Analysts: Soil quality could cause wheat area to fall in France

The need to rotate crops to preserve soil quality could lead to a drop in wheat area in France, it has been reported.

Factors including low prices and new EU subsidy rules encouraging a wider range of crops could also tempt growers away from wheat, according to Reuters.

Adrien Bebin, an analyst with grains consultancy Offre et Demande Agricole, confirmed that there are no signs to suggest a rise in wheat production in the area.

Experts have pointed out that under a mid-term reform of the bloc's farm policy, which is due to come into effect in 2010, the EU will offer subsidies for protein crops such as peas, shifting aid towards growers who have a mix of several crops.

"We could see a direct impact from the EU aid per hectare. We might see a revival of peas as a crop," stated Gautier Le Molgat, an analyst with another French grains consultancy, Agritel, which opened an office in the Ukraine earlier this year.

Written by Joseph Hutton