Should spraying by helicopter or air-plane be banned? Yes, says Segolène Royale, the French Minister for ecology, sustainability and energy (as well as ex-presidential candidate and ex-partner of the current president). There is actually already an EU ban on helicopter spraying but winemakers and some other farmers in France (banana growers in Guadeloupe, for example) have so far been exempted from the ban. Segolène Royale now says that this exemption should be removed immediately.
Winegrowers are currently allowed to spray from the air when the ground is soaking wet and you cannot go out with a tractor or if you have vineyards on steep slopes where it is considered dangerous to drive a tractor.
Aerial spraying is between ten to twenty times faster than a tractor. However, it goes without saying, there will not be much precision. Read more at La Vigne.
