Max Schulman has a degree in agricultural economics and a distinguished background in farming, coming from a family with a 400-year-old farming tradition. For the past 17 years, he has served as Senior Advisor for cereals, oilseeds, and protein crops at the Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK). 

He is a member of the EU Arable Crops Market Observatory and serves as chairman of the Agri Food Chain Round Table on PPP, as well as the Copa Cogeca Phytosanitary WG and the Seeds WG.   

Previously, he chaired the Copa-Cogeca Cereals Working Group, the Civil Dialogue Group on Arable Crops, and the Finnish Grain Committee. Max is a member of the EU Fertilizer Market Observatory. He owns Farm-XPort Ltd., a grain trading company for special consignments and is a co-founder and board member of Grain Sense Ltd., a company producing portable protein and grain quality analyzers. 


Moderator

EFSA



Speaker

Emilio Gil is a full professor at the Department of Agri Food Engineering and Biotechnology.
 
•    He is the director of the Unit of Agricultural Machinery Research Group and an expert member of ISO committees for spray application. 
•    Training coordinator of BTSF training programmes on Pesticide Application Equipment and a project coordinator of several EU projects focused on training and Precision Agriculture. 
•    Academic of the Royal European Academy of Doctors and advisor of several governments (Spain, Chile, Cyprus, Serbia) in the implementation of SUD  
•    President of the Award Jury at the International Exhibition of Agricultural Machinery in Zaragoza (FIMA) 
•    Visiting professor at Cornell University (USA). President of Spanish Association of Agroengineering. 

Speaker

CropLife Europe
Michal Kicinski is Senior Manager for Sustainable Agriculture at CropLife Europe. Since 2015, he has been working in CropLife Europe's Brussels office, focusing on public affairs and sustainability. Before joining CropLife Europe, he was the Head of Office for Polish Agricultural Unions at COPA and COGECA in Brussels.

Michal holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto and a master’s degree from the University of Kent in Brussels. 

Speaker

Mónica Teixeira is the President of ECCA, the European Crop Care Association, and member of its board since 2019. 

She joined Ascenza (previously Sapec) in 2017 and is a member of the Ascenza Board, responsible for product safety, regulatory affairs and R&D. 
She started her career in 1992 in the Ministry of Agriculture in the Plant Protection Directorate, where she worked for 7 years, followed by 18 years as Regulatory Affairs and Stewardship Manager at Syngenta. 

Mónica is an Agronomic Engineer (University of Lisbon). She has always worked in the plant protection sector, specializing in registration and stewardship. 




Speaker

John Deere; on behalf of CEMA

Dr. Peter Hloben has expertise in agricultural and mechanical engineering. He holds a doctorate in agricultural engineering from the University of Bonn, specializing in advanced plant protection systems.  Since 2006, Peter has been with Deere & Co, currently serving as Supervisor of Product Compliance for Agricultural Machinery in Europe and CIS, focusing on product safety and compliance for the JD platform products. 

Peter actively contributes to EU agricultural equipment regulation as Chairman of CEMA's project team (PT24) on Application Technology. He is also a member of NEN and DIN/NLA standardisation groups, working on ISO TC23 SC6 and CEN TC 144 standards, with a focus on machine safety, vehicle circulation and environmental impact.

Speaker

Anne Alix is a distinguished policy and risk management laureate for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. She advises on sustainability policies, risk mitigation, precision applications, biologicals, and digital labels. 

She has 25 years of experience in the field of plant protection products (PPP) risk assessment, having worked: 
•    Corteva Agriscience (since 2011 to present)  
•    Deputy Head of the PPP and Fertilizers Regulation Section at the French Ministry of Agriculture 
•    Head of the Environment and Ecotoxicology Risk Assessment unit at the French Agency on the safety of Food (now ANSES) 
•    As ecotoxicologist at the French National Institute for Research in Agronomy (INRA) 
Anne is a co-chair of the European Precision Application Task Force. She holds a PhD in Integrated Pest Management. 

Speaker

Grant Stark currently leads the Evidence, Committees and New Technologies team in the UK Health and Safety Executive’s Chemicals Regulation Division. He has worked on pesticide regulation and policy for over 30 years.  

Previous roles have included negotiating key EU pesticide legislation and developing national implementing laws and measures.  
Current responsibilities include Chair of the European Precision Application Task Force (and its Drone Subgroup); and Chair of the OECDs Working Party for Pesticides Drone Subgroup. 

Javier Campos is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Agri-Food Engineering and Biotechnology at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC). He previously conducted postdoctoral research at The Ohio State University (Columbus, OH, USA) in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Javier's research focuses on developing and implementing technologies to improve Plant Protection Product (PPP) application, increasing accuracy and efficacy while reducing drift, losses, and environmental impact. His work covers precision agriculture approaches for crop protection, including sensing, decision support tools, and variable-rate application strategies. In addition, he has experience in extension and farmer training on best management practices for PPP application, including sprayer calibration, nozzle selection, and drift reduction measures to improve the overall spray application process.