Organic nurseries: It is time to be organic from the very beginning (France)

An organic wine farmer who wants to plant new vines can buy the same vines from the nursery as a conventional wine farmer. But this will change. New rules, although not until 2035, will require organic wine producers to buy organic certified plants.

The nurseries are already preparing. And the authorities are busy writing the rules.

The nurseries will in the future be able to produce both organic and conventional vines, but a certain distance will be required between the different cultures.

In the many wine regions in France that are affected by flavescence dorée, a problematic bacterial disease spread by a grasshopper, there will be rules for how the plants should be treated.

It will, for instance, be mandatory with three treatments with pyrethre, an organically permissible insecticide (which, however, should be used with caution as it is toxic to bees and some other insects).

The rules will also force the organic growers to order their new vines 18 months in advance.

Read more (in French) at Vitisphere.