The Order of Agricultural Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite agricole) is an

order of merit The Order of Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by K ...

bestowed by the

French Republic France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

for outstanding contributions to agriculture. When it was created in 1883, it was second in importance only to the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

within the French

order of precedence An order of precedence is a sequential hierarchy of nominal importance and can be applied to individuals, groups, or organizations. Most often it is used in the context of people by many organizations and governments, for very formal and state o ...

History

The order was established on 7 July 1883, based on the proposition of the then Minister of Agriculture

Jules Méline Félix Jules Méline (; 20 May 183821 December 1925) was a French statesman, Prime Minister of France from 1896 to 1898. Biography Méline was born at Remiremont. Having taken up law as his profession, he was chosen a deputy in 1872, and in 187 ...

, in an effort to adequately reward services to agriculture in view of the maximum number of the Legion of Honour that could be awarded yearly. His reasoning was that more than eighteen million Frenchmen lived directly from this industry, which had a direct and powerful impact on the entire national economy (farmers, agronomists, professors, researchers, etc.). Labour was intensive and never ending, devotion was commonplace but the rewards were rare. The original 1883 decree created a single-grade order; only "Knights" (french: link=no, "chevaliers") were thus decorated. The decree of 18 June 1887 added the grade of "Officer" (french: link=no, "Officier"). A third grade, that of "Commander" (french: link=no, "Commandeur"), was created by a decree of 3 August 1900. The present form and statute of the Order of Agricultural Merit were outlined in decree 59-729 of 15 June 1959. The Order comprises approximately 340,000 recipients to date, of which approximately 23,000 are alive at any given time, including all living former ministers of agriculture. Officers number approximately 60,000 to date with approximately 5,000 living, and approximately 4800 were made commanders to date, with approximately 400 living at any given time.

Award statute

The Order of Agricultural Merit rewards people who rendered exceptional services to agriculture, whether in public duties or in the very practice of agriculture. It also rewards people who distinguished themselves in scientific research or in related publications. There are two annual investiture ceremonies, the first on 1 January and the second on the 14th of July. The annual contingent has been limited to 60 commanders, 600 officers and 2,400 knights. Award prerequisites are as follows: *Knight: be at least thirty years of age with fifteen years of service/work; *Officer: at least five years as a Member of the order; *Commander: at least five years as an Officer of the order. Conditions of age and of seniority may be lowered for candidates who have outstanding qualifications. A 5% contingency is allowed for people gaining direct entry into the order as officers or commanders for exceptional reasons. Foreigners receiving the order are not subject to the seniority clause. Members of the Order of the Legion of Honour may be admitted to the Order of Agricultural Merit at the same rank they hold in the first. An award certificate always accompanies the order.

Insignia

The Order of Agricultural Merit is in the form of a 40mm (35mm for pre November 1999) wide star, 60mm for the commander's insignia, with six white enamelled arms, the arms resting on a gilt wreath of wheat on the right and of corn on the left. On the obverse at its center, a gilt medallion bearing the effigy of the republic in the form of the relief right profile of a woman's head, the medallion is surrounded by a narrow blue enamelled band bearing the golden semi circular inscription "RÉPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE" (''"FRENCH REPUBLIC"''). On the reverse, the gilt medallion bears the relief inscription on three lines "MÉRITE" "AGRICOLE" "1883" (''"AGRICULTURAL MERIT 1883"''), it is surrounded by a plain blue enamelled band. The officers' and commanders' badges also bear a gilt wreath, half vine and half olive branch, between the insignia and the ribbon suspension ring. The knight's insignia is made of silver, the officer's is made of silver-gilt, the commander's is made of silver-gilt or gold. The order hangs from a 37mm wide silk moiré green ribbon with 5mm amaranth vertical stripes located 1mm from the edges. The commander's insignia is worn on a cravat around the neck.

Notable recipients

Commanders

* Queen Anne, Queen Consort of Romania *

Gerrit Braks Gerardus Johannes Maria "Gerrit" Braks (23 May 1933 – 12 July 2017) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP) and later the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and agronomist. Braks applied at the Wageningen Agr ...

* Princess Caroline, Princess of Hanover *

King Charles III of the United Kingdom Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...

* Jean Dupuy * Jules Gravereaux *

Jean-Paul Huchon Jean-Paul Huchon (; born 29 July 1946) is a French retired civil servant and politician who served as Mayor of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine from 1994 to 2001 and President of the Regional Council of Île-de-France from 1998 until 2015. Biography ...

* Christine Lagarde *

Stéphane Le Foll Stéphane Le Foll (; born 3 February 1960) is a French politician serving as Mayor of Le Mans since 2018. A member of the Socialist Party, he was Minister of Agriculture under President François Hollande from 2012 to 2017. Biography Early p ...

René Renou René Bernard Renou (16 June 1952 – 19 June 2006) was president of the Institut National des Appellations d'Origine (INAO) at the time of his death and was "one of the most influential men in French winemaking.". Renou argued that France's ...

Henri Stehlé Henri Stehlé (November 30, 1909 – February 19, 1983) was a French agronomist, botanist and ecologist specialized in tropical agriculture. In 1949 he founded the Agronomic Research Center of INRA Antilles-Guyane in Guadeloupe (French Antilles ...

Officers

*Christian Bind *Michel Durodie * Dominique Levy *

Ernest Vaux Lieutenant-Colonel Ernest Vaux, (5 March 1865 – 21 November 1925) was a business man from County Durham and a distinguished officer in the Volunteer Force and Territorial Force during the Second Boer War and World War I. Background and early ...

Luu Meng Luu Meng ( km, លូ ម៉េង; born on 7 February 1974) is a Chinese Cambodian chef, culinary author and hospitality entrepreneur. He is the CEO of Almond Group, director of Thalias Group, president of the Cambodia Tourism Federation, presid ...

* Pierre Galet *

John C. H. Lee John Clifford Hodges Lee (1 August 1887 – 30 August 1958) was a career US Army engineer, who rose to the rank of lieutenant general and commanded the Communications Zone (ComZ) in the European Theater of Operations during World War II. A grad ...

* Will Studd

Knights

Philippe Adnot Philippe Adnot (born 25 August 1945 in Rhèges, Aube) is a member of the Senate of France. A farmer by profession, he first entered the Senate, where he sits as an independent, in October 1989. Elected as a representative of the Aube department ...

* Yann Arthus-Bertrand *

Florian Bellanger Florian Bellanger (born 20 April 1968) is a French pastry chef, formerly the executive pastry chef at the famous Parisian pastry and candy shop, Fauchon. He is a permanent judge on the Food Network's competition series ''Cupcake Wars'', appea ...

Wina Born Wina Born-Meijer (Sliedrecht, 21 August 1920 – Amsterdam, 6 August 2001) was a Dutch journalist. She is often named as ''de moeder van de Nederlandse gastronomie'' (English: ''The mother of the Dutch gastronomy''). She has written about a hundr ...

Laura Calder Laura Calder is the author of ''French Food at Home.'' She also wrote the bestselling ''French Taste: Elegant, Everyday, Eating'', which won the 2010 Taste Canada gold medal for Cookbook. Her latest release is ''Dinner Chez Moi: The Fine Art of Fee ...

Priyam Chatterjee Priyam Chatterjee (born 5 April 1988) is an Indian people, Indian chef. He is the first Indian chef to be awarded France's Ordre du Merite Agricole. He is based in New Delhi. References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chatterjee, Priyam 1988 births Livi ...

Jean-Pierre Chessé Jean-Pierre or Jean Pierre may refer to: People * Karine Jean-Pierre b.1977, White House Deputy Press Secretary for President Joe Biden 2021- * Jean-Pierre, Count of Montalivet (1766–1823), French statesman and Peer of France * Eugenia Pierre ( ...

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Ma ...

* Elizabeth David * Vasily Dokuchaev *

Alice Feiring Alice Feiring is an American journalist and author, for several years a wine and travel columnist for ''Time'' magazine, and known as an advocate for "natural wine". In addition to contributions to publications such as ''The New York Times'', ''N ...

Patricia Gallagher Patricia Gastaud-Gallagher was a director at the Académie du Vin, a impetus, with Steven Spurrier, behind the 1976 Judgment of Paris wine tasting event and participated as one of its eleven judges. She was also on the Copia panel that oversaw ...

* Thomas Harvey Gill *

Henry S. Graves Henry ("Harry") Solon Graves (May 3, 1871 – March 7, 1951) was a forester, forest administrator in the United States. He co-founded the Yale Forest School (now the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies) in 1900, the oldest continuous ...

* Michel Guérard * Hermann Jaeger *Rita Jammet *Paul Jules Jourcin *

Richard Juhlin Richard Juhlin (born 1962) is a Swedish writer on Champagne and is a freelance journalist Education Juhlin is a physical education teacher by training, and was educated at the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences in Stockholm. He worked ...

*Eugène Leguen de Lacroix *

Patrick Levaye Patrick Levaye (born July 26, 1952 in Orléans, in Loiret) is a writer and a French Senior official. Author of a book on Catholicism, Patrick Levaye occupied several functions with high responsibilities with the French Minister of the Interior, with ...

Bernard Loiseau Bernard Daniel Jacques Loiseau (, 13 January 1951 – 24 February 2003) was a French chef at Le Relais Bernard Loiseau in Saulieu. He obtained his three stars in the Michelin Guide, and had a peak rating of 19.5/20 in the Gault Millau restaura ...

* Kermit Lynch *Christian André Monchatre * Brian Morrissey *

Thomas Volney Munson Thomas Volney Munson (September 26, 1843 – January 21, 1913), often referred to simply as T.V. Munson, was a horticulturist and breeder of grapes in Texas. In 1888, Munson was the second American, after Thomas Edison, to be named a Chevalier ...

* Roland Passot *

Louis Pasteur Louis Pasteur (, ; 27 December 1822 – 28 September 1895) was a French chemist and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation and pasteurization, the latter of which was named afte ...

* Jacques Pépin * Paul Prudhomme * Thierry Rautureau *

Jean Rochefort Jean Raoul Robert Rochefort (; 29 April 1930 – 9 October 2017) was a French actor. He received many accolades during his career, including an Honorary César in 1999. Life and career Rochefort was born on 29 April 1930 in Paris, France, to ...

* Wolfram Siebeck *

Lyle F. Watts Lyle F. Watts (November 18, 1890 – June 15, 1962) served as the seventh Chief of the United States Forest Service (USFS) of the Department of Agriculture, from January 1943 to June 1952. Early life and education Lyle Ford Watts was born on N ...

*Jean Wiener *

Jon Winroth Jon Winroth Broneer (born November 13, 1935 in Athens, Greece; died July 15, 2006 in Tours, France) was an American wine critic who lived and worked in France. Biography Second son of Oscar Broneer, a Swedish immigrant to the United States who ...

Unknown rank

* Jean Carmet * Catherine Deneuve * Paul Morand *

Roger Peyrefitte Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...

Charles Semblat Charles Henri Semblat, (1897–1972) was a French jockey and racehorse trainer. Semblat was leading French jockey for more than twenty years before his riding career was ended by injury. He subsequently had an even more successful career as traine ...

Michel Serrault Michel Serrault (24 January 1928 – 29 July 2007) was a French stage and film actor who appeared from 1954 until 2007 in more than 130 films. Life and career His first professional job was in a touring production in Germany of Molière's ''Les ...

References

External links

Décret n°59-729 du 15 juin 1959 RELATIF A L'ORDRE DU MERITE AGRICOLE

* ttp://www.phaleristique.net Site and forum on military and civil French orders and medals *
Museum of the Legion of Honour
{{DEFAULTSORT:Order of Agricultural Merit Agriculture in France Awards established in 1883 Civil awards and decorations of France 1883 establishments in France Long service medals