On the market garden farm of Nicole Leroux, Cendrieux, in Dordogne, the 35 employees no longer harvest strawberries than in the morning. From 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. “The thermometer has risen to 40 ° C Monday August 11 and the weather announces temperatures between 35 ° C and 38 ° C for a fortnight”underlines the farmer, who tries to reduce the impact of this strong heat wave on plants in “Airy the greenhouses as much as possible and placing anti -sun nets on the roofs”.
Same restricted schedules in the morning, in the Tomato greenhouses of Frédéric Marchein, producer in Puch-d’Agenais, in Lot-et-Garonne. He specifies that work comfort is better when the greenhouses are larger and higher, with, a fortiori, a larger volume of air. A dimensioning also more favorable to plants in the event of a heat wave. But the price difference in these structures is substantial and weighs on the profitability of farms. Especially since, according to Mr. Marchein, “Foreign competition penalizes even more the economic activity of tomatoes than heat”.
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