It's called PROSPER and it's a new European project that aims to transform European agriculture through the valorization of “orphan” legumes - resistant crops, little exploited, but with great potential to face the challenges of climate and food in the future.
The consortium, with total funding of around 5 million euros, brings together 27 partners from 13 European countries and Tunisia, including universities, research centers, companies and non-profit organizations in the agricultural sector. Among them are countries from the Mediterranean (Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal and France), Central Europe (Germany, Belgium, Poland, Bulgaria and Romania), Northern Europe (Denmark, Sweden and Finland).
The aim of PROSPER is to test and validate new agricultural diversification strategies, adapted to different climates and social and economic contexts, promoting more sustainable, innovative practices that are adjusted to the needs of different agricultural realities.
InPP, PROSPER's partner, will be responsible for analyzing:
Soil health and environmental impact
Energy efficiency and waste management
Nutritional quality of crops
Fair valuation along the production chain
To do this, the InPP team will use advanced technologies, such as real-time sensors and geospatial analysis, which will help study soil health, carbon sequestration captured by crops, water management and biodiversity, among others.
PROSPER is co-created with the main players in the agricultural sector, ensuring that the solutions developed do not remain on paper: they will be practical, useful and transformative.
The project starts in September 2025. We are ready to embark on this journey towards a greener, fairer and more resilient agriculture.
InnovPlantProtect (InPP) was present at the Science 2025 Meeting in Lisbon, at the Nova SBE Campus, to take part in the parallel session “Crop Protection for One Health, and Food and Environmental Sustainability”.
The Encontro Ciência took place from July 9 to 11 at the NOVA SBE Campus in Carcavelos, with the motto “Science, Innovation and Society”. Portugal's largest science and technology meeting was the stage for promoting and discussing the scientific, social, cultural and economic impact of research in Portugal, exploring the intersection between science, innovation and society, to inspire new ideas and foster transformative collaborations.
The director of the Data Management and Risk Analysis Department, Ricardo Ramiro, and the director of the New Biopesticides Department, Cristina Azevedo, presented some of the results of their work in this session co-moderated by the executive director, António Saraiva.
During the session, two important solutions for the agricultural sector, developed by our team, were presented:
iCountPests - an innovative app that uses AI to detect and count pests accurately and quickly in photos of chromotropic traps.
InPP 2 - a broad-spectrum biofungicide capable of fighting Botrytis cinerea, the fungus responsible for gray rot in tomatoes.
CoLAB MORE Colab - Collaborative Mountain Research Laboratory and Sfcolab - Collaborative Laboratory for Digital Innovation in Agriculture, were also present at the parallel session, as well as GREEN-IT, to discuss how science and innovation can tackle the challenges of climate change and promote more sustainable agricultural systems.
On June 30, InnovPlantProtect (InPP) was present at the meeting “7 years of CoLABs: impacts and perspectives”, which brought together political decision-makers, experts from the Portuguese innovation ecosystem, leaders from different sectors, representatives of public and private entities and the representatives of the 41 Collaborative Laboratories (CoLAB), at the Pavilhão do Conhecimento in Lisbon.
The meeting, organized by the Forum of Collaborative Laboratories (FCoLAB), aimed to reflect on the impact of the work carried out by the different CoLABs over the last seven years, as well as to address future prospects and identify strategies to boost the contribution of scientific research and innovation to the economy and society.
This initiative was an opportunity to showcase the products, services and solutions developed by CoLAB over the last seven years, highlighting its contribution to innovation, competitiveness and sustainability in various sectors of the economy. The application recently launched by InPP, iCountPests, which allows pests to be counted automatically using images from traps, reducing the time invested in monitoring and making it possible to create a pest history, was also highlighted.
The event was attended by the Minister of Education, Science and Innovation, Fernando Alexandre, the Secretary of State for the Economy, João Rui Ferreira, Manuel Heitor, from the IN+ Center for Innovation, Technology and Policy Research and former Minister of Science and Innovation, António Grilo, President of ANI, among others.
In his speech, the Minister for Education, Science and Innovation, Fernando Alexandre, highlighted the purpose of science at national level: “We hope that the science created in Portugal will generate innovation. More than technology, innovation is the answer to society's problems. You are the agents of change!”.
During the session, the main activity indicators and proven impact of the first seven years of CoLABs' activity were also presented, and multisectoral perspectives on their role in the national science and innovation ecosystem were debated, focusing on topics such as socio-economic impact, internationalization, business competitiveness, technological innovation and sustainability.
The activity indicators and the impact of the 7 years of activity are as follows:
More than 260 projects approved
More than 1,300 qualified jobs created
19M€ in tax revenue generated
More than 900 interactions with companies
33 patent applications (10 granted)
680 scientific articles published
The two afternoon panels were attended by companies, partners and management entities, who reflected on the impact generated so far and presented proposals for maximizing CoLAB's long-term contribution to both the economy and Portuguese society.
At a time when the basic funding options for CoLABs are being discussed, this event is of the utmost importance. The area of crop protection, in particular, needs more investment in innovation. Holding this event was important for bringing this urgent and strategically important issue to the debate.
The InPP was also present in the exhibition area, receiving important visitors, including the Minister of Education, Science and Innovation, Fernando Alexandre, the Secretary of State for the Economy, João Rui Ferreira, the Secretary of State for Science and Innovation, Helena Canhão, the President of the FCT, Madalena Alves, the President of the National Innovation Agency, António Grilo, the President of the National Monitoring Committee for the RRP, Pedro Dominguinhos and the Executive Director of Ciência Viva, Ana Noronha.
O InnovPlantProtect (InPP) marcou presença no 3.º Encontro Anual de Laboratórios Colaborativos (CoLAB), organizado pela Agência Nacional de Inovação (ANI), que aconteceu nos dias 6 e 7 de Dezembro, na Universidade do Algarve, em Faro.
No segundo dia do encontro, Pedro Fevereiro, Diretor Executivo do InPP integrou o painel “Saving Planet A for future generations – Pitching Session & Discussion”, no qual apresentou as principais atividades desenvolvidas pelo CoLAB, bem como, os indicadores de realização, as cooperações nacionais e internacionais e os principais desafios e oportunidades para os próximos anos.
Estes encontros são fulcrais para a partilha de conhecimento, experiências e de necessidades comuns, pelo que é de extrema relevância nacional o trabalho colaborativo desenvolvidos pelos CoLABs.
De acordo com a ANI, os CoLAB permitiram a criação de 639 empregos altamente qualificados, mais 13,7% do que em 2020, dos quais 32% eram doutorados, um valor que se traduz em 107% do objetivo para 2022. Os CoLABs agregam atualmente 295 entidades associadas, nomeadamente 173 empresas e 122 entidades não empresariais, sendo que, desde a sua criação, representam 72,4 milhões de euros de investimento.
Vídeo da intervenção do Diretor executivo do InPP na 3ª edição do Encontro de CoLABs.
O encontro teve transmissão via streaming. Pode (re)ver o encontro na íntegra no canal de YouTube da ANI here.
Saiba mais sobre os dois dias do evento na página da ANI here.
Na Revista SÁBADO, um artigo intitulado “Tomate contra o cancro” conta com uma entrevista, realizada pela jornalista Susana Lúcio, ao diretor executivo do InnovPlantProtect (InPP) Pedro February.
Pedro Fevereiro aborda o tema das culturas geneticamente modificadas, e fala sobre a sua evolução e segurança, das restrições europeias aos organismos geneticamente modificados (OGM), bem como do movimento antitransgénicos, a pretexto da aprovação de cultivo do tomate roxo nos Estados Unidos.
O diretor executivo explica que a maior parte dos alimentos que ingerimos e que existem no mercado não existem na Natureza: “O tomate era um fruto pequeno, esverdeado, que produzia toxinas para se defender dos predadores. Alterámos o tamanho e reduzimos a toxicidade”.
E será que há razão para duvidarmos dos alimentos OGM? A resposta é clara: “Há 20 anos, desde que saíram para o mercado, que não há um relato de incidentes de saúde pública com OGM”, salienta Pedro Fevereiro.
O CEO do InPP deixa ainda um alerta: “Sem a biotecnologia (…) e sem as técnicas de melhoramento das plantas, que inclui os OGM, não vamos conseguir alimentar a população mundial.”
Pedro February, diretor executivo do InnovPlantProtect (InPP), visitou o centro de investigação Agrotecnio, localizado em Lleida, na Catalunha, em Espanha, nos dias 1 e 2 de dezembro. A visita ao centro de excelência nas áreas da agricultura, produção animal e tecnologia alimentar, teve como objetivo discutir propostas de cooperação entre as duas instituições, em particular, em relação ao combate à doença do arroz: a piriculariose.
Pedro Fevereiro, diretor executivo do InPP, apresenta o CoLAB no centro de investigação Agrotecnio, em Lleida, na Catalunha.
Durante a visita, que decorreu a convite de Paul Christou, membro do Conselho Consultivo da Unidade de Investigação GREEN-IT of ITQB NOVA, e de Teresa Capell, docente na Universidade de Lleida, o diretor executivo deu a conhecer o InPP e as diferentes áreas de investigação que estão a ser exploradas pelos cinco departamentos do laboratório colaborativo.
A equipa do InPP tem trabalhado no desenvolvimento de biopesticidas contra a piriculariose do arroz, uma das doenças que mais afeta este cereal em todo o mundo e também em Portugal, e que é causada pelo fungo Magnaporthe oryzae. No âmbito do projeto BlaSTOP – Desenvolver soluções integradas para combater a piriculariose do arroz têm sido recolhidas amostras nas bacias do Mondego, Tejo/Sorraia e Sado, com o objetivo de isolar e de caracterizar do ponto de vista genético as culturas de microrganismos presentes, de modo a conhecer a atual diversidade genética de Magnaporthe oryzae in Portugal.
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