- The "kunekune" pigs - a Maori word meaning "round and fat" - among the rows of vines in French Champagne are ensuring "careful" and "precise" work capable of fighting weeds, mold and other fungi and to aerate the land.
Tested for the first time last year in the Bordeaux wine region, pigs may be a better choice than sheep, which "just cut down" unwanted plants.
According to Olivier Zebic, consultant to the wine industry, pigs allow for a "very significant" reduction in the use of chemical treatments.
The kunekune could be a key element of the regional agency's goal of