France, July 28 -- A petition started by a French student earlier this month has ignited nationwide debate over a controversial pesticide law, drawing over two million signatories into a growing environmental and political dispute.

Public opposition is surging in France, as a petition against the controversial Duplomb law - which allows the conditional return of a pesticide banned since 2018 - soared past two million signatures on the National Assembly website by Monday morning.

Launched by 23-year-old student Eleonore Pattery on 10 July, the appeal has struck a chord nationwide.

The petition reached a record-breaking 500,000 signatures by last weekend- the first to do so on the public platform, which automatically triggered a parliame...