FX.co ★ French organic winemaker fined for refusing spray pesticide

The French court imposed a €500 fine on Emmanuel Giboulot, a Burgundy organic winegrower, after he refused to spray his vineyard with pesticide, Agence France-Presse says. That measure is aimed to prevent a bacterial disease caused by a leaf-hopping insect.
As the law stands, the winemaker could be fined €30,000 or sentenced up to 6 months for not heeding the directive of Cote d'Or area. However, the court ruled on lighter penalty.
The winegrower, in his turn, pleaded not guilty. Giboulot stated that he did not oppose the fight against plant’s infectious diseases and compared the directive with mass chemotherapy to prevent cancer.
The Flavescence dorée disease was spotted in 1949 for the first time. Then it spread to Cognac, Languedoc, northern and southern Rhone, the Loire Valley, and Bordeaux. There is no effective treatment for the infection as it is capable to kill a young vine and reduce the productivity of the old one.