Upcoming Trade Shows Paris, France for Agriculture

The Île-de-France region, home to the Paris Basin and Paris by extension, has always been tied to arable farming for centuries and this function continues throughout the modern day. Roughly half of the land in the region (48%) has been designated as arable land – a total of 569,000 hectares. Most of those lands are used to grow grains and cereals, which are the main crops and exports of the country. The rest is used for beet production and grazing pastures. The face of French agriculture has undergone substantial changes over the years. Farm structures have transformed, and the number of holdings has significantly decreased since 1955, with many small farms vanishing. By the late 1990s, there were fewer than 700,000 holdings compared to over 2,000,000 in the mid-1950s and more than 1,000,000 in the late 1980s. This is a process that has been observed in the Paris Basin as well. Consolidation is one of the big, big trends. Average farm size has increased, with large holdings prevalent in the Paris Basin and smaller ones scattered across various regions. The industry has also witnessed technological advances from the use of fertilizers and pesticides to the widespread adoption of irrigation, covering nearly one-tenth of agricultural land. Controlled environments, such as those beneath glass or plastic canopies, have enabled year-round crop production. Marketing systems have adapted to these changes, as a growing portion of agricultural output is now grown under contract. These shifts have led to a remarkable surge in the production of major agricultural products, but have further reduced the agricultural workforce and increased financial pressures on many farmers. The Île-de-France region is dealing with the stress on the environment and is embracing organic farming. As the Paris Region continues to evolve agriculturally, it balances the preservation of time-honored traditions with modern techniques and sustainability.