What is your role and mission within Agrauxine?
I'm R&D coordinator. My job is to manage the Research department (laboratory and technical team) and to steer the Seeds and Formulation projects. This dual role enables me to interact with all Agrauxine departments in our 3 market segments: Biocontrol, Biostimulation and Bionutrition.
What are your contributions to the projects developed by Agrauxine?
Within the R&D department, we work throughout the product life cycle, from the identification of active substances and their potential for future products, to in-depth knowledge of our existing products. This may involve monitoring a product's stability over time, characterizing a mode of action, or highly technical requests from customers who want to know, for example, whether they can apply them in conjunction with conventional products. We don't stop when a product reaches the market... that's where it all begins!
How do you coordinate the technical team with customer requirements?
It's very important to us to be able to respond to the technical constraints our customers face. It's our sales and marketing teams (who are in direct contact with them) who communicate these customer requests to the Research department, so that I can coordinate the trials carried out by the technical team. It's a way of keeping in touch with farmers' day-to-day reality.
How do you see your missions, and more generally those of Agrauxine, in an agricultural world in transition?
That's a huge question... I could talk about it for hours!
I believe that the changes currently taking place in the world of agriculture reflect a profound rethinking of society's relationship with the environment. Reconciling agriculture with the preservation of ecosystems, while ensuring a viable agricultural system, are the foundations of what is known as agroecology. It's an exciting challenge which, like any (r-)evolution, is accompanied by concerns and doubts.
Agrauxine's ambition is not only to provide solutions, but also to accompany their deployment in support of those working in the field. Participating in a form of agriculture that is more respectful of the earth is a promising dynamic to which I am particularly sensitive. And in a way, I'm making my contribution, even if it's just one drop in an ocean. I feel useful by being part of this dynamic of change. I believe that a good ambassador is someone who is convinced and convincing. I hope to be one at my level.
An example of a contribution to the development of a product that has left its mark on you (something you're proud of)
Since I joined Agrauxine 2 years ago, we've been working on the development of seed-applied products. In this new range to come, our first product will undoubtedly be a source of great pride, yes. And I'll be sharing it with my colleagues, because we work in a very integrated way.
But I'm also proud of my day-to-day work: solving a technological problem in the laboratory, deciphering the way our products work, validating the progress of a project in a meeting, hearing our customers tell us that our team spirit is evident... We call our Beaucouzé headquarters "the Beehive". Somewhere along the line, I suppose we all realize that in action, one individual is not enough. It's cooperation that makes the difference. We're proud of that too.