The Groupe Roullier and INRA are two key players in Plant and Animal Nutrition, working together on a variety of topics, all aiming for innovation in sustainable agriculture.
INRA, the National Institute of Agronomic Research is recognised throughout France as the leading institute of agronomic research in Europe and the second largest in agricultural science in the world.
In keeping with the Groupe’s demand for excellence, researchers at the Centre Mondial de l’Innovation Roullier work closely with INRA engineers on a variety of topics. In the field of Plant Nutrition, it is especially worth noting the partnership concerning the phenotyping greenhouse, unique in the world in the private sector. Numerous other specific subjects with 4 current theses are also the subject of partnerships such as research on the adaptation of plants to their environment, studies on the impact of climate change, the relevance of alterations to the productivity of grassland, the use of imagery applied to the monitoring of plant development. Research on nitrogen and phosphate nutrition, as well as on biotic and abiotic stresses, is also involved.
In the field of Animal Nutrition, the partnership mainly concerns the supply of fresh rumen fluid to the Groupe’s R&D researchers for digestibility testing. These tests are possible thanks to the provision of a herd of fistulated cows by the Rennes INRA, on the Méjusseaume farm. A thesis is currently underway on the calcium nutrition of cows, the fruit of the collaboration of several Groupe subsidiaries with the INRA researchers.
Sylvain Pluchon, responsible for the CMI’s agronomic tools, spoke at the last Paris Agriculture Fair during the “INRA Meetings” on the following topics: “Innovations by 2025 for plant chains: characterisation of plants, selection & uses”, as well as “High-throughput phenotyping to characterise plants”. This intervention highlights the importance of the Groupe’s collaboration with INRA.
