PARIS- France aims to raise the area sown with protein-rich crops by 40% from 2022 as it seeks to cut the country's heavy reliance on soybean imports from South America, Agriculture Minister Julien Denormandie said on Tuesday.

France and other European Union countries import millions of tonnes of soybean and soymeal each year, mainly from Brazil and Argentina, to feed livestock, making them dependent on world prices, trade relations and environmental practices overseas.

"We have one objective : regain some of our food sovereignty," Denormandie told Reuters in an interview.

"Our target today is clearly soybean imports coming from the American continent," he said, adding that South American countries were the main origin for soy-based proteins in the EU.

A 40% rise in protein crops would amount to an extra 400,000 hectares of land to be harvested by 2023, the farm ministry said.

Between July 1 and Nov. 25, France imported 950,000 tonnes of soymeal and 200,000 tonnes of soybean, EU data showed on Monday.

Longer-term, France aims to double the total area within 10 years to 2 million hectares, which would reduce its reliance on protein imports by 10 percentage points.

France, the EU's largest crop grower, will invest a total of 100 million euros ($119.8 million) in aid over two years to encourage farmers to devote more land to protein crops and boost research, he said. Protein-rich crops that will be encouraged include soybeans, peas, lentils, chickpeas as well as beans.

Only about 50% of France's protein crop needs are covered by French production, Denormandie said.

"The second problem is that when you import Latin American soybean, you (contribute to) deforestation and thus in addition to a problem of sovereignty you have an environmental problem," he said.

Data on Monday showed deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rainforest had surged to a 12-year high in 2020. 

To improve competitiveness against cheaper imports, French farmers will also benefit from additional subsidies approved under a proposed reform of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy, he added.

The plan does not aim to support plant-based proteins for use in processed food such as alternative meat, a ministry official said. ($1 = 0.8348 euros)

(Reporting by Sybille de La Hamaide and Gus Trompiz, editing by Louise Heavens and Emelia Sithole-Matarise) ((Sybille.deLaHamaide@thomsonreuters.com; +336 8774 4148;))