Farmers drive hundreds of tractors to Paris to protest the pesticide ban

Hundreds of farmers drove their tractors through Paris to underline their demands to be allowed to use banned pesticides on sugar beets and other crops in order to guarantee France’s “food sovereignty”.

As the convoy of peasants entered the French capital through a southern gate, they rolled towards the golden-domed Invalides monument, where Napoleon’s tomb was located.

Farmers were protesting the disappearance of French farmers who, according to national farmer union FNSEA, are competing with cheaper imported products and facing numerous other challenges.

The French government decided last month to ban the use of neonicotinoids, which are chemicals used to kill plant-eating infections, after the European Court of Justice ruled to end an exemption for the insecticide class.

Above all, farmers fear for their sugar beet harvest.

The European Union Executive Board wants to ensure that at least 25% of agricultural land in the 27-nation bloc is dedicated to organic farming, compared to 8% in 2020.

“At this rate, French agriculture will disappear,” quotes France 3, a regional TV channel, as saying Damien Greffin, FNSEA president for the Paris region.

Mr Greffin said Napoleon’s tomb, with a large field stretching out in front, was not only a practical spot for collecting tractors, but also symbolic, as Napoleon imported sugar beets from Poland to ensure France’s sugar independence.