Here is a list that the departments of France would prefer to ignore.
Charente-Maritime leads the departments that buy the most glyphosate.
Followed by the Gironde and the Marne.
The environmental association Générations futures initiated the “Glyph'awards” prize for the departments most greedy in glyphosate.
It used the latest data available, namely the 2019 sales of this controversial herbicide.
"Our objective is that the groups of farmers try to fall back in this classification" insists François Veillerette, the president of the NGO.
The figures displayed are "undoubtedly in a quantity lower than the actual consumption for this year 2019 because some purchases were made at the end of 2018" to anticipate the increase in the royalty on pesticides, which entered into force on January 1, 2019. A significant amount of products spread in 2019 had to be acquired the previous year to be stored.
“This led to inflating the purchasing figures for 2018 and reducing those for 2019” explains the association.
READ ALSO>
Glyphosate: but yes, we can do without this herbicide
In France, despite the presidential promise to phase out glyphosate before the end of 2021, the herbicide classified as carcinogenic by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) but not by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) continues to be largely used.
The government guarantees that by 2022, sales of glyphosate will be halved from 2017.
The European Union is due to review the authorization for the use of this substance next year.
It could be banned or re-validated for five to ten years.
"For us, the scientific debate is closed, the IARC has compiled the scientific literature, when the EFSA first relies on data from industrialists" blows François Veillerette.
The list of the biggest buyers of pesticides
In France, it is difficult to take a closer look at which cultures are the most addicted to glypho '.
We can hardly notice that the Marne (more than 184,000 kg bought in 2019) is a department of great culture, while the Gironde and Charente-Maritime (185,000 and 241,000) are notably wine regions.
In its last report on the issue, ANSES (National Agency for National Food Safety) recommended not to ban this herbicide between the vines, considering that there were few machine tools capable of passing between the feet therefore. that there are slopes.
“This is the eternal question of the egg and the chicken, if we do not ban this chemical, there will be no market.
If there is no market, we will continue to use it, ”sighs François Veillerette.
My Earth Newsletter
The environment and responsible consumption
Subscribe to the newsletterAll newsletters
His association is also publishing this Thursday the ranking of French departments according to the highest tonnage of pesticides purchased, all products combined.
Gironde then took the lead, with more than 3 million tonnes of pesticides purchased in 2019. The department is followed by Marne (2.4 million), Loiret (2, 2), Seine-et-Marne (1 , 8) and the Somme (1,5).
Strangely, Charente-Maritime, despite being addicted to glyphosate, is not a large consumer of pesticides overall.
