The night from Sunday to Monday recorded the coldest temperatures for the month of April since 1947, announced Météo France on Monday April 4, which specified that the latest measurements were being verified. A frost that could greatly threaten farms.
The lowest temperatures were recorded in Champagne, where they fell to -9 degrees Celsius, while frost affected almost the entire country, with the exception of intramural Paris and the Mediterranean coasts and the Handle. Records were broken in Mourmelon (north-east, -9.3 degrees), Châteauroux (center, -5.6 degrees) or even in Vannes (west, -3.2 degrees).
” The first damage was observed today, especially in the entire south-west part of Charentes, Dordogne, Gironde, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Gers… With very significant damage to our arboriculturists, mainly on the stone fruits and on the apple and then some damage in the vineyards », explains the deputy secretary general of the first French agricultural union, the FNSEA, Jérôme Despey at the microphone of RFI.
Farmers in the southwest particularly affected
In the southwest, the stone fruit trees whose vegetation had just started to emerge were affected, as were, in the vineyards, the earliest grape varieties in the region. such as Chardonnay, Cabernet or Merlot “, clarified Jérôme Despey.
In the wine regions of the center-east of the country such as Chablis, very affected by spring frosts last year, the traditional means of combating frost have been activated such as anti-frost towers, wind mixing and sprinkling of the vines, for ” try to avoid tragedies such as we already experienced last year “, he detailed.
“For the moment, of course, it is much too early to have an accurate assessment of this damage, knowing that it is really during the night from Sunday to Monday and from Monday to Tuesday that we risk having lots of damage. It is then that we will be able to realize the situation”, he adds.
The Specter of Spring 2021
Even if the damage has not all been recorded, the announcement of a new night ” difficult from Monday to Tuesday raises fears of a return of the 2021 episode. An early spring had then caused the beginning of budding of the vegetation (the ” bud burst in the vines) which had been followed by an episode of frost from April 3 to 10, causing extensive damage to the vines.
An exceptional envelope of one billion euros had been made available by the government, in particular for arborists and winegrowers who had lost all or part of their harvest for the year, as well as for certain cereal producers.
“If such a 2021 scenario were to happen again, it would truly be a disaster for arborists and grape growers. Because suffering production losses such as we suffered last year, a whole economic aspect of our agriculture would be affected, with cash flow situations, very difficult economic situations for arboriculturists and winegrowers », explains Jérôme Despey, himself a winegrower in the Hérault.
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