Chemical-free farming brings life back to rural France • FRANCE 24 English

Chemical-free farming brings life back to rural France • FRANCE 24 English

Every morning for the past 32 years, trained ears are tuning in, listening to birds. There’s a common kestrel, a magpie, and two more falcon. Spread across 500 farm plots, these scientists were among the first to raise the alarm in 2018 about a dramatic drop in biodiversity. We’re losing about 1% of birds every year. For insects, it’s more like 2 and a half%. That’s huge. Absolutely. Biologists point to two main culprits. Heavy pesticide use and massive monocultures stripped of hedros. Insects need space to live and breed. As you can see here, they need hedges and grassy strips along the fields. That’s where they find refuge in this sea of crops. too. Most of the crops that we eat today are sprayed with chemicals. Some are linked to cancers, fertility issues, even changes to our DNA. But now, scientists and farmers have teamed up to ditch the toxic stuff without losing their harvests or their income. This is one of the largest projects in Europe. 400 farmers, 60 researchers, all experimenting with agroecology. Farming that works with nature, not against it. Take rape seed, the world’s third most used cooking oil. It’s often seen as impossible to grow without chemicals. Not here. [Music] This year, we’re taking a closer look at this field. It’s part of a soil conservation study. It means that the farmer doesn’t plow, so the soil stays covered all year with plants and stems. We’re studying the impact this has on biodiversity, especially for pollinators. It’s clear that biodiversity has been boosted here. More than 80% of crops in Europe depend directly on pollinators. Alexi is an entomologist. His job is to monitor insect species and count how many are present in each zone. When I see a pollinator, a bee, butterfly, or hoverfly, I ID it or capture it for analysis. His research shows that supporting ecosystems on the farm rather than destroying them can actually boost profits. The more pollinators you have, the better the yields. In the rape seed industry, we’ve seen farmers yields go up by nearly 40%. When the number of pollinators is high on their plots, the team also looks underground. They’re analyzing 450 km of farmland, both organic and conventional. I’m looking for a specific earthworm. This one’s called chlorotica. It wraps around the plant roots. We’ll test them in the lab to see if they’ve absorbed any pesticides. In the fields transitioning to organic, worms like these act as indicators showing what chemicals remain in the soil and therefore in the crops. Hello. How are you? Hello. Yeah, good. This farmer’s family has been growing grain here for a century. But 10 years ago, he transitioned to organic farming. Tired of being labeled a poller. We’re setting up bee nesting boxes. We’ll leave these out for 6 months. Wild bees will come in and lay eggs inside the tubes. This helps me to understand the bee population that’s flying on my land. That helps me to decide what I should plant, when to plant it, and how I manage flowering. It really helps improve organic practices. He’s gone from growing only three chemically treated crops to 15 fully natural species on the same land. I remember being surprised. You cut nitrate use in half and we were both trying to figure out how we had spent all that money on fertilizer that was totally useless. Like many farmers, Alan once saw pesticides as essential. Now, instead of spraying chemicals, his tractor pulls a wide rake that removes weeds naturally. Our goal is to keep evolving and to show that even in a tough global economy, you can make a living from smart, well-run organic farming. For him, agroecology can scale up just like industrial farming, but without hurting environmental or human health. Across the EU, most agricultural subsidies go to intensive farming, though less than 2% support organic. That report from environment editor AO Jri who joins me on the set. Aurora, agroecology is the way forward, at least according to the farmers and the scientists that you spoke to in that report. And yet today, as we speak, France’s National Assembly is debating whether to allow the use of a controversial pesticide. Now, it’s a pesticide that’s been banned in France since 2018. Why would they want to bring it back? Well, the pesticide that you’re referring to is called acetamid, and it’s used to control pests like aphids, white flies, and other insects on crops. Now, France banned it because of its impact on pollinators like bees and birds and other organisms in soil and water. But yet in the rest of the EU, that specific insecticide is still in use. In fact, it’s been approved by the European Commission until 20133 because it’s considered as safer a safer alternative compared to other similar similar chemicals. Now, for French farmers, especially for those who are growing sugar beads, hazelnuts, and kiwis, pest problems are huge, and many argue that they have no effective alternative. And since the insecttoide is still allowed elsewhere in the EU, they say that their crops are at a competitive disadvantage and risk being wiped out. So the EU says this pesticide is safer. But on the other hand, nature lovers are actually worried this will only further damage the environment. Right. The way that acetamrid works is that it targets insects nervous systems and it’s cause it causes paralysis and then the death of the insect. Environmental groups say that it’s one of the main causes of mass bee deaths worldwide. for example. Not only that, scientists have also warned that even tiny amounts could be dangerous to humans, namely for children’s brain development. They say that bringing these pesticides back would be awful for public health and for biodiversity as well. Right. So, it’s really hard to find the right balance between high yield and profit, protecting nature, public health. What about agroecology like in your report? Is that the solution? Well, agri agroecology could work, but it’s not a quick fix. Uh it takes time to restore the farm’s overall ecological balance. And to kill pests naturally, farmers can actually do a crop rotation with legumes or cereals that will disrupt the pest cycles. They can also encourage natural predators like birds and ladybugs that will eat harmful insects. But agroecology requires more research with long, really deep changes in the way that we grow our crops. And many farmers still rely on pesticides because they offer quick and reliable results. You see, consistent yields and standardized products are a matter of pride. Uh, and the problem is that most cannot survive without any financial aid. In fact, nearly a quarter of French farmers live below the poverty line. So, switching to agroecology isn’t just a technical switch, it’s a psychological one. And most farming schools actually still focus almost entirely on conventional methods. So, where does organic farming actually stand in France at the moment? Well, organic farming now covers roughly 17% of French farmland. It’s not a huge share, but France is actually the country with the largest area of organic farmland in Europe with around 3 million hectares. But does that mean that the French are eating more organic food? Not really, because organic often costs more than conventional food, unfortunately. All right, Aurora, thank you for that. That’s our environment editor, Aldri. so much.

Faced with widespread chemical pollution and a dramatic collapse in biodiversity, farmers and scientists in western France have been testing a revolutionary farming model for over 30 years. No pesticides, no synthetic fertilisers – just nature. And it works: steady yields, stable incomes, and a thriving ecosystem. A one-of-a-kind collaboration in Europe.
#France #biodiversity #pesticides

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