President Emmanuel Macron’s promise to rid France of controversial weedkiller glyphosate within three years has left some farmers in the European Union’s largest grain producing country on edge.

However, EU rules allow France to unilaterally ban the substance, an approach Macron has decided to take. He has given farmers and researchers three years to come up with an alternative despite the licence extension across the European bloc. The country has already said it will ban glyphosate for non-agricultural uses from 2019.

“Three years is too short,” said Herve Fouassier, 45, who runs a 200-hectare farm in Loiret, south of Paris.

France voted against relicensing glyphosate in Tuesday’s vote and Italy has also announced it's intention to ban the chemical.

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(Photo AFP)

Macron said in a tweet :“I have asked the government to take the necessary measures for the use of glyphosate to be banned in France as soon as alternatives are found, and at the latest in three years. #MakeOurPlanetGreatAgain” 

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe's office said it "regrets this result" (the re-licensing) and intends to push for further European-level studies on the product's potential dangers and possible alternatives.

Efforts to find substitutes are already underway in France Research Minister Frédérique Vidal said and a small group of French, Italian and Belgian chemical companies are looking to reap the benefits.

An alternative to glyphosate is based on pelargonic acid, a naturally occurring chemical found in a host of plants, thistles in particular. The primary manufacturer is a business called Jade based on the outskirts of Bordeaux, which has an exclusive distribution agreement with Novamont, an Italian chemicals company.

Pelargonic acid is a “very effective herbicide and certainly one of the substances that could be considered as an alternative to glyphosate,” said Bruno Caio Faraglia, who is responsible for phytosanitary products at Italy’s agriculture ministry.

He conceded the product costs more than glyphosate but stressed that rolling it out would be in line with Italy’s attempt to work “toward sustainable agriculture with a completely different approach.”

“We have been working for several years toward an agricultural model that is not reliant on glyphosate,” he said.

A spokesperson for France’s agriculture ministry said the ministry “will mobilize all its resources to invest in scientific research to find an alternative to glyphosate. There will not be one solution and our scientists are looking at finding different molecules, new more resistant seeds, robotics and other agricultural products.”

EU countries broke months of deadlock on Monday when they voted to renew the licence for the controversial US developed weedkiller glyphosate for five years after heavyweight Germany surprisingly voted in favour despite health concerns.

With the bloc's largest population, Germany's change of heart was instrumental in ending the stalemate within the 28-nation union over the fate of the pesticide, which some critics fear causes cancer.

But its U-turn appeared also to reveal extraordinary tensions in Chancellor Angela Merkel's efforts to form a new governing coalition, after a minister in Berlin said German officials in Brussels had disobeyed direct orders to abstain on the vote.

EU Health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis had said in a statement after the decision:"Today's vote shows that when we all want to, we are able to share and accept our collective responsibility in decision making,"

This now looks to be pre-emptive given France and Italy's stance.

If France and Italy go it alone and bans glyphosate, there are fears it could damage food trade across the single market if it is still used in food production by other member state countries.

The move by France and Italy has however delighted anti GM campaigners.