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 Serge Gagné, Agr., Ph.D.
Consultant
Former Director Innovation, Research & Development
At Premier Tech since 1988
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What makes Serge proud
“Having contributed to the development of a unique worldwide production process for endomycorrhizal fungi. When we started wanting to industrialize this process, nobody in the scientific community believed it was possible to produce aseptic endomycorrhizal inoculants on a large scale due to the complexity of these organisms. Thanks to the sustained efforts of Premier Tech and its experienced research team, we achieved it.”
The benefits of active ingredients according to Serge
“Active ingredients are part of the solutions to improve crop yields and quality in a context where challenges related to climate change are becoming increasingly prominent (such as drought, cold, intense heat, new diseases, and pests). Synthetic chemical products are posing more and more issues for health and the environment and are progressively less accepted and effective due to problems like pest and pathogen resistance. Meanwhile, organic or sustainable production is on the rise.”
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Martin Trépanier, Agr., Ph.D.
Scientific Expert Director - Active Ingredients
At Premier Tech since 2014
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The biggest challenge according to Martin
“Plants have the unique characteristic of living in two opposite environments, namely the soil and the air. To do so, they have developed entirely different organs, specifically adapted to these two environments. Each of these environments has its ecosystem and biodiversity, interacting with the plant. Just like a terrestrial ecosystem is rich in biodiversity, we are only just beginning to discover the vastness of the underground ecosystem. The challenge is to select microorganisms that will adapt to this environment, in collaboration with all the others already present.”
Martin’s vision of the future
“By studying soil functionalities, we will continue to provide personalized solutions of active ingredients tailored to optimize different ecosystems. Most controls, whether fungicides, insecticides, or herbicides, will also be done using active ingredients of natural origin, including microorganisms or plant extracts."
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Marc Béland, Biol., M.Sc.
Senior Director, Agriculture - North America
At Premier Tech since 1996
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Marc’s proudest contribution
“Other than being part of the production and formulation process of active ingredients at Premier Tech, I would say the biggest thing I have contributed to is the biological education & product use training with our Premier Tech team members and external partners with the resulting plant benefits for our growers out in the real world, to make the power of biology a commercial success.”
What makes the difference according to Marc
“The challenges we’ve faced at Premier Tech were always tackled with teamwork. As a team with different and complementary expertise, we have built our foundation thanks to 4 pillars: Production-Formulation-Application-Service. Each one continues to have its challenges as we grow, but none have been insurmountable with teamwork and the will to get things done.”
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Edgar Murcia, PMP
Operations Director – Bioprocess
At Premier Tech since 2005
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Making a difference according to Edgar
“Technology, innovation, technical challenges and the added value of our products make the difference in protecting the agricultural and horticultural environments. The know-how we have accumulated day after day over the last 40 years positions us as the world leader in the quantity and quality of our production of mycorrhizae and various bacterial strains.”
How Edgar sees the future of active ingredients
“Active ingredients are the future of eco-responsible practices for those who want to help reduce the pollutant load of chemical fungicides and pesticides. Agricultural practices and soil management must turn more towards biological ingredients, which will have a positive impact on the conservation of our ecosystem.”
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Younes Machrafi, Ph.D.
Bioprocesses Expert Director - Liquid Fermentation
At Premier Tech since 2007
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What Younes loves about his job
“What I love about my job is, first and foremost, being part of a passionate team with an innovative spirit and a wealth of expertise acquired over the decades! Then there's the challenge of participating in the development of a range of effective technologies that put micro-organisms at the service of sustainable plant production.”
The relevance of active ingredients according to Younes
“A collective and legislative shift is underway. The wind of awareness is gradually sweeping away the old paradigms, giving way to more environmentally friendly practices. The opportunities are immense, and Premier Tech, with its technologies based on microbial active ingredients, is more than ever in tune with market needs.”
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Ed Bloodnick
Grower Services and Product Development Director
At Premier Tech since 1987
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What makes Ed proud
“What makes me most proud of working with Premier Tech's active ingredients is seeing the difference in the quality of the plants that growers produce and the money they save for great return on investment. We make a difference with growers in the way they produce their crops and the benefits they see. Growers use less fungicides and crops outperform crops grown traditionally. Better quality plants, easier to manage and with fewer inputs.”
A big challenge according to Ed
“One of the biggest challenges has been getting the word out to growers to try products with active ingredients to see the benefits for themselves. Growers can often be hesitant to try new products, especially products with biologicals. However, once they try products with active ingredients, they stay with them and very rarely do they stop using them. They continue to use that product and reap the benefits from that.”
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Louis Simard, Ph.D.
Vice-President Innovation, Research & Development
At Premier Tech since 2017
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Working on a new product, explained by Louis
“Product development starts with a customer need, a market need. That's really the first step - getting to know the customer, understanding his needs, and then working to meet a customer need, a market need. Then comes the technology, the solution, so the teams at Premier Tech work to find solutions that are sometimes completely different from what we currently see on the market.”
What makes Louis proud
“Premier Tech is a Quebec-based company with a presence in many markets and countries. Contributing to its success by developing products and services that feed, protect, and improve the lives of people and the planet aligns with my values and makes me proud.”
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Régine Otis
Innovation, Research & Development Coordinator
At Premier Tech since 1998
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Régine talks about Quality Control
“Quality control at Premier Tech is really what sets us apart from our competitors. We have complete quality control from start to finish of our different processes, active ingredient production processes, and active ingredient formulation processes. We validate the quality of our micro-organisms, of our active ingredients, in terms of the concentration of viable cells per gram or milliliter of product, but we also evaluate their efficacy on plants. So, for example, in the case of mycorrhizae, we will test them on plants in the greenhouse. Then, at the end of the crop, we'll confirm the presence of mycorrhizal structures in the roots. It's really a test that goes beyond just assessing the concentration of the active ingredient. We want to make sure that it's just as effective in bringing benefits to our customers.”
What Régine is passionate about at work
"First, the beautiful, dynamic, cultivated, and passionate team that I interact with every day!"
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Pierre Talbot, Ph.D.
Senior Vice-President Innovation
At Premier Tech since 1991
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Pierre and the broadening of active ingredient uses
"We had microorganisms that we identified and began to promote in the agricultural field, but we also realized that these same microorganisms could have functions other than agricultural ones, such as agri-food functions. These microorganisms have antimicrobial capacities to fight fungal diseases and can also, in certain cases, have capacities to fight certain pathogenic bacteria found in nutrition or food. And since there is currently a need to reduce the use of antibiotics in animal nutrition, we told ourselves: 'We may have microorganisms that can play a role in this, replace antibiotics, because our microorganisms produce molecules that can control pathogens.' So that took us from agriculture to agri-food because we had a pool of micro-organisms that we wanted to exploit. The elegant way of putting it is 'going from the pitchfork to the fork'. So Premier Tech covers the whole spectrum: plant nutrition, animal nutrition, and even human nutrition because these pathogenic bacteria create problems not only in animal nutrition but also in human nutrition."
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