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By APD writer Aditya Nugraha
PARIS, Sept. 30 (APD) - French wine producers are facing credible challenges from growing anti-pesticide movement legalized by orders issued by several mayors in France’s cities hosting wine productions.
The orders also putting g pressures on the government which has launched precaution guides, including safety distance advise for the application of protection products.
Under the directive establishing a framework to achieve the sustainable use of pesticides, French wine industry has undertaken to reduce the use of plant protection products by 50 percent, mainly by changing its spraying methods.
High environmental value (HVE) label has also been introduced by government, expected to affect half of all French farms by 2025.
The label, however, is still not so well-known by consumers, distributors or even producers.
“The Terra Vitis certification will include the HVE approach from 2020, which will add several farms. The problem is that these certifications are expensive and rely on further studies. It makes them not suitable for small farms,” French MEP Irène Tolleret of the Renew group said to explain constraints of the label implementation.
The HVE label was targeted to serve half of the 840,000 hectares of French vines within six years, which seems ambitious. Organic vines only represent 61,000 hectares at present, while Terra Vitis certification 11,000, which amounts to less than 10 percent of French vineyards.
New environmental initiatives are emerging to add the organic farming, particularly in France’s largest wine regions of Bordeaux and Champagne.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
