FRANCE: report on the use of copper in France

ANSES scientific and technical support report

To better understand the uses of copper (active substance candidate for substitution) in agriculture, ANSES carried out an internal referral in 2021 which resulted in the publication of a report validated on 15th February 2022. The objectives were as follows :

• Identify the copper-based PPPs used for plant protection in agriculture, the diseases targeted by the treatments, the crops and production methods concerned;
• Analyse the level of use of copper-based PPPs, spatial disparities and the evolution of uses in various agricultural production sectors;
• Inventory the use of chemical and non-chemical alternatives to copper-based PPPs already identified in the literature and adopted by farmers for the protection of the crops concerned.

The results of this study highlighted disparities between agricultural sectors and production methods in terms of copper dependence, taking into account the amounts applied and considering the few alternatives currently available, particularly in organic farming.

This work is a first step and opens up avenues of interest for the future, in particular on the feasibility of an increased limitation of copper use or its substitution, and the associated impacts, in particular of a socio-economic nature, for the sectors concerned.

ANSES will be continuing this analysis work on copper in 2022 and 2023 with a new internal referral. The agency plans to provide an evaluation of the socio-economic impacts of the regulatory framework for copper, the identification of alternatives as well as brakes and levers to facilitate their adoption.

Copper resource centre

In addition, in order to make accessible to the viticultural profession the levers tested to tend towards a reduction in the use of copper and to highlight the existing solutions, three structures (ACTA, Chamber of Agriculture of the Gironde and IFV) have shared the results of their research projects over the past twenty years in France by creating a Copper resource centre.

The proposed strategies are based on better modelling of meteorological and epidemiological conditions for treatment optimisation, alternative products that can eventually replace copper with less environmental impact, but also on innovative methods such as new genetic profiles for vines with resistant varieties or physical methods to rethink phytosanitary treatments. This resource centre offers an inventory of some of the levers currently available to winegrowers in the form of summary sheets.

See also our previous articles: 

FRANCE: Use of copper in agriculture

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