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I am 30 years old, and I grew up in Belgium – in Leuven, to be precise, which is quite close to Brussels. My mother, however, is Thai and I was also born in Thailand. I started travelling a lot when I was very young! I've always loved travelling around the world, and although I mainly studied in Belgium, I also had two Erasmus experiences during university: the first in Spain and the second in Italy, in Ancona. They were good experiences, and it was in Ancona that I learned Italian. Right from the start, when it was time to look for a job after graduation, I looked for something that would allow me to work abroad. I immediately started in agricultural digitalisation. At some point in my career, I was lucky enough to meet xFarm Technologies, and they offered me the chance to work with them. I must say it was a great opportunity, and I jumped at it.
Well, I was asked to open up the French market. Of course, when I accepted, I had no idea how much work I would have to do; it is a big challenge [he laughs]. But I and the rest of the xFarm team like challenges, and besides, the French market really is one of the most important markets in the world, in our sector.
I have always enjoyed working in a dynamic, multicultural environment. As a boy, I wanted to study foreign languages, but in the end, I chose a similar path to my brother, who studied what in the UK would be called agricultural engineering.
I was lucky enough to be born into a family where two languages were spoken. I then taught myself English, and, as I said, I also learnt Spanish and Italian through my Erasmus experiences.
Good, very good. It is a company that does so much for European farmers, who have some really big challenges ahead of them. And it really offers a lot of opportunities to grow and learn. Personally, I feel that I have grown so much in just one year here at xFarm. I am also fortunate to be working with extremely competent people, both within the company and in the agricultural sector in general.
French agriculture is a source of pride for Europe. The French agricultural sector is very important, and its success is partly due to the fact that it is very organised and structured in cooperatives. It is also very controlled, which means that the quality of its products is extremely high compared to other markets
Yes, definitely. French farmers are very competent, and they know that you must innovate to meet the challenges of the future. The point is that innovation takes time. It is a gradual process; you cannot impose it. You must talk to people, persuade them, convince them to do tests. And then, little by little, you can do more.
We can offer a more complete solution compared to others because the xFarm platform allows all types of data to be aggregated within it, including the Decision Support System (DSS) part. By contrast, the other solutions only allow you to work with the data of a certain dimension of farm work, to the exclusion of everything else. In addition, our solution is very easy to use compared to others, and it is very effective. It works really well and can really help French farmers in their daily work.
You can see that. The platform allows farmers to have all the information they need to manage their farm in a simple and immediate way, and that is of great value. Managing a farm is very complex work; it involves many aspects, and having all the data for each aspect in one platform is a valuable support when time is short. Using the platform also helps from a sustainability point of view, as you can reduce the use of crop protection products and optimise fertiliser and irrigation water use.
I think one of the biggest challenges for French agriculture is the ecological transition. It is a major change, and that is why there is a need to support farmers. Not all of them are scientists; they are in a different line of business, and they don't know exactly how the ecological transition will affect their yields. Another challenge is bureaucracy, which is quite heavy in France (as in other European countries, by the way). And then, of course, there is the historic challenge of climate change.
Farmers are on the front line. There are multiple consequences, starting with the water issue: we now have extremely dry years and others that are too rainy. Unfortunately, farmers can lose a lot of their yields when there is a drought, but too much water also has tangible negative impacts. And then there is the fact that diseases and pests can develop longer throughout the year, and even further north than usual, because rising temperatures make conditions favourable for them even in more northern regions.
Absolutely. That is why we are here. Technology is critical to making agriculture more sustainable and resilient.
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