Zero Phyto

In 2008 France set in place laws that are intended to reduce the usage of pesticides nation wide by 50% by 2018. The programme that is working towards that goal is called Ecophyto. The legislation came about when it was realised that French people have higher exposure to pesticides than most other countries. One of the main culprits in terms of pesticide usage is the wine industry, but farming in general uses high levels of pesticides and France is a surprisingly rural country.

The French language has co-opted the word phytosanitaire to mean the use of all pesticides connected with plants, not just those products associated with plant health. Thus, somewhat confusingly for English speakers, produits phytosanitaires includes herbicides as well as insecticides, miticides and fungicides. Thus, zéro phyto in practice means zero use of herbicides.

Flaming the weeds in the street.

Local authorities are working towards reimagining the management of streets, parks and other public spaces so that they are using no pesticides at all. I photographed a park in Noyers sur Cher last year which was proudly proclaiming it's pesticide free status. Preuilly is amongst those taking the project on board too.

One of their first moves was to lease a street sweeper. This is an expensive piece of kit and the council wisely decided that a lease arrangement would allow them to test a model and see if it suited. As it turned out, the first one they tried was too big for our narrow streets and they swapped it for a smaller one. Regular street sweeping is important for keeping weeds down. It removes dirt and organic matter that weed seeds could take advantage of.

 The hearse like vehicle that the phytosanitation man transports his gear in.

The latest technique for weed control that Preuilly has adopted is a gas fueled blowtorch for burning the pavement weeds. Personally I think the operator needs to go on a training course -- he's a bit prone to just frizzling the leaves and not holding the flames on the plants long enough to kill the roots. But it certainly is a good alternative to glysophate and shouldn't be any more difficult to successfully use.

The vehicle provided by his employer is a second hand black van, which leads to him being the butt of jokes about it looking like a Black Maria or a hearse.