Éric Frétillère is a farmer who uses irrigation, having owned a 100 ha farm in the Dordogne for 20 years. He grows maize (corn). Aged 59 years, Éric Frétillère is involved in a number of activities related to the local trade associations and business activities: Director of the La Périgourdine co-operative, President of the Irrigators’ Union and the organisation Organisme Unique Dordogne. At national level, Éric Frétillère joined the Board of Directors of the AGPM (General Association of Maize/Corn Producers), where he has been an executive member since 2015 and he has been a director of Irrigants de France since 2011. He has also been a co-founder of Irrigants d’Europe since 2018. Éric Frétillère reminded us of the importance of supporting the farmers and growers who use irrigation and he also talked about the storage of water, as well as emphasising how Irrigants de France is involved in all of these topical issues. Within the context of a number of disputes that have arisen over the permits granted to withdraw water for irrigation purposes or the building of reservoirs, Éric Frétillère has also reaffirmed the role the association should play in providing legal safeguards for the quantitative management of water. “Even though we are living through an unprecedented health crisis and many people are emphasizing the need for France to rebuild its capacity to be self-sufficient in food production, we must remember that the model for such self-reliance cannot be constructed without access to water and without an efficient and effective management of this resource.”
