Visit by Fabrice Pannekoucke, President of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regional Council.

On Tuesday, April 30, 2025, the INRAE site in Montoldre (Allier) had the honor of welcoming Fabrice Pannekoucke, President of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regional Council, accompanied by a regional delegation, as part of a field visit in the department.

At the initiative of Emmanuel Ferrand, Mayor of Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule, Regional Councilor for Agricultural European Funds, and President of the Agriculture, Food, Viticulture, and Forests Commission, this visit highlighted the research activities and partnership dynamics deployed on the site, particularly through the AgroTechnoPôle.

The delegation, composed of several regional councilors and Frédéric Aguilera, Mayor of Vichy, was welcomed by Emmanuel Hugo, President of the INRAE Clermont-Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes center. Frédéric Chabot, Deputy Director of our TSCF research unit and head of the Montoldre site, presented the site and the Technologies and Information Systems for Agrosystems (TSCF) research unit.

Philippe Héritier, Director of the AgroTechnoPôle, then presented this partnership platform: its concept, project advancements, ongoing achievements, and development prospects.

The second part of the visit allowed the delegation to discover the site's technical facilities, including:

• The test bench for weeding,
• The Cemib bench dedicated to evaluating centrifugal fertilization equipment,
• The test tracks, obstacles, and soil bins used for experimentation on agricultural equipment.

These facilities were presented by Daniel Boffety and Denis Miclet, engineers from the unit.

This visit highlighted the work conducted in Montoldre in support of innovation for the agroecological transition.