The micro-economic impacts of a ban on glyphosate and its replacement with mechanical weeding in French vineyards

Abstract

In France, viticulture is the production sector that uses the highest amount of glyphosate per hectare. The prospect of banning this pesticide in France, and in Europe as a whole, has led us to study the existence of alternatives to this herbicide, following article 50.2 of the European regulation 1107/2009, and to estimate the additional costs involved. Based on a national public database, we synthesized the different weed control practices in viticulture and calculated their costs. Our results showed that alternative methods to the use of glyphosate are more or less widespread depending on the wine-producing area in France.Inter-row non-chemical weed control is widespread and involves mechanical operations, with or without the use of cover crops. The most difficult aspect concerns weed control between vine stocks within the rows (intra-row), without applying herbicide. The size of the farms, the structure of the vineyards and especially the distance between rows largely account for the differences in the adoption rates of glyphosate-free practices in wine-producing areas. In total, the additional cost of mechanical weeding compared to glyphosate chemical weeding is €250/ha on average, and varies from €12 to €553/ha depending on the wine-producing area. The generalization of alternatives to glyphosate-use under the European ban on glyphosate could have economic consequences on the income of farmers, the magnitude of which depends on several factors, including the type of vineyard, availability of labour and equipment on each farm, as well as marketing channels.