President François Hollande was heckled Saturday as France's annual agricultural fair kicked off against the backdrop of the "worst crisis ever" facing the country's farmers, reports The Economic Times.
Livestock farmers booed and whistled as Hollande and agriculture minister Stéphane Le Foll made their way through the vast hall in southern Paris, walking past a large banner reading: "I am the best in my profession but my passion is no longer enough."
After months of protests across the country that saw farmers blocking roads with their tractors or dumping manure outside government offices, security was tight outside the venue. Still, around 9.30am, dozens of protestors from the main farmers union, FNSEA, tore down the stand belonging to the French agricultural minister before being stopped by the CRS, French riot police.
Inside, flag-waving representatives of farmers' unions were the first to greet the president, who spoke with them for some 20 minutes before going on to admire the fair's mascot, a Bazadais cow from southwestern France named Cérise (Cherry).
Hollande acknowledged that the crisis facing farmers is "exceptionally hard, exceptionally long, exceptionally generalised."
He added: "To come and exhibit in the context of so much difficulty and pain is a lovely act of patriotism. It is not compliments that farmers want but lasting policies."
Laurent Pinatel, spokesman of the national small farmers group Confederation Paysanne, told AFP earlier: "Agriculture is experiencing its worst crisis ever."
And the head of FNSEA, Xavier Beulin, said he would "remind (Hollande) of the depth of the crisis".
"There is a lot of worry on the farms, a lot of people are quitting (because) they feel there is no future," Pinatel said, noting that 5,000 farmers are leaving the sector each year.
Read more of this AFP report published by The Economic Times.
Read Mediapart's coverage of the farming crisis here.