Pasta - made from durum wheat when soft wheat is used to make bread - illustrates a paradox.
France is the second largest European producer of durum wheat, behind Italy, with nearly 1.3 million tonnes in 2023. This should in theory be enough to satisfy the growing appetite of the French for pasta shells and tagliatelle.
But two-thirds of the cereal's production is exported, mainly to Italy, and comes back in the form of pasta. " We don't process enough of our durum wheat in France," says Jean-François Loiseau, president of the Intercéréales sector.
The areas devoted to this crop have been halved in less than 15 years. A "sovereignty plan" of 43 million euros over five years was launched last year at the Agricultural Show to revive a sector that was losing momentum.