The Haute-Loire is the leading green lentil-growing department in France and represents more than 80% of the hectares cultivated in France.

Irregular yields from one year to another are proof of the difficulty in cultivating this leguminous crop. The will of every grower not to practise intensive farming and not to use fertilisers accentuates the uncertainties of productivity associated with the climate.

One hectare of Green PUY Lentils sown by a farmer in the Haute-Loire brings him in as much as 2.5 hectares of corn. This very much higher profitability is enough to justify that the “poor man’s caviar” brings in some handy extra money for many farms in the Velay. Always a complement to a main production, the Green PUY Lentil, according to the popular expression, makes it possible to “buy the tractor”, which shows its dominant influence on local farming. The Haute-Loire owes its historical position as a platform for dried vegetables, to its know-how concerning the Green PUY Lentil. It is also a driving force for sales for the 3 enterprises that market it.

According to the Centre of Rural Economy of the Haute-Loire, the Green PUY Lentil complements the income of 850 growers with an average of 305 € per month (10 to 15% of the average farming income). It is a dominant element in farm incomes.