Agriculture, a source of solutions for a more sustainable world

In an agricultural world in transition, Avril confirms its ambition: to build sectors that combine responsibility and value sharing to make agriculture a source of solutions for tomorrow.

Farmers are having to deal with ever-increasing challenges, such as income that is often insufficient, growing demand from consumers for quality, traceability, animal welfare, etc. At the same time, climate change is already a reality leading to a decline in crop productivity, while population growth creates an ever-greater need for production. A thorough transformation of the sector is essential to ensure durability of the agricultural economic model and to meet today’s and tomorrow’s challenges.

With its dual role as investor and manufacturer, but also through its local rooting and its organization into sectors, Avril’s unique model puts the Group at the center of the challenges of the agricultural transition.

Within the framework of its purpose, “Serving the Earth”, the Group is committed to taking action for agriculture capable of feeding nearly 8 billion people, while preserving the planet’s resources.

To reach this target, Avril takes action to:

• Offer healthy food to consumers,
• Support farmers to make a positive contribution to tomorrow.

For over 20 years, Terrial, a subsidiary of Avril and Suez, has been developing efficient fertilization and compost solutions for agriculture and with respect for soil life. In particular, Terrial valorizes livestock effluents, composts and organic residues from agriculture or industry. Since 2012, the company has also had a division dedicated to renewable energies which uses industrial bioresources to produce biogas. Terrial is thus part of a circular economy logic to help farmers minimize their use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, support development of agroecology and accompany the growth of green energies.

In 2023, Terrial valorized over 662,000 tons of organic by-products.

Launched in 2020 by Saipol, an Avril subsidiary, the purpose of the OleoZE digital marketplace is to give value to sustainably-grown rapeseed and sunflower seeds thanks to a GHG bonus system.

OleoZE thus encourages agriculture to play a key role, by restoring the soil’s carbon sink capacity.

In 2023, OléoZE, Saipol has collected 700,000 tons of sustainable seeds for the sale of low-carbon energy (vs. 77,000 in 2020), allowing French farmers to benefit, on average, from a remuneration bonus of €29 per ton of seeds sold.