Programme

Download the final programme-AgEng 2010.pdf

There were many highlights at the AgEng 2010 Conference: sessions on special topics, awards, the gala dinner, and more. Amongst these moments, three plenary sessions brought together scientists, representatives from industry and government officials to discuss the main issues for agriculture and environmental technologies.

More than 230 people participated in the opening session, on Monday 6th September 2010. After a welcome speech by Roger Genet, General Director of Cemagref and AgEng2010 President and Florentino Juste, President of EurAgEng, some keynote speakers, from industry and from the political arena, discussed new challenges facing agricultural equipment, especially the need to combine economical and technical efficiency and ergonomic abilities without increasing the pressure on the environment.
After Nicolas Trift (Technical Adviser of the French Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries) and Marie José Chassin (Vice-Chairwoman of the Regional Council of Auvergne)had outlined the political framework , agricultural and industrial points of view were discussed at the French level by G. Vasseur, Président of l'Assemblée Permanente des Chambres d'Agriculture; and J-F. Goupillon, Axema representative, Agricultural equipment Manufacturers Union and at the international level by P. Pickel, Chairman of the working group on Technologies and agricultural engineering on the European Technology Platform Manufuture and B. Babu, Vice-President of All India Agriculture Machinery Manufacturers Association - AIAMMA).

In spite of a strike which disrupted public transport on Tuesday 7th, 106 delegates attended the second plenary session focussed on the new technologies needed to tackle present and future challenges of agriculture in different regions around the world. Dr J.C. de Moraes Sá (Brazil), Dr T. Friedrich (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) and Dr H. Guyomard (Scientific Director of INRA – French National Institute for Agricultural Research) laid the basis for a reflection on these new needs in Brazil, Europe, and at the international level.

Finally, the closing plenary session of Wednesday 8th September 2010 ended the conference with 140 participants still wanting to continue the debate with more countries. The experts (photo above) shared their vision about the future for environmental technologies.

The conference was marked by other events. These included an invitation to the participants by the Mayor of Clermont-Ferrand to a welcome reception on Monday evening. On Tuesday, 200 of them had the opportunity to meet other conference attendees at the AgEng 2010 gala dinner. This gastronomic event took place at Vulcania, a 30 minute ride trip up into the volcanic mountains which surround Clermont Ferrand. EurAgEng chose this event to present its Awards to personalities, scientists and manufacturers, who have contributed to the promotion and development of agricultural engineering through their work. For the first time, it was a French manufacturer, M. Jacques Burel (President of Sulky-Burel) who had the honour of receiving the EurAgEng Award of Merit, the Society’s most prestigious award.(article on the last page).

The closing plenary session with (left to right) : T. Simalenga (Research and Technology Director, for the Agricultural Research Council – South Africa); N. Gøtke (General Coordinator of ICT-AGRI ERA-NET - Denmark); C. Jenane (Chief of Agro-Industry Support Unit, UNIDO) and Y. Bechler (Regional Direction of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries - France).

For further information:
- On participants of the conference, click here.
- On topics, click here.