuce, the impact has been greater than such disasters during the winter since the crop was ready to be sold. Open-field strawberries, some other berries, and certain salads have suffered for the same reason, and what hasn’t been damaged has apparently been impossible to pick due to the conditions.
Meanwhile, the statement said, spring peas have been starved of oxygen and turned yellow, and disease has equally become a problem, not least in broad beans.
French cherries are expected to be extremely rare this year, as a direct result of the flooding. Growers in Vernouillet, in the Yvelines department, have reportedly suffered a complete loss of their production, with the early-harvesting Burlat variety the worst hit.
