FRANCE MUSTERS FORCES FOR MUSTARD.

Byline: Will Platt Associated Press 

The town that put mustard on the map is confronting a foreign invasion - nearly all the seeds that go into the famous spread are imported from Canada.

France's top three condiment producers and the Agriculture Ministry have taken to the barricades to resist this assault on culinary patrimony.

It is more than faith in the mustard seed that drives these companies. At stake is the prospect of a regional label, or appellation, for ``Dijon mustard from Burgundy,'' an official French name recognition that brings with it a range of trade protections.

But one of the biggest obstacles the mustard makers face in trying to reintroduce cultivation of the spice is money - farmers can now make more money growing something else.

Colza, a less spicy cousin used for cooking oil, replaced mustard in agricultural production more than 20 years ago, encouraged by French and European Union subsidies.

But since 1991, the condiment consortium, the French government, and regional collectives have contributed more than 9 million francs, or nearly $2 million, for research into high-yield mustard plants that will once again make mustard a viable crop in Burgundy.

And privately, Amora, Maille, and European - the Big Three of condiments - are financing mustard test projects with farmers in the southeastern region of France also legendary for its wine.

Help would also come with an ``appellation controllee'' designation giving them exclusive use of the label in France, if producers can persuade authorities that they qualify.

According to Alain Berger, director of the National Institute of Appellations of Origin, it ensures that regions producing France's traditional gourmet products will be able to survive in a marketplace that tends to favor price over savor.

``By seeking to enhance the value of the regional product, too often sacrificed to a logic of competition regardless of their unique potential, the controlled appellation of origin is a strong tool for developing a region,'' Berger said.

But producers will have to cultivate enough mustard to work with. To date, only 35 farmers have planted test plots totaling about 600 acres. Agriculture officials and the condiment consortium have set a goal of about 12,500 acres in production by 2000. That would cover just under a third of France's annual demand.

Officials at Amora, as well as Arnaud Ribeyron-Montmartin, secretary general of the Federation of Condiment Industries, and Bernard Chevalier, president of the Chamber of Agriculture in Dijon, all refused to be interviewed.