2023-10-13 16:43:39
After years of controversy surrounding glyphosate – singled out by several studies highlighting harmful effects on human health – this herbicide seems to be used less by farmers. In 2022, this product, which destroys all plants, particularly weeds, has been sprayed over 3.5 million hectares in France. This is 27% less compared to the 2015-2017 period, according to the The Minister of Agriculture. A reduction welcomed by the minister who advocates a progressive ban in Europe, but only for crops “where there are credible, technically possible and economically viable alternatives”. Alternatives exist, but are sometimes difficult to apply.
Several alternatives… but limited
Depending on the size and specificities of the farms, the alternatives to glyphosate are not the same. For large crops (wheat, rapeseed, barley, corn, etc.), farmers have no other choice than to turn to mechanical weeding using a machine that will plow the land, and thus pull out the weeds. A slower technique which slows down some people from getting started. “Farmers at the head of a large farm have very limited time limits (linked to seasonality) to manage their land,” comments Xavier Reboud, research director at INRAE and co-author of several studies on alternatives to glyphosate.
For other crops (viticulture, arboriculture, etc.), it is possible to install an obstacle between the surface of the earth and the ground so that the seedlings cannot develop. Farmers who opted for this solution, for example, covered the ground with straw or spread tarpaulins to protect their crops. This alternative is, however, reserved for small agricultural areas.
Finally, the most technical method remains that of plant covers. The idea is to plant certain types of plants between two crops to prevent weeds from growing. A choice opted for by Franck Deligny, a farmer who owns around a hundred hectares in the Var. After several years of sowing his land without plowing to produce wheat – and therefore using herbicides including glyphosate – this farmer changed his farming method to give up chemicals. “It always bothered me to use chemicals. And when the controversies surrounding the potential danger of glyphosate for humans appeared, I said to myself: what if it was true? I didn’t want to participate to that,” he testifies. After several days of training via the Agribio 04 association, Franck Deligny had to rethink his way of working his land and invest 100,000 euros for this transition to organic.
Read alsoFor the SNCF, weeding without glyphosate turns out to be a complex equation
Help to cover the additional cost
Doing without glyphosate often results in additional costs for farmers, linked in particular to the purchase of equipment, a loss of yield or even the additional work that alternatives require. For viticulture and arboriculture, this additional cost is estimated between 150 and 600 euros per hectare per year depending on the characteristics of the farm, according to several INRAE studies. “The additional cost of mechanical weeding compared to chemical weeding, when it has been calculated, varies depending on the studies and the species. It is +450 €/ha (724€/ha depreciation included) in apple trees, + 204 €/ha (478€/ha depreciation included) for plum, +20 to 174 €/ha for walnut, +170 €/ha for apricot-peach orchards”, is it detailed in a 2020 report.
For large crops, this additional cost ranges between 10 and 80 euros per hectare per year. “This type of agriculture forces the farmer to work the land quickly in order to sow on time. However, with mechanical weeding, he wastes much more time plowing, sometimes with several passes necessary at 4 km/h, and therefore consumes more fuel”, argues Xavier Reboud.
To help farmers take the plunge towards stopping glyphosate, the government set up in 2021 a tax credit of 2,500 euros per agricultural business. An initiative which, according to the executive, has made it possible to reduce the use of this product in France. But the road to national agriculture not dependent on glyphosate still seems long. “There are, of course, several alternatives depending on the farms, but they entail additional costs and they will always be less reliable and less easy to use than glyphosate,” says the expert. “The issue of glyphosate is an agricultural choice. It is the symbol of intensive agriculture and a danger. If households are not prepared to pay more for their food, our agricultural methods will not evolve,” he concludes.
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