INNOVATION AWARDS ROULLIER 2020: Ambitious and Innovative Ideas

After receiving more than 100 applications (65 Plant Nutrition projects and 36 Animal Nutrition projects) in answer of this international contest organized by the CMI Roullier, our two international juries rigorously reviewed them – first individually and then collectively – in order to choose the competition’s two winners.

The six jury members were impressed not only by the sheer number of applications, but also by their quality. “The diversity seen in the project applications was due both to the experience of the candidates themselves and the broad appeal of the call for applications. High-risk ideas abounded thanks to this specific contest.”, says Prof. Johannes Lehmann, jury member for Plant Nutrition.

Prof. Mario Estévez on the Animal Nutrition jury says that: “Projects were evaluated based on their scientific excellence, their originality, their innovation, and their industrial utility (for example, their practical application)".Both agree that the projects covered pertinent issues, both in the plant and animal spheres.

Similarly, applicants showed a major predisposition towards placing innovation for sustainable and efficient agriculture at the heart of their projects. In Animal Nutrition, “all applicants were in line with global strategies aiming to alleviate animal stress, improve product quality and safety, and develop solutions to ensure animal production sustainability,” says Prof. Mario Estévez.

Prof. Johannes Lehmann adds that “The unusually high level of innovation seen among the finalists was paired with robust collaborations between the academic and industrial spheres. This is key for a successful path towards imagining the agricultural solutions of tomorrow”.

To put it simply, the two winning projects are those that display the optimum balance between scientific excellence and industrial utility. The Groupe Roullier and the Centre Mondial de l’Innovation Roullier are delighted to be welcoming the winners at the Innovation Awards Roullier ceremony on 11 December 2020, and to be supporting them in their innovative research projects for the benefit of the agriculture of tomorrow.