Alain Guyonvarch, scientific director of the Evialis group voted agricultural engineer of the year - 23/01
Alain Guyonvarch, Scientific Director at Evialis and member of the group Management Committee, has been voted agricultural engineer of the year by his peers for his contribution to research in the livestock production sector.
A brillant career in the livestock production sector
A graduate of ENSAT (Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Agronomie de Toulouse), he joined the Guyomarc’h group in 1974 as a research engineer. He was appointed head of the feed formulation department in 1982 and in 1989 was named Scientific Director of the Group, which became Evialis in 2001.
A member of several scientific and professional committees, Alain Guyonvarch is Chairman of GERNA (animal nutrition research grouping) and sits on the CSNA (scientific council for animal nutrition) and the European Feed Team. He also teaches at the Nantes veterinary school and at ENSAT.
One of Europe's largest private research centres
The Evialis group possesses one of the largest private research centres in Europe.
Its Science division, equipped with dedicated research resources, employs 80 people, including 40 engineers and scientists. Based on the 45 hectare Evialis campus, it includes an experimental station, an analysis laboratory (Lareal) a documentation centre, and a quality and feed safety department.
The experimental station has 18 research buildings with units specialising in different animal species, including poultry, pigs, cows, rabbits and dogs.
Technology, economy and legislation watch
The documentation centre, connected to key French and international databases, maintains a technology, economy and legislation watch for all the group's activities.
The research centre has developed a host of innovations. The most recent include a range of new natural antiparasitic drugs, a plant-based metabolic stimulator for pigs and poultry, a feed product that strengthens the immune system of female rabbits and new rationing standards for grazing dairy cows.
Group commitments: quality, food safety and traceability
The Science division of the Evialis group also includes a quality and feed safety department whose main role is to guarantee traceability and continuous improvement by involving all group employees.
Each stage in the process is subjected to a battery of tests and analyses. A total of more than one million analyses are performed each year under the supervision of the Lareal laboratory to guarantee the quality of all raw materials and finished products.
The technical division in charge of formulating recipes applies strict procedures that are certified ISO 9001.
All the Evialis group industrial sites operate a quality assurance system and the entire industrial infrastructure will be certified ISO 9001 by mid 2003.
Constant investment in research and development
Evialis intends to ramp up its investments in R&D and in quality control.
It is through innovation in products and services that the Evialis group is able to improve the zootechnical and economic performance of farms, and to enhance quality and feed safety.
The group’s clearly-stated objective is to consolidate its expertise as an international animal nutrition and health specialist, for the benefit of its customers and partners in livestock farming and distribution, for manufacturers and consumers.