The organic wine producers spray with copper to combat the fungal disease downy mildew, mildiou. (Many conventional—not organic—also spray with copper, but they may also use synthetic pesticides.) But, of course, they want to use as little copper as possible and would be glad to find other alternatives.
The Coppereplace Project in France has looked for such substances and actually found some things that could limit the use of copper. Researchers at l’Institut français de la vigne et du vin (IFV), a research institute, have tested different products together with one third of a normal copper dose.
Getting by completely without copper is not considered realistic at the moment. Microalgae and plant extracts of horsetail and basket willow show cautiously positive results. (Basket willow belongs to the same family – Salix – as the tree that is the origin of aspirin.)
Read more: Vitisphere
