Sick Plants from Pesticides | Francis Chaboussou

The negative effects of pesticides on cultivated plants can go far beyond the consequences of disrupting ecosystems. Francis Chaboussou (who was a research director and station director at INRA) demonstrates here, for the first time, that it is the very physiology of the cultivated plant that is disrupted by pesticides, making it more vulnerable to attackers. He shows that the massive use of pesticides creates vulnerabilities in plants that will lead to even greater use of these toxins in an attempt to reduce the new damage caused by this fragility. Here we have the best possible illustration of the true vicious circle in which intensive agriculture has led us for the past 60 years, relying, to try to overcome the imbalances it inevitably generates, on the illusory chemical crutch of pesticides. François Veillerette (MDRGF: Movement for the Rights and Respect of Future Generations)Francis Chaboussou, a (unconventional) researcher at INRA for nearly fifty years, established his theory, trophobiosis, according to which any parasite becomes virulent only if it finds in the plant the nutritional elements it needs. Revolutionary, because he proved, as early as 1970 and in the midst of the hegemony of chemical treatments, that these, contrary to popular belief, contribute to developing in the plant these elements that allow fungi, mites, insects, viruses, and other bacteria to proliferate. Visionary because, in contrast to the "modernist" creed of that time, he also demonstrates that only organic agriculture can ensure the ecological balance that prevents latent parasites from becoming harmful (cover photos: MDRGF)