Agrauxine Experts – Larissa VILLAR

Could you tell us more about your role and daily missions at Agrauxine by Lesaffre?

As a technical coordinator I’m in contact with the product managers in the headquarters in France and the regional business developers and technical managers present in different zones.

My daily basis assignments are related to deploying the strategies of development for each one of our products in each country where we are present or where we want to start business.
Part of this is done by setting up field trials to validate strategies and the performance of our products under varying conditions, working also as demoplots for our clients and future business partners.

The technical coordinator also keeps contact with the distributors to provide them general support, for instance on developing a new crop or a new product positioning, as well as providing technical information and marketing material.

How the different services of Agrauxine by Lesaffre collaborate during the development process for the biostimulants range?

The different departments in Agrauxine by Lesaffre work side by side in the identification of current or future agronomic issues around the globe that can be solved by our biostimulants, as is the case of Smartfoil to counteract grain yield reduction because of abiotic stress.

In response to the identified issues, the research team carries out nursery projects by screening candidate actives and validating their initial performance. The Marketing and Development team establishes the best way to present these solutions to the market, like the precise positioning and dose, and keeps track of the results at the field level.
All these actions are backed up by our Regulatory team, assuring compliance to local and international regulations and guidelines, respectful towards the sustainable development, environmental safety and human health.

What is the advantage of live trials? Why this process is particularly key for biostimulants?

Plant management and farming techniques, as well as the abiotic stresses and agronomic issues threatening plant development and yield, change according to the crop and the country where it’s grown.

It is fundamental to well understand the performance of our biostimulants in each local edaphoclimatic condition by carrying out in situ field trials to fine tune recommendations and keep a solid and reliable technical database for ourselves, our business partners and our farmers.

Part of our strategy of sustainable development relies on well adapting our solutions to the local agronomic practices.

Combining the biostimulant application with the phenological stage where the plant is more susceptible to damage with the execution of current farming interventions is key to smartly respond to farmers’ needs. This is possible thanks to the compatibility of our biostimulants with the common solutions in the market.