Rapeseed

Rapeseed has been around for a long time, around 2000 to 1500 years BC, but its cultivation really began in the 17th century. To date, rapeseed cultivation represents an area of ​​1.3 million hectares in France. It plays a very important role in French agriculture with a harvest of 4.3 million tonnes for the period 2023/2024.

The seeds are planted in huge fields in autumn, at the end of August and September, depending on the region, because they prefer the temperate and cool regions of the northern half of France. It is harvested from the end of June to the end of July, four months after its flowering, which embellishes our countryside with large yellow spots.

It is an oilseed plant, its oil is full of omega 3, used for feeding humans and livestock. It is one of the three main sources of vegetable oil in Europe with sunflower and olive. There are no fewer than 1,640 varieties of rapeseed, it is the second largest oilseed in the world after soybeans and is grown on all continents.

Rapeseed is the most produced in the world with 60 Mt/year (60 million tonnes/year) after an increase of 2.5 over the last 20 years.

Europe ranks as the world's leading producer of rapeseed and France is the leading producer in Europe. It is found everywhere in Europe since it is the leading oil for human consumption for cooking, margarine, mayonnaise and it is used in the composition of processed food products.
Rapeseed oil is the third most consumed oil in the world with a production of 24 Mt per year.

Some movements on the world rapeseed market:

Europe remains the world's leading producer and second importer
China is the world's second largest producer and the leading exporter of seeds
Canada is the world's third largest producer and the leading importer of seeds
Japan remains the world's leading importer of rapeseed.

Some uses of rapeseed:

Oil extraction for human consumption
Production of oilcakes (the remains of oil extraction) for animal feed
Fuel: agrofuel or biofuel are produced with plant and animal organic matter. Organic matter comes from decomposed matter of plant, bacterial and animal origin. This is called necromass.

Agrofuel or biofuel: a product in full development like biodiesel and ethanol leading to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. A renewable energy with reduced pollution.