France to give one bln euros aid to farmers hit by frost

MONTAGNAC, France: French Prime Minister Jean Castex pledged more than one billion euros in aid for farmers and winemakers reeling from the worst frost in decades.

Across France, agriculturists are counting their losses after the freeze – which followed a period of unseasonably warm weather – affected hundreds of thousands of hectares of crops and vines in 10 of the country’s 13 regions.

“An exceptional situation, exceptional measures. I have just announced a significant effort on the part of the state of over one billion euros (US$1.2 billion) as the situation justifies it,” Castex told a meeting of farmers’ representatives and local elected officials in southern France.

He said emergency aid would be given “in 10 or 15 days” to local officials to help the worst-affected farmers.

Arborists or tree growers qualifying for compensation under the current state of agricultural calamity regime would be paid for 40 per cent of their losses.

— AFP photo Castex speaks with a winegrower (left) in Montagnac, near Beziers, southern France in a vineyard affected by the frost early this month.