Back in April we reported the story of a viticulteur who refused to obey a prefectoral order to spray his vines against a particular pest. Emmanuel Giboulot was fined 500 euros and the case raised a good deal of support in social media, including a fund raising exercise to mount an appeal.
M Giboulot has always practised a bio-dynamic approach to his wine production and argued that the spray he would be obliged to use was not selective and would kill other insects necessary to the ecologic balance. Additionally the pest was not present in his department and the spraying was precautionary.
Now the court of appeal in Dijon has quashed the verdict and M Giboulot claims that this is a victory for "solidarity" of small organic producers in the face of bureaucracy allied to big agriculture. In fact the court found the "arret" invalid and considered there was no urgency about the need to spray.
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