There is the beauty of the landscapes which makes the happiness of Chinese tourists and Instagram addicts. Purple rows as far as the eye can see and this unique, inimitable smell of lavender, which plunges anyone who smells it into the best of Provence. And then there is the front of the postcard, much darker. Perched on his Drôme farm at an altitude of 700 meters, Alain Aubanel sighs: “Many lavender growers around me are in a very complicated situation. »
French lavender is in crisis. First of all, the fault of a caterpillar which devastated everything in its path, drained in a sudden sirocco in the middle of July on French plantations, especially at altitude. A butterfly from North Africa has laid eggs in the fields without warning. Three weeks later, the moth caterpillars emerged from their cocoons and attacked the flowers. “We tried to race against the caterpillar but it was the caterpillar that won the race, laments the president of the interprofessional committee of French essential oils (CIHEF). There is between 30 and 100% damage depending on the location. This affected several hundred producers in France and several thousand hectares. »
Bulgarian competition
Yet another crushing blow for a culture already weakened by international, new and shattering competition. “The problem is that we had a dozen very, very good years,” summarizes Alain Aubanel. It worked so well that the whole world decided to do the lavender. And in three years, we found ourselves faced with a phenomenon of overproduction. There has been a 60-70% price crash in three years, to the point that prices are below yield price. Bulgaria has become a world leader. Companies that are tempted to buy cheap abroad should support the French market. If it’s twice as expensive in France, it’s because we respect all the social and environmental conditions. The Bulgarian Smic is not the same as the French Smic. »
On top of that, the consequences of the war in Ukraine have added to the already serious difficulties of the sector. “We took a very big slap, recognizes Alain Aubanel. We are big consumers of gas and oil through cultivation and distillation. And it’s simple, I did a quick calculation, we took a 71% increase in the price of gas and the selling price of our production fell by 70%. In addition, due to the economic crisis, we realize that people are buying a lot less cleaning products. However, our products are found quite a lot in detergents. »
In this context, the government announced the establishment of an exceptional aid system of 9 million euros for the sector. Necessary support but which Alain Aubanel fears will be insufficient. “The people most in difficulty will die economically if we do not find a solution, alarmed the lavender grower. In the plains, some may be able to uproot lavender to start growing tomatoes, for example. But in the mountains like at home, only lavender grows. And in these mountains, some have not sold for three years…”