France offers stimulus to farmers to phase out glyphosate

France is set to offer financial aid to farmers to stop the use of glyphosate weedkillers, according to officials shortly following President Emmanuel Macron's announcement that he had failed his bid to ban these types of weedkillers by 2021.

The French government is set to deliver temporary tax credits of €2,500 to farmers who apply in 2021/22 to cease the use of glyphosate weedkillers in sectors most affected by the halt, such as vineyards, orchards and grain fields.

It also added €215 million to aid in EU farmers for changing their equipment.

Glyphosate has been a heated topic ever since a WHO report into the matter linked glyphosate weedkillers with cancer back in 2015.

A French farmer recently won a case against Bayer after he argued that the pesticide - which he frequently used as a part of his daily life - caused serious health issues.

Bayer has begun to phase out the use of glyphosate weedkillers as a result of paying over $8 billion (€6.59 billion) in damages after over 125,000 cases were brought to court.

Read more: Bayer Takes Tougher Stance On Glyphosate Talks Due To Downturn

The company has recently attempted to move into the gene therapy business in order to recuperate losses and create distance from the controversy.

The French agricultural ministry said in a statement: “The challenge is to put in place mechanisms to compensate for farmers’ costs due to the withdrawal of glyphosate because today a farmer who invests to phase out glyphosate does not benefit from immediate value creation."

It added that stopping the use of glyphosate will likely have a net operating loss of around 16% - roughly €7,000 per for an average farm.

French President Emmanuel Macron noted he had attempted to ban the use on glyphosate, a pledge which formed part of his 2017 manifesto, but admitted he had failed to deliver within the allotted time.

Officials noted they vetoed the option of a ban owing to a lack of viable chemical alternatives in some sectors.

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Automation in the agricultural industry is a blossoming market and investments may help alleviate some of the losses the sector may face as a result of the ban.

A ban on glyphosate may also prevent any residual chemicals being spread through the food chain, if such a thing were possible.

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