Lot-et-Garonne: leading the fight for the return of acetamiprid, the hazelnut industry discovers the other side of the coin

Presented as a victory, the reauthorization of the neonicotinoid is not unanimous within the sector, nor within Unicoque. The cooperative held a more animated general meeting than usual.

The law intended to "lift constraints on the practice of farming" was passed by the National Assembly on Tuesday, July 8. Unless the Constitutional Council, which has been seized by the Socialist Party, decides otherwise, the use of acetamiprid, a pesticide from the neonicotinoid family, banned in France since 2020, will once again be authorized for a period of three years.

The hazelnut industry, at the forefront of lobbying to pass the Duplomb law, breathed a sigh of relief. Officially, at least. This hard-fought battle isn't unanimous among producers. "We don't know how consumers will react," one of them noted. An independent producer based in the north of the department even posted a message on his social media, guaranteeing his customers that he wouldn't use the molecule. "Without it, they're in technical difficulty. With it, they're in commercial difficulty," summarizes one informed observer. How will consumers, inundated with alarmist messages, react?

"We had a great image. Today, for the consumer, hazelnuts equal pesticides."

On the same subject

Duplomb Law: What is acetamiprid, at the heart of the controversy?

The Duplomb Law is expected to be definitively adopted on Tuesday, July 8, with a final vote in the National Assembly. This law, "aimed at removing constraints on farming," has been criticized by many experts because it reintroduces acetamiprid, a neonicotinoid insecticide, which has been banned in France since 2018.

"Apples, tomatoes... Many other sectors were also concerned but said nothing. They kept a low profile. We were on the front line. We're the smallest! What was our point in fighting at the front? We had a great image. Today, for the consumer, hazelnuts equal pesticides." Anonymous voices are being raised to express new fears in an already very tense context. Frost and pests, such as weevil and brown marmorated stink bugs—which acetamiprid effectively targets—are driving recent production downwards. The surface area of Unicoque's orchard is following the same trend. From 7,900 hectares in 2023, it has dropped to 6,700 hectares in 2025. Some explain this by the increasing number of producers leaving the cooperative. Created in 2024, the Association of Hazelnut Producers of France (APINF) brings together nearly a hundred producers.

Unicoque's president, Thierry Descazeaux, takes full responsibility: "He's the first one we shoot. There always has to be one up front. We knew it was going to be divisive, but it was that or we're gone. A great country like France has the right to its food sovereignty." The man remains undaunted. At the last general meeting, however, an unprecedented event occurred with the request for a secret ballot to renew the mandates of directors, among whom he was.

"He's the first one we shoot at. We always need one up front. We knew it was going to be divisive, but it was that or we disappear."

Accustomed to votes by show of hands and unanimity, the meeting was less consensual than usual. Even if no one imagines doing without the cooperative, "the only economically viable strategy for the future of the sector," strategic directions were debated. The breeding of the parasitoid wasp, for example. An ecological but expensive solution, with apparently limited effects, and whose development risks being significantly hampered by the return to favor of acetamiprid, simpler to use and much cheaper... "Was the inauguration of a new processing platform for 'high added value niche products' for Koki a priority at this time?" some "rebels" also ask.

Rather than a revolt, Thierry Descazeaux prefers to talk about the illustration of a vibrant democracy within the cooperative: "The secret ballot was accepted. The renewable third was re-elected with 84%. There was an hour and a half of questions. We knew it, the producers are worried, the treasuries are in the red. Is the cooperative responsible for the bug? We fought!" For him, shooting at the cooperative amounts to targeting the wrong people: "It's not a market problem, unlike in the vineyard, where we uproot, but a production problem."

And it will start to rise again, he assures, minimizing the departures from the cooperative: "These are mainly producers at the end of their careers, in retraining. That represents 1,000 hectares in ten years. Now, 3,000 new hectares will come into production. Being a cooperative member means marching to the rhythm of others. From every crisis, a new future is born. We will bounce back."

Internally, some fear that the Duplomb law is "a false solution. It will undermine the obligation for in-depth reflection within the sector." On this point, current director Jean-Luc Reigne and his predecessor Christian Pezzini have aired their differing points of view through emails. The atmosphere is lively.