Supporting risk-taking as a lever for ecological transition[Le soutien à la prise de risque comme levier pour une transition environnementale]

Winegrowing accounts for 3% of French agricultural land and consumes 15-20% of phytopharmaceutical products (PPP): it is particularly concerned by the objectives of the Ecophyto plan (-50% PPP by 2025). However, economic considerations are holding back the transition: PPPs represent on average only 5% of production costs, and offer a solid guarantee of the production levels targeted by the winegrower. Yet, aware of the need for an agro-ecological transition, winegrowers are seeking to improve their environmental balance sheets. This improvement is possible thanks to fine-tuned technical measures enabling optimal adaptation of treatments, combined with incentive mechanisms guaranteeing income in the face of the increased risks associated with these more ecological practices. As part of the VitiREV project, an experiment is underway to test the use of insurance as a lever to secure and support producers' compliance with an optimized treatment protocol, under the supervision of economists. For the second year running, two winegrowing cooperatives are testing the adoption of an insurable treatment approach formulated by the Institut français de la vigne et du vin (IFV). They benefit from an insurance contract covering the risk of yield loss due to disease. In 2019, this experiment reduced the treatment frequency index by 35% compared with members' practices.