Dr Régis Julien passed away on Wednesday, January 31, 2024, after a brief illness. Born on May 22, 1939 in Beau Bassin, son of Henri Julien, a career horticulturist, he studied high school at the Royal College of Port Louis. He pursued his graduate studies at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom where he obtained, in 1963, a degree in agricultural botany. Upon his return to Mauritius, he took up employment at the Ministry of Agriculture, while teaching at the College of Agriculture which later became the School of Agriculture, at the University of Mauritius.
In 1966 he joined the Mauritius Sugar Industry Research Institute (MSIRI) as an assistant breeder in the Department of Cane Improvement. He was successively promoted geneticist in 1969 and Chief Botanist in 1970. As such, he began his specialization in plant physiology and was also responsible for the Mauritius Herbarium where his keen interest in plant taxonomy was directly put to use.
In 1971 he was awarded a doctorate degree from the University of Reading. His thesis was entitled, “The photoperiodic control of flowering in sugar cane“. This pioneering work on the physiology of flowering, which enabled breeders to hybridize varieties that had incompatible periods of flowering, gained him international repute. His research interests were broad and span cane breeding, plant physiology, artificial ripeners, and plant-water relations. He had published over 50 scientific papers most in peer reviewed journals and in the Proceedings of the Congresses of the International Society of Sugar Cane Technologists (ISSCT). He also co-authored the Introductory Chapter entitled Sugarcane Anatomy, Morphology and Physiology of the book of Diseases of Sugarcane: Major Diseases published under the auspices of the ISSCT in 1989. He has also made significant contributions to the Flora of the Mascarenes Project as co-author of four of the 30 volumes.
He was successively Head of the Divisions of Botany/Irrigation and Plant Breeding/Biometry and in recognition of his scientific contributions and his organizational skills was promoted to Principal Scientific Officer in 1978. He was also Research Supervisor for the Soils and Plant Nutrition Division. His efficiency was further acknowledged when in 1985 he was made Assistant Director of the MSIRI and subsequently Deputy Director in 1992 and finally Director in 1995.
Throughout his career at the MSIRI Régis Julien was very accessible to his colleagues and provided leadership and guidance for many younger scientists. He was an active participant in the Staff Association, the Sports Club and other social activities of the Institute.
He has held positions on various boards and committees, including in 1992 being President of Société Technology Agricole et Sucrière de Maurice (STASM), the Affiliated members of ISSCT for Mauritius, and has undertaken several consultancies. He was elected as a Fellow of the Institute of Biology in 1995 for his contributions to sugar cane biology.
He was chairman of the committee entitled, “Supplying the European Union Cane Sugar Refiners’ Deficit“, which was set up in 1995 to study how the Mauritian sugar industry could produce additional sugar for the Special Preferential Sugar Agreement. Dr Julien has always been an ardent defender of sugar cane as an efficient crop which he firmly believes is going to continue to contribute significantly to the Mauritian economy well beyond the new millennium. It is this enthusiasm for the crop, combined with his broad knowledge of the industry, which made him the most suitable person to lead the new Productivity and Competitivity Unit.
His passion for sugar cane is only exceeded by that for his family, his carpentry, his bridge, his orchid flowers and his poultry breeding.
May his wife Florence, his sister Jacqueline, his daughters Brigitte and Nathalie and his sons Henri, Jean Pierre and Bernard and their families find here the expression of our deep sympathy in the grieve that afflicts them. Let them, however, find consolation in the great achievements and the good life that Régis Julien experienced.
Jean Claude Autrey
ISSCT General Secretary