Blog Post

Herbicide Ban in the Vines of Anjou Saumur!

  • by Micaela Frow
  • •
  • 01 Nov, 2019
  • •

Anjou Saumur become the First Appellation In France to Ban Use of Herbicides from 2020

Delighted to report that as from 2020 the appellations of Anjou-Saumur will end to the use of chemical weeding by herbicides.

At last! The decrees formalising the new specifications of the 27 appellations of Anjou-Saumur have just been published. This means the end of chemical weeding on the 18,000 ha of the vineyard in AOC.

In the official text, this sentence makes the Directive explicit: "A controlled plant cover, spontaneous or sown, is mandatory on the row between rows; in the absence of this plant cover, the operator shall tillage the soil to control spontaneous vegetation or justify the use of biocontrol products approved by public authorities in viticulture. If biocontrol herbicides are used on a plot, the use of other herbicides is prohibited.

The Angevin vineyard is the first in France to ban chemical weeding on a large scale on all vine surfaces.

From now on, it is prohibited to use chemical herbicides (such as glyphosate) to control weeds between vine rows. It has been more than two years since the winegrowers of the eighteen wine appellations of Anjou and Saumur voted in favour of this environmental measure.

One step closer to a full organic status in all 18,000 hectares of the Anjou Saumur vineyards.

Translated from a report by Quest France.

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