President Emmanuel Macron’s promise to rid France of controversial weedkiller glyphosate within three years has left some farmers in the European Union’s largest grain producing country on edge.
After intense debate, the EU this week cleared U.S.-developed glyphosate for another five years despite concerns that the most widely used pesticide in the world can cause cancer.
EU rules allow France to unilaterally ban the substance, however, an approach Macron has decided to take. He has given farmers and researchers three years to come up with an alternative.
“Three years is too short,” said Herve Fouassier, 45, who runs a 200-hectare farm in Loiret, south of Paris.
Like French farm unions, Fouassier does not believe a solution can be found in time.
“We are ready to hear the wishes of society which wants less use of crop protection products, but give us a little time to adapt,” he said, standing in a mustard field treated with glyphosate.
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French crop growers said this week even five years is insufficient time because there is currently no alternative economically and environmentally viable alternative to the weedkiller.
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Glyphosate’s worldwide success is linked to its low cost; farmers can kill weeds by spraying the chemical on their fields instead of plowing the soil several times to remove weeds.
Read full, original post: Three years too short to replace glyphosate, French farmers say
