The first “natural” herbicide is now available on the market. The name is Beloukha and the company that manufactures the product is called Jade. Beloukha is a fatty acid derived from rapeseed oil. Spraying with the product gives the vineyard protection against weeds around three weeks depending on weather conditions.
For best results spraying should be done by beautiful weather and a minimum temperature of 15 degrees C. Currently Beloukha is not allowed for organic growers. But if the product is as safe as the manufacturer claims it shouldn’t be long before it is.
Maybe this product arrives at the right time. Several herbicides are on EU’s new list of dangerous products that should be phased out, including glyphosate found in the well-known Roundup.
Read more on jade-international.fr (pdf).
If you want to know more about treatments and about organic wine growing you should read our book Biodynamic, Organic and Natural Winemaking.
