Farmers practicing soil conservation agriculture will be able to continue weeding with a little glyphosate despite the ban on this herbicide in 2021, Agriculture Minister Didier Guillaume told LCI on Friday. " My position is clear: we will continue soil conservation agriculture with glyphosate, " said the minister. " If there is no glyphosate ", soil conservation agriculture, " virtuous agroecological practice ", " can not be done, " said the minister.
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Soil conservation agriculture is an agronomic practice that eliminates plowing in order to preserve the biological life of the soil and fight against erosion. It is betting in particular on " plant cover " which plays both a role of green manure, in order to provide nitrogen via the roots of plants and reduce the use of chemical fertilizers, and a role of gas pump carbonic, via the photosynthesis of plants.
" If we want to protect the soil, keep the carbon in the soil and fight against global warming, we need soil covers, we must stop these large empty plowed fields to capture nitrogen and carbon, " explained the minister. . " You need soil cover, it is recognized in the agroecological transition, to do that, there is a need for glyphosate, I believe it is 1 liter per hectare ", in order to weed the fields that are not plowed once a year. year before sowing new crops. In an interview with the regional daily press on Friday, the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron also cites soil conservation agriculture as a possible exemption from the ban on glyphosate in 2021, a goal that " is not tenable over all farms ”.
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" On the basis of the work already carried out, it is possible to envisage a very significant reduction in the quantities usable in viticulture or in arboriculture, we will soon have the elements for arable crops ", indicates the president. " The dead ends (situations where we cannot do without pesticides to date NDLR) identified by INRA in 2017 must be taken into account: non-mechanizable land, soil conservation agriculture, contract vegetable crops ", a- he also said.
