Significant increase in government support for French starch potato producers

French producers get a financial boost as the French government announces that the support for growing starch potatoes will go up from EUR 83/ha (USD 88) in 2024 to EUR 173/ha (USD 184) in 2025-26 and then to EUR 186/ha (USD 198) in 2027.

The Union Nationale des producteurs de Pommes de Terre (UNPT) welcomes the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry's announcement, during the presentation of the new PSN (National Strategic Plan), that the basic coupled aid for the production of starch potatoes will be reevaluated from EUR 83/ha (USD 88) in 2024 to EUR 173/ha (USD 184) in 2025-26 and then to EUR 186/ha (USD 198) in 2027.

This revaluation of nearly EUR 100 (USD 107) per hectare, obtained after long months of discussions, is a pragmatic response from the Ministry to the producers' request, tirelessly supported by the UNPT with the support of the GIPT interprofessional organization.

Since the Covid crisis, the French starch industry has experienced major economic difficulties, culminating in the closure 2023 of the Haussimont starch factory (Marne), cutting the cultivated areas and the national production volume by half.

Although this enhanced coupled aid will not resolve all the challenges facing the sector in the short term, it supports its rebound, driven by good global growth prospects for starch (+3.7%/year in value between 2022 and 2027) and the strong demand for "modified" starches, proteins, and fibers, used in the agri-food, industrial, and pharmaceutical sectors. France therefore has no reason to lose its place in the concert of the world's major producing nations!

If the UNPT has made every effort to obtain this reassessment of coupled aid, and the State has been able to respond to the importance of this issue, it is now essential that the starch industry continues in this dynamic. By supporting a revaluation of starch potato prices for the next campaigns, the entire sector will be aligned to create the optimal conditions for competitive reinvestment by producers. 

The UNPT will continue to mobilize to guarantee a sustainable future for potato starch producers and to perpetuate this strategic sector, in the service of France's food and industrial sovereignty.