O InnovPlantProtect (InPP) promotes the seminar “Six years of innovation: The path of CoLABs for the future of the agricultural and agri-food sectors”, on the next day June 11th, from 09h30 until 11h00, in center stage at Espaço InsectERA, located in the Central Cloisters of the National Center for Agricultural Exhibitions and Markets (CNEMA) in Santarém.
The seminar aims to present the practical results and real impact of six Collaborative Laboratories (CoLABs) in Portugal - InnovPlantProtect, Colab4Food, FeedInov, Food4Sustainability, MORE and SmartFarmCoLAB. These interface infrastructures are essential pillars of the National Innovation System (SNI) and play a growing and essential role in the dynamics of innovation for agriculture and agri-food.
The event will be attended by members of the teams and partners of each of the CoLABs, who will talk about their vision of the added value of these interface and innovation entities, from the point of view of those who collaborate directly with them.
The initiative, which is part of the National Agriculture Fair (FNA) 2025, which this year has the theme “Biosolutions” and will be the stage for exploring the innovations that are shaping the future of the sector, brings together different representatives of the innovation ecosystem to show the role of CoLABs in stimulating the transfer of knowledge and making innovation available to agriculture and agri-food in Portugal, creating value and attracting highly qualified human resources to the country.
See the full program in the image below.
The registration for the event is free, but mandatory due to the limited capacity of the space. Guarantee your presence by filling in the available form here.
We look forward to welcoming you for a morning of sharing and debate on the future of innovation in the agricultural and agri-food sectors!
Estamos em contagem decrescente para a Feira Nacional de Agricultura (FNA), uma das maiores feiras agrícolas do país!
É já de 7 a 15 de junho que o InPP vai estar na 61ª edição da Feira Nacional de Agricultura, que se realiza no CNEMA – Centro Nacional de Exposições, em Santarém.
O tema da edição deste ano é “Biosoluções”e pretende destacar a importância das soluções e tecnologias inovadoras no setor agroalimentar e na promoção de práticas mais sustentáveis e eficientes.
A FNA reúne agricultores, empresários e especialistas dos setores agroalimentar, pecuário e agrícola e é um excelente espaço para aumentar a nossa rede de contactos, trocar conhecimentos e apresentar as mais recentes tendências e soluções agrícolas que a nossa equipa tem desenvolvido.
Vai poder encontrar-nos no stand nº.18, à entrada do Espaço dos claustros, dedicado à Agenda InsectERA, entre as 10h e as 20h.
InnovPlantProtect (InPP) took part in the National Olive Growing Fair (FNO 25) in Campo Maior, from May 23 to 25, presenting its latest biological and digital innovations for crop protection, including projects focused on biopesticides for olive diseases and early detection of fungi that cause gafa, and monitoring insect vectors of the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa, which attacks olive groves. The Elvas CoLAB was present with its own stand to demonstrate its strengths and the impact of its research on agricultural sustainability, inviting producers, technicians and researchers to learn about its innovative bio-based and digital solutions and to actively participate in the discussion of the sector's challenges.
The collaborative laboratory (CoLAB) welcomed visitors at the stand no. 14, located at thematic area at the Campo Maior Municipal Garden, to showcase their activity, the ongoing projects that are developing solutions to the main olive diseases, the patents already submitted, the apps for agricultural management and the bio-based and digital products and services they have to offer the agricultural sector and the market. Throughout the three days of the fair, some of InPP's researchers were at the stand to demonstrate to visitors the various features of the Elvas CoLAB, which has been developing innovation that it hopes will contribute to the sustainability of agricultural systems.
InPP announced ValorCannBio project, which is processing biomass that is not used in the medical cannabis industry to develop effective and sustainable biopesticides against gafa and tuberculosis, The project will be carried out in the municipality of Elvas, which is responsible for decimating entire harvests, leading to severe economic losses and compromising food quality. The impact of this project will be felt in the municipality of Elvas, where the project is being developed, but it is expected that it will extend to the entire olive-growing region from Trás-os-Montes to the Algarve, where production losses are increasing due to these diseases. O AlViGen project was also one of the protagonists and is using cutting-edge technology to detecting and identifying the strains of fungi that cause gafa, long before the symptoms become visible. The project team has used traps to collect spores that circulate in the air to monitor the presence of fungi, which can give farmers an important advantage in preventing infections and protecting their crops, reducing production losses.
O SNM_XylellaVt project, The SNM_XylellaVt project, led by DRAPCENTRO and in which InPP actively participates, was also highlighted at FNO. SNM_XylellaVt is monitor the insect vectors of the bacteria Xyllela fastidiosa, in particular the foam leafhopper, the insect responsible for transmitting the bacterium, which attacks various agricultural and forestry crops, and in particular olive groves. The project team is developing new tools, such as risk prediction models which, in the presence of the bacterium, whether in plants or insect vectors, will allow the National Agricultural Warning Service (SNAA) to alert, in real time, about the economic attack levels (EAL) for these insects, thus allowing prevent infection of the main crops. As part of this project, the team has also developed an online platform where citizens can report the sighting of foams, which are signs of the presence of the insect vectors of X. fastidiosa, This will help to map its temporal and spatial distribution and to plan measures to combat this bacterium.
The FNO, organized jointly by the Campo Maior City Council and the Centre for the Study and Promotion of Olive Oil in the Alentejo (CEPAAL), is an event that aims to enhance national olive growing, and in particular Portuguese olive oil, boosting the local economy and bringing together professionals from the sector - producers, technicians, or researchers - from all over the country to discuss challenges and trends in the Portuguese olive and olive oil sector.
The 7th Olivum Conference will be held on December 15 and 16, this time in digital format. The first day of the event will be dedicated to the “Reform of the CAP” and the second to the “Challenges of sustainability”.
The “Reform of the CAP” will be discussed on the first day of the seventh edition of the Olivum Days, which will be held online on December 15 and 16. The session on the 15th will feature the Minister of Agriculture, Maria do Céu Antunes, MEP Isabel Carvalhais, from the Agriculture Committee, João Pacheco, Senior Fellow at think-tank Farm Europe, Paulo Gouveia, Chief Policy Adviser at COPA-COGECA, and, as moderator, the director of Diário de Notícias Rosália Amorim.
The “Challenges of Sustainability” will be the subject of analysis on the second day of the event, moderated by Isabel Martins, director of Revista Sustentável, and with speeches by Jorge Moreira da Silva, Director of Development and Cooperation at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, João Wengorovius Menezes, Secretary General of the Business Council for Sustainable Development, José Pedro Salema, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Empresa de Desenvolvimento e Infra-Estruturas do Alqueva and João Luís Barroso, Director of Sustainability at the Alentejo Regional Wine Commission.
On both days, the sessions take place between 10:00 and 11:30. Participation is free, but requires registration previous.
Can Europe help feed a growing population while reducing the impact of agriculture on climate and biodiversity? Can farmers produce enough food without pesticides? Can pesticides be part of intelligent pest control, using new and innovative technologies? Find out more later in the webinar “Pesticides and a Resilient Food System”.
The debate on pesticide use is becoming increasingly contentious in Europe. As part of the Green Deal initiative launched in December last year, the European Commission is reviewing the Sustainable Use of Pesticides Directive. But this is an effort that only leads to a more fundamental discussion about the sustainable use of pesticides.
In this fundamental discussion, questions arise such as: can Europe help feed a growing population and keep farmers in business, while reducing the impact of agriculture on the climate and biodiversity? Can farmers produce enough food without pesticides? Can pesticides be part of smart pest management, which uses new and innovative technologies?
On the first anniversary of the Green Deal, Bayer is promoting an Oxford-style webinar on resilience, where two teams will ‘face off’, with the motion for the debate being “Pesticides are not necessary for a resilient food system in the European Union”.
Register to watch. The debate starts today at 16:45 (Portuguese time).
The iPlanta conferences returned this year in a different format to usual, with three webinars on RNA intervention technology (RNAi) and a panel of speakers made up of international researchers.
After the theme “Development of RNAi-based pesticides: new opportunities” on December 1, the 4th edition of the iPlanta conferences starts again today at 5pm, this time dedicated to the environmental biosafety of RNAi-based pesticides. The third and final day of the event will be on December 14, also at 5pm, where regulatory issues will be discussed.
Participation is free but requires registration. Watch the videos of the first session here e here.
iPlanta is a COST action, a European organization that promotes and funds the networking in research and technology. Chaired by Bruno Mezzetti, it aims to review existing and future applications of RNAi, create a bioinformatics database, develop specific biosafety protocols, define post-market monitoring requirements and methods for RNAi plants, and encourage, promote and disseminate research reports by scientists involved in RNAi-related studies.
The importance of the iPlanta Conferences lies in the urgent need to find more effective solutions, through the application of RNAi, one of the new breeding techniques, to combat the pathogenic interactions faced by crops, which are responsible for the loss of substantial amounts of agricultural production worldwide, including in Portugal, where around 40 % of crops are lost every year. In global terms, the figures are similar: according to estimates by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), between 20% and 40% of crops are destroyed every year due to pests and diseases.
With the estimated increase in population, modern agriculture is facing one of its greatest challenges: guaranteeing food supplies for 10 billion people in just 30 years' time. The application of RNAi technology promises to respond effectively to this challenge.
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