Núcleo de Pastoreio Racional Voisin

“And it can be said that Professor Voisin, in addition to a scientist,

he is an apostle of Man, an apostle of the health of Man,

and above all an apostle of Preventive Medicine”

Fidel Castro, Cuba.

Profession and recognitions:

• Graduated in Physics and Chemistry from the École Supérieure de Física-Chemistry de Paris, with the highest qualification, surpassing that of Madame Curie
• Diploma at the University of Heidelberg, Germany
• Volunteer Combatant’s Cross, War Cross, Silver Star
• 1st Class War Officer of the French Navy (2nd World War -1939-1945)
• Agricultural Cross of Merit
• Doctor Honoris Causa of the Universities of Bonn, Moscow, University of Lavale in Canada and University of Havana in Cuba; laureate of the French Academy of Sciences and the French Veterinary Academy

History:

Son of a peasant family, André Voisin was born in Dieppe, France, on January 7, 1903. He did his primary studies in Dieppe and secondary and higher in Paris. From 1926 to 1939, he worked in a tire factory, in which he developed a method of timing work. In 1939, when World War II broke out, Voisin left the position of Director of that industry and enlisted in the French Navy, serving at the base of the then French colony of Algiers, in Algeria. Having participated in several actions at sea, he was seriously injured in one of them. Back in France, he participated in various actions on French territory, and after the occupation of the Nazi troops, he emigrated to England.

He returned to France in October 1940, to take care of the administration of a 130 Ha farm in Gruchet-Sur-Arques-la-Bataille, which would be his experimental field, “Le Talou”. There he began to tend the pastures, and installed the first pasture rotation, which allowed him to increase the number of animals by a third. Researchers and breeders from various parts of the world came to “Le Talou” to observe the work of Voisin. From 1948 to 1962, when Voisin ceased his work at “Le Talou”, he received English, Irish, Spanish, German, North American, Japanese, Soviet, Belgian, Swiss, Italian, Austrian, Canadian, Polish, Hungarian and Bulgarian visitors. .

In 1944, he delegated the direction of “Le Talou” to his wife, Madame Marthe Rosine Voisin, and he again enlisted in the fight against Nazism, joining the Naval Rifle Regiment, participating in various campaigns, which made him worthy of the Cross. of Voluntary Combat and, for his action in the command of a mission for the capture of Strasbourg, he received the War Cross, with the silver star, on February 15, 1945. In that same year, he received the Cross for the second time of the Agricultural Merit.

After the war, Voisin returned to his farm and organized a cooperative of “producers of clean, healthy and natural milk“, a model cooperative, the Cooperativa de “Le Talou”. In September 1954, Voisin left his administrative responsibilities in the cooperative and his position as President of the Departmental Federation of Dairy Cooperatives of Seine-Maritime, where, according to him, he made more enemies than friends.

Voisin dedicates himself completely to the study of the pastures on his farm, accumulating documents and testing them with his own experiences.

In 1951, he was part of an official French mission to the United States, of which he published a report entitled “Forage Production-French Mission to the United States.”

From then on, he is requested to give lectures abroad, and he does so in England, Ireland and Germany; he is appointed extraordinary professor at the French Veterinary School, at Maison-Alfort. In 1956, he was elected a corresponding member of the French Academy of Agriculture.

In 1957, he simultaneously published in France, Germany and England, his first scientific work: “Herb Productivity“, today published in 14 languages, including Portuguese, with translation directed by prof. L.C. Pinheiro Machado.

In the following year, he was elected an honorary member of the French Academy of Agriculture and published, in collaboration with veterinarian André Leccomte, “The Cow and the Grass“.

In November 1959, he received the Nicolas Zoorikine Prize from the French Academy of Sciences and, in the same year, he published “Soil, grass and cancer“. In 1960, he published “Dynamics of Pastures” and received the title of Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Bonn, Germany.

In 1962 he coordinated with his publisher in London the founding and direction of the international collection “Aspects of animal and human nutrition“, which published various works by renowned international scientists.

In 1963, he is awarded by the Lenin Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Moscow, USSR, when he studies the Russian language to “be able to read and study the original texts of scientific works and facilitate human relations.” In that same year the “Tetany of the pastures” appeared.

In November-December 1963, Voisin taught a series of courses at the Laval University of Quebec, Canada, from which the publication of “The new scientific laws of the application of fertilizers” arises.

In December 1964, at the personal invitation of President Fidel Castro, Voisin went to Cuba to teach a course at the University of Havana. The course began on December 9 and, to Voisin’s surprise, Fidel was among the participants and at the beginning of the course, his last work was already printed in Spanish, “Influencia de los Souelos sobre el animal por la plant“. During that stay, Voisin received the title of Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Havana.

On December 21, 1964, Voisin had lunch with his wife, Marthe Rosine Voisin, to whom he confided: “Today I will give the best lecture of my life“. During the break that followed that lunch, André Voisin had a sudden myocardial infarction, which took his life in a few minutes. Voisin, whose mortal remains are buried in the Colón Cemetery, in Havana, thus took his best lecture to eternity.

Biographical commentary published by the André Voisin Library of Cuba (adaptation):

The main contribution of Dr. Voisin to world science was related to agriculture and livestock, and he was known worldwide for his thesis on intensive and / or rational grazing, which, based on the rotation of pastures delimited in different plots, allowed increase the number of animals on the same land area by more than a third and ensure animal production that is totally in harmony with nature and the environment (ecological). Voisin considered that the veterinarian should be a defender of the animals and not a merchant dedicated to obtaining profits from the diseases of these; For this reason, he suggested that in Cuba the title of “protective veterinarian” be promoted, with which he would tend not only to ensure pasture performance, but also to ensure that the animals graze fully. Similarly, he spoke out for the rational use of chemical fertilizers, especially potassium, which prevented the tetany of the herb. Among his main thesis was the one referring to the fact that in the face of cattle disease the soil should be analyzed in order to verify the nutrients it had; Hence, it demonstrated how, in the soil-man chain, adequate attention to the first of these two elements allowed the development of a healthy animal, which, in turn, constituted a guarantee in the achievement of a healthy diet for the population.

By: Profesor Pinheiro Machado, L.C.

In: Book “Pastoreio Racional Voisin: Tecnologia Agroecológica para o Terceiro Milênio”, 2004.

Biography summarized by Professor Pinheiro from material provided to him by his widow, Marthe Rosine de Voisin.

Credit: Cultura Empresarial Ganadera, Michael Rúa Franco.