Valentin, a farmer in northern Isère, has been growing silphie for almost two years now. This plant which could soon replace the corn too greedy in water and in pesticides. The silphie also appears to be the ideal plant to deal with drought.
It is a field as it is rare to see in this month of July 2022. A field where the plants reach 3 meters in some places, where the plants are flowering and colorful: « This plot, I sowed it in May 2021, it is the first year of production, and despite the drought it is developing very quickly and it remains green, says Valentin, a farmer in Sainte-Anne-sur-Gervonde, in northern Isère.
This plant is the silphieit arouses curiosity, but above all hope among farmers hit hard this year by drought.
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Valentin Joly, a farmer in the north of Isère, decided to exploit this plant as an alternative to corn, because it has many qualities: « The advantages of this plant compared to maize, it requires only one planting, it does not require any maintenance in terms of phytosanitary products, it requires very little water and is more resistant than maize to periods of drought and heat waves.»
And paradoxically, the silphie can also last two and a half months with its feet in water and is resistant to extreme temperatures, “up to -20 degrees”says the farmer.
Today Valentin harvests his silphie for feed the 60 cows in his herd.
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If the maize fields are not all replaced by the silphie today it is because it is little known but also because it has a cost, between 1500 euros and 1800 euros for one hectare. Valentin, has also teamed up with two other farmers in the department. In total, the three of them own 5.7 hectares of silphie fields.
A long-term investment because once it is implanted, the culture does not reseed itself: “It is a plant that is called perennial, it is sown only once, it goes dormant in winter and in spring it resumes its vegetative recovery and resumes flowering each year.
Before concluding : “Par compared to the purchase price, it is a substantial investment at the start, but reduced over fifteen years, it is equivalent to a basic corn seed, explains the farmer, but with no phytosanitary maintenance with a little bit of mineral or organic fertilizer maintenance, but for herd feeding, we can largely manage over ten years.”
Despite its high cost, with global warming, this plant has all the assets to become a crop of the future.
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