French beet growers test pest-repelling fragrance as alternative to bee-toxic pesticides
France is testing a pest-repelling fragrance as an alternative to EU-banned neonicotinoids, insecticides harmful to bees and other pollinators, as growers grapple with a lack of alternatives to chemical pesticides.
The government authorised in April a biocontrol product – pest control solutions derived from natural sources – based on scented molecules known as kairomones, allowing its use on 500 hectares of sugar beet fields until mid-August.
While these methods are gaining traction in the EU, the bloc lacks a common definition for biocontrol.
The latest attempt to provide a legal definition was included in the proposal for a Sustainable Use of Pesticides regulation (SUR), a controversial text voted off by the European Parliament last year and withdrawn by the European Commission in February.
State support for the biocontrol product, developed by Rennes-based start-up Agriodor, is part of a national plan against the beet yellowing disease, which ravaged France’s sugar beet harvest in 2020.
Amid an increased pest risk after a mild winter, the government is ramping up efforts to protect crops from aphids carrying the virus that causes yellowing.
“Kairomones are scented molecules that have a repellent effect on aphids and can reduce infestation levels, thereby delaying the need for insecticide treatments,” the French Ministry of Agriculture explained in a press release.
Agriodor’s CEO, Alain Thibault, told Euractiv that the product could offer farmers an alternative to bee-killing neonicotinoids, banned in the EU since 2018.
Tests are underway in Switzerland to assess its effectiveness in organic agriculture.
Despite not having EU approval yet, Thibault aims to obtain a new emergency marketing authorisation for 2025, citing the lack of alternatives for French beet growers to protect their crops from aphids.
Farmers previously used insecticides from the neonicotinoid family against this threat. Acetamiprid is the only one still authorised, but France, unlike other EU countries, banned products containing all types of neonicotinoids.
Beet growers urge France to authorise pesticide already used in other European countries
While France remains the last European country to have banned all neonicotinoids, the beet industry is urging France to authorise acetamiprid in order to put an end to the distortion of competition. The government could base its decision on a forthcoming EFSA opinion.
Between 2020 and 2023, France granted derogations allowing the use of neonicotinoids in sugar beet while seeking alternative pest control solutions.
However, in January 2023, the government ceased these exemptions following a ruling by the EU’s Court of Justice against the use of emergency derogations to reauthorise substances explicitly banned within the 27-member bloc.
Long approval times
While the EU top court ruling recalled that, in principle, EU law prioritises non-chemical pest control methods wherever possible, biocontrol alternatives face a lengthy and burdensome approval process.
Thibault said Agriodor’s solution will take seven to ten years to obtain EU marketing approval, as it needs to follow the same regulatory path as chemical pesticides. He stressed that the current regulation is taking a toll on biocontrol innovation.
Until then, Agriodor will have to rely on “emergency” authorisations of up to 120 days granted by individual member states.
In contrast, agricultural competitors – the US, Brazil, and Canada – approve new bio-based products within one to three years, according to industry sources.
Thibault noted that the same molecule used for the aphid repellent is found in products like sunscreen and chewing gum, as it is approved for food and cosmetics but not for agricultural use.
Renewed calls
Farming groups have recently joined calls with biocontrol manufacturers in demanding that the Commission fast-track biocontrol solutions.
On 25 April, biocontrol industry group IBMA and EU farming lobby COPA and COGECA called on European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to “urgently speed up procedures” to place biocontrol products on the market.
They also invited the Commission to engage “into constructive dialogue” with stakeholders to address the current challenges and boost the sector’s competitiveness.
“Urgent actions must be deployed to meet farmers’ desperate need for alternative tools to fight plant pests and diseases in the current context of shortage and climate change,” the letter said.
The EU organic sector, represented by IFOAM, is also pressing for action, emphasising the need for a new legal framework to allow a faster uptake of these methods, including a revision of the regulation governing the marketing of pesticides (1107/2009).
“Only if farmers have an adequate number of alternatives to chemical inputs can an ecological transformation of the food and farming system be successful,” the statement said.
According to IBMA, there are more than 100 substances in the pipeline that are due to be submitted for approval by 2028.
Once greenlighted, IBMA estimates these could cover 20% of European farmland, contributing to the European Commission’s target of reducing pesticide use in the EU.
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