The site is already operational and it received its official send-off on Monday evening, when the minister hosted an online chat.

Three public conferences are being organised as part of the programme, on the subjects of 'What do we eat?' ; 'What sort of agriculture will we have for tomorrow?' and 'Who is going to feed the world?'

These will be held in Paris in the coming months and will be covered on the Website.

The public debate is being launched ahead of the French EU presidency in July, amid growing French concerns for the future of food production in Europe.

The new discussion site can be found on http://www.parlonsagriculture.com.