One of the most sensitive issues on the agricultural issue, the reduction in the use of pesticides had, until now, been avoided by the government – the first set of announcements aimed at appeasing the anger of farmers made no reference to it. The pressure from the National Federation of Farmers’ Unions (FNSEA) ended up paying off: the Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, Marc Fesneau, announced Thursday 1er February the update ” on break “ of the Ecophyto plan, the latest version of which, still under discussion, aimed to reduce pesticide use by 50% by 2030, compared to the 2015-2017 period.
The Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, for his part blamed, without naming it, the National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (ANSES), affirming that it is necessary “get out of a situation where our health agency” bans a molecule in France before it is banned in the European Union.
Launched in 2008, the Ecophyto plan has so far failed to achieve the targeted objectives. Officially, it is not abandoned but shut down “time to rework a certain number of aspects”, according to Mr. Fesneau. The objective is to “set up a new indicator”, specified Mr. Attal. Behind the technical nature of the announcement lies a major point of contention with producers of field crops, in particular. The current indicator, the number of unit doses (NODU), in place since 2008, records the number of treatments applied per hectare.
It thus makes it possible to take into account the effectiveness of molecules, which, at the same tonnage, can have a very different impact on health and the environment. Other indicators, promoted by agrochemists, are likely to measure on paper reductions in use that are not very effective in the fields. In October 2023, German authorities officially warned against the adoption of such indicators at European level, qualified as “misleading”.
“The government is fighting the wrong fight”, according to WWF France
“By announcing serious setbacks to come on the ecological transition, and in particular the shutdown of Ecophyto 2030, the government is fighting the wrong fight to resolve the agricultural crisisaccording to WWF France. Instead of focusing all of its efforts on fair prices for a just transition, environmental measures are being targeted, in Brussels as in Paris. The announcement of a halt to the Ecophyto plan is a disastrous signal for environmental protection and public health. »
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