• The Solagro association has published a map which updates in a very localized way the consumption of pesticides by municipality.

  • The map of France is very contrasted, highlighting intensive monocultures such as cereal and wine production.

  • By making this data public and available to citizens, the association also hopes to guide public action.

It is painstaking work that has been carried out by the Solagro association, which has just published a map of the use of pesticides in France.

We have access to treatment frequencies by hovering over the map, with indicators municipality by municipality, a first.

The map of France appears very contrasted and unsurprisingly highlights the agricultural regions: major cereal crops, viticulture and arboriculture.

“We see a difference between municipalities, depending on the cultures established, comments François Veillerette, spokesperson for the association Générations Futures.

This is the best result we can present today with the information we have access to.

The next step would be for all the spreading records to be kept online by the farmers, which would make it possible to compile statistics directly.

The Solagro association relied on crop declarations to the European Union under the CAP (common agricultural policy) and average treatment data noted by the Ministry of Agriculture in its crop surveys.

“These are estimates, based on official figures, points out the spokesperson.

We approach reality but with a small delta all the same.

»

Cereal and wine regions in red

The map makes it possible to consult the treatment frequencies by municipality.

Unsurprisingly those where the apple is grown can display up to 30 treatments per year, and the winegrowers about fifteen.

The areas most affected are the Rhône valley, the Garonne valley, the Burgundy wine region and the large cereal plains of Picardy.

Intensive monocultures are the ones that stand out the most on this map.

“Brittany, which has other problems with nitrate pollution, is less affected by pesticides than many other regions,” observes François Veillerette.

We see that some sectors, located in mountain areas and coastal marshes, are highly protected from the use of pesticides.

The map also allows you to see the degree of organic farming and you can see that Bordeaux is one of the regions where there is the least organic viticulture.

Many territories have started a transition: 3,532 municipalities exceed 25% organic and 807 50%.

“Public decision support”

Solagro's desire is to provide access to this data to all citizens who can consult the results in their municipalities.

“This makes it possible to draw more finely the problem areas where there are actions to be implemented, points out the spokesperson for Générations Futures.

It is an aid to public decision-making because we would like the map to be clearer”.

This work of monitoring the consumption of pesticides by municipality will continue and will make it possible to update the evolutions.

"The implementation of the Ecophyto II plan, which aims to reduce the use of pesticides by 50% by 2025 compared to the situation in 1998, together with the development of organic farming, which aimed at a target of 15% the UAA (useful agricultural area) by 2022, should lead to a gradual greening of this map,” writes Solagro in its report.

The objective of the Ecophyto 1 plan (which provided for a 50% reduction in pesticides between 2009 and 2018) had not been achieved and pesticide sales had even increased by 15% between the 2009-2011 reference period and the 2017-2019.

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