Publications > Cahiers (English)> N° 2, april 1986
Région et développement
de l'agriculture
[Region and Agricultural Development]
- [Morbihan], P. Daucé
- [The Jura mountains], P. Perrier-Cornet
P. Daucé
In : Cahiers d'Economie et Sociologie Rurales, n° 2, april 1984, pp 7-60
Abstract : This issue of the C is devoted to two pieces of research carried out separately but closely related with regard to their goals and methodology. Both aim at understanding the forces of change that work in two regions during the period of unprecedented transformation in French agriculture extending from the end of World War II to date. The first study was carried out in Morbihan, one of the four "départements" of Brittany. The starting point was an inquiry in the part played by agricultural extension since its origin in the fifties. The analysis was then enlarged to cover the main economic and social forces and institutions contributing to the tremendous growth of agriculture in that "département". The action and effectiveness of extension working groups, which were created in large numbers in Morbihan by a generation of originally medium sized farmers trained through the JAC (catholic agricultural youth), has been compared with the extension activities of upstream and downstream (supply and marketing) firms which, under various forms and at various times, influenced the production patterns of local agriculture. Building up on the basis of a structure of small units, a "Breton model" was thus set up since the middle of the sixties through the dismantling of the traditional mixed farming system. It appears as the result of two modernisation paths which are simultaneously converging and conflicting. The current economic crisis puts severe strains on this system.
Key-words : France, agriculture, region, Brittany, agricultural extension, input industry, post-farm industry, farming system, agricultural development, food chain.
Le massif jurassien
[The Jura mountains]
P. Perrier-Cornet
In : Cahiers d'Economie et Sociologie Rurales, n° 2, april 1984, pp 61-121
This second survey describes the agricultural development process in the Jura mountains since the fifties. Regional economic development of agriculture and resulting social disparities are analyzed with reference to the overall evolution of the local cheese industry. There is competition between a handicraft cheese making technology - typical of that area for a long time - and the industrial "gruyère" produced in large factories in other dairy areas. Special attention is paid to the significance and social outcome of a commercial strategy which aims at differentiating the local "Comté" handicraft product through the legal protection of a brand name ("appellation d'origine") and by emphasis on the traditional character and quality of the local cheese. The effectiveness of such a strategy seems challenged by contradictions within the local production systems as well as by new forms of competition originating from the changes in the French dairy industry.
Key-words : Franche-Comté, cheese industry, handicraft product, brand name, dairy industry.