Saudi delegation visits Roxell
22-06-2011
Roxell recently hosted a steering committee from the
Agricultural Development Fund from Saudi Arabia.
The
ADF was founded in 2009 with the goal of implementing a programme for sustainable
development within the Saudi agricultural sector. One of the initiatives to that end is a poultry
project in which, among others, the Agricultural Economics Research Institute (LEI) from Wageningen
University (the Netherlands) is participating. Basically, the ADF wants to set up a cooperative
insurance fund to compensate poultry producers for any loss suffered as a result of poultry
diseases. To qualify for this, the poultry companies themselves must comply with stricter
directives in the area of bio-security. The commission is composed of prominent members of the
Ministry of Agriculture of Saudi Arabia and specialists from both universities and the private
sector. The management of the project is in the hands of Mr. Ibrahim Ali S. Althonayan.
The delegation toured on a field trip through the Netherlands and Flanders from June 6
th to June 10
th. Roxell has been a renowned supplier of feed and drink systems to the Arabian market,
including Saudi Arabia, for more than 40 years. In that sense, the visit to Roxell was no
coincidence. After all, its products are used by all major producers in the region. Thanks to its
worldwide contacts, Roxell has acquired a great deal of experience and insight in terms of
bio-security for poultry companies. This knowledge translated into optimized feed transport
systems, day bins and weighing and control systems that greatly reduce the risk of contamination by
external factors such as feed trucks. The farm is completely isolated. The feed is stored in bins
outside the surrounding fence and transported by an overhead transport system to the various houses
inside the enclosure.
Gino Van Landuyt, Managing Director, welcomed the commission. Frank Hartmann, Marketing
Manager, gave the group a detailed explanation of bio-safety and how Roxell contributes. The
commission will make a survey of the Saudi sector and analyse it. Using its findings and the
information gathered during the field trip, it will then formulate the necessary recommendation to
further optimise the Saudi poultry industry.
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