Lavender fields turning from blue to gray. This is one of the visible symptoms of a caterpillar invasion that has been bothering growers in the south of France for several weeks.
An invasive species, the moth caterpillars, whose larvae were deposited by butterflies from Africa, carried by the Sirocco, this wind coming from the Sahara, also known for these sand clouds.
new plague
A new scourge after last year’s drought and the war in the Ukraine for the many producers in the south of France, in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Drôme and even Vaucluse. A phenomenon that is not new, but unprecedented in its magnitude in this emblematic flower of Provence.
But this time, the pheromone traps didn’t really work: DNA tests were being carried out to find out if it was a new species of moth.
What economic consequences?
As little as five days after hatching from the larvae, the caterpillars have sometimes simply devastated the crops in question:
The lavender sector affects no less than 3,300 farmers in France and directly employs 9,000 people, according to Le Figaro. In addition, other crops could be affected: satiated with lavender, the caterpillars would then attack plantations of tomatoes, sage, corn, alfalfa or even chickpeas.
It is difficult to estimate the economic losses at the moment: some lavender growers fear that the plant will be eaten.
If lavender stocks are large enough to avoid shortages of associated products, consequences are expected for tourism, but also for beekeeping, with limited production of lavender honey.
In this context, producers like Rudy Usseglio, one of the main players in the sector, launch an SOS. He calls for “state aid, but also bank facilities and reductions in the contributions of the agrarian social mutuality. And, above all, a gesture from the manufacturers who have been buying our products three times cheaper for three years.”
Source: BFM TV
