Some pesticides have been banned, and the government intends to replace them. The Ministry of Agriculture is talking about a hundred new products coming to market soon.
Phytosanitary products, substances or mixtures of substances of a chemical or biological nature, used in agriculture to protect plants, are increasingly controlled. In France, the Echophyto 2030 plan aims to reduce the risks and uses of these products, in particular to combat climate change and to guarantee the preservation of biodiversity. The objective set, in accordance with the directives of the European Union, is the reduction of 50% of phytosanitary products by 2030.
Some of these products, which are actually pesticides, have been banned, but farmers need alternatives to limit losses from pests that affect their crops. This is what is provided for in the “action plan for the anticipation of the withdrawal of active substances and the development of alternative crop protection techniques” (Parsada), launched at the beginning of the year.
The list of sectors concerned is vast: large-scale crops, seeds and plants, vines, horticulture, fruits and vegetables, perfume, aromatic, medicinal and condiment plants, all with major issues in particular for beetroot, rapeseed and cherries. In presenting its report on the Committee on Solutions and Alternatives to Banned Plant Protection Products in July, the Ministry of Agriculture assured that it had analyzed “262 uses on 55 crops” and had found “778 additional solutions of high or medium interest”, which are available in other EU countries.
Of these, 400 have been selected as being of interest to France. For 101 of them, already used elsewhere in Europe, applications have already been submitted by manufacturers to the French National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (ANSES) to obtain marketing authorisation. “The vast majority of these new products will be on the market in the short and medium term, i.e. one to two years,” the ministry announced, allowing the banned molecules to be replaced by new pesticides considered much safer.
A next committee will take place in September or October to find solutions molecule by molecule and adapted to the difficulties encountered by farmers. It is also a question of ensuring fair competition within the European Union. The Ministry of Agriculture has also launched a new call for expressions of interest July 16 to “accelerate the deployment and massification of alternative solutions to the use of plant protection products, on a territorial scale”. So it’s not over yet.