Meeting "Viticulture et Biodiversité"
Freburary, on friday 7th 2020 - at 3pm
Place : Champagne Devaux
Hameaux de Villeneuve, 10110 Bar-sur-Seine
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In Organic Viticulture, copper is the only authorized and effective mineral product to fight against mildew. Other fungicides, often suspected to be carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic are banned in organic agriculture as are all chemical pesticides.
As part of the process of European re-registration of the active substance Copper, the EFSA, the European agency in charge of the report, advocates a further reduction of the authorized dose to 4 kg / ha for all productions, without the possibility of multi-year adjustments. This recommendation will be put to the vote of the Member States this autumn.
Alarmed by this regulatory project, the Association of Organic Champagnes, ACB, and Bio en Grand-Est carried out a survey on the use of copper in organic viticulture in Champagne for the years 2012-2017. This survey reveals that organic viticulture in Champagne will not survive if this new regulation becomes law.
Historically, the doses used have already been greatly reduced in all wine regions. The specifications of organic farming limit the dose to 6 kg / ha / year of copper metal on average calculated over five years (principle of adjusting).
The reduction of the authorized dose to 4kg / ha, will simply make it impossible to manage the vineyards in years with high mildew pressure for the organic winegrowers of Champagne.
This regulation, which would also lead to the loss of organic viticulture in other wine regions such as Bordeaux, Charentes, Loire, Center, Burgundy ..., seems in complete incoherence with the public will to reduce the environmental impact of agriculture. Organic farming is by far the most efficient in terms of usage of chemical products.
It is in this alarming context, that the ACB, Bio en Grand-Est and the FNAB, have decided to organize a conference on Copper in Organic Viticulture. The aim is to inform and alert the entire wine industry, the citizens, and public authorities, on the harmful consequences of the draft European regulation for organic viticulture and the environment in our country.