In Pyrénées-Orientales the current system dates back to the time of Charlemagne. River water is carried by 
ancient canals and pumped into shallow furrows in the orchards. Construction of a water-storage dam is planned near 
Prades. It would open about 7,500 acres to fruit and vegetable production and also provide needed additional water 
to the present system. Date of construction has not been established. 
In Hérault and Gard a large irrigation system is being developed in a narrow 125-mile stretch of land skirting 
the Mediterranean between the RhGne river and the foothills of the Massif Central Mountains. About one-third of 
this area, averaging 12% miles in width, has been developed by the National Company for the Development of the 
Lower Rh6ne and Languedoc districts (CNARBRL) as part of the plan to revitalize the area through creation of 
water supplies for improved agricultural, industrial, and tourist facilities. CNARBRL was founded in Nimes during 
1955 through reorganization of the Planning Company for the Canals of the Right Bank of the Lower Rhone and 
Languedoc as a jointly financed company under governmental control. 
The irrigation project is divided into eastern and western areas. The eastern area covers 320,000 acres 
stretching from the Rhone River to the Montpellier areas. Final plans provide for irrigation of 220,000 acres in four 
irrigation areas. Irrigation water is pumped from the Rhone north of Audes at the Dumont pumping station and 
flows westward 90 miles through the main canal. The water is repumped into the irrigation areas for distribution by 
underground pipes. Farmers use small portable or semiportable pipes and sprinklers for orchard irrigation. Three of 
the four irrigation districts are now in operation. 
Irrigation water for the western area is to be supplied through use of three storage dams handling water from 
the Hérault, Orb, and Aude Rivers. The Avene Dam, with a capacity of 27,000 acre-feet in the upper valley of the 
Orb River, was completed in 1963. Actual irrigation covers 22,200 acres of a 74,000-acre irrigation district. 
Construction of the Salagou Dam was completed during 1968. The dam, with a capacity of 138,000 acre-feet, is 
expected to serve 99,000 acres in the Hérault Valley and base plain of the Herault River. The Rieuberlou Dam is to 
be constructed on a small tributary of the Orb River. Final plans provide for irrigation of 148,000 acres in the 
western area. Approximately 22,000 acres are now equipped for irrigation. 
Marketing 
Methods of marketing fruit destined for canning are changing. The changes are most noticeable in the 
Herault-Gard area where varieties specially suited for processing are being planted. Changes are more gradual in the 
older Pyrénées-Orientales area, where the earlier season will maintain major emphasis on production for the fresh 
market. Many producers in the latter area compare prices in fresh and cannery outlets before sale at harvest. Even 
here, increased plantings of clingstone peaches suitable only for use by canneries can be expected to encourage 
greater utilization of long-term processor contracts with growers. 
Marketing may begin on the farm long before the fruit trees are able to bear fruit. In Herault and Gard farmers 
contract with the cooperative cannery to deliver their total clingstone peach crop for the life of the orchard. Each 
season, farmers living near the plant deliver their own fruit packed in trucks or tractor-drawn wagons. Trucks 
contracted by the cannery make pickups in orchards farther from the plant. 
The cooperative and a large independent cannery work together in moving the crops to market. Under an 
agreement reached during early 1968, the cooperative provides the independent cannery with fresh fruit for canning 
and also does some packing in its-own plants for the independent. In return, the cooperative can market fruit under 
its own label through the international distribution channels maintained by the independent cannery. 
Promotion programs for both generic and private-label canned fruits in syrup were conducted during the spring 
and fall of 1968. Plans call for a repeat program in the spring of 1969. Some individual firms conduct brand 
advertising for fruit products. ; 
