a powerful herbicide for grain growers soon to be banned

Published

Video length: 2 min.

France 3

Article written by

P.-Y. Salique, S. Soubane, J. Coulais, M. Le Morvan, M. Sforza, M. Tregouet, C. Beauvalet – France 3

France Televisions

After the beet producers, it is the cereal growers who must review their cultivation model. Indeed, the herbicide they use, S-metolachlor, should soon be banned. The Health Safety Agency (ANSES) points out the risks of groundwater contamination with an impact on the quality of drinking water.

In a month and a half, Freddy Chauvin will sow 46 hectares of corn in Saujon (Charentes-Maritimes). He will add one kilo of herbicide per hectare. But soon, he will have to do without a powerful herbicide: S-metolachlor. Indeed, for the Health Security Agency (Anses), this product penetrates into the ground, then into groundwater. “In 2021, it was detected in all surface waters and in more than 30% of water made drinkable to standards higher than potability”explains Arnaud Clugery, of the association Eau et Rivières de Bretagne.

Mechanical weeding, a viable solution?

To replace it, you will need another herbicide, or mechanical weeding. But “some of the farmers will not have a weeder, a rotary hoe or a weeder harrow to ensure weeding”, according to Xavier Reboud, research director in agroecology at Inrae. Cereal farmers still have a year to find a solution other than S-metolachlor.


source site-29

Latest