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 sistema alimentar global é um dos setores mais ameaçados pela emergência climática. Mas afinal quais poderão ser os contributos da ciência e da inovação para garantir uma alimentação variada, saudável e sustentável, no exigente contexto de alterações climáticas?
O tema do 20.⁰ Café de Ciência no Parlamento, organized by Ciência Viva, foi “Emergência climática: o carteiro não toca duas vezes” e teve lugar ontem, dia 19 de outubro, pelas 18h, na Assembleia da República. O diretor executivo do InnovPlantProtect (InPP), Pedro February, participou no encontro.
Pedro Fevereiro alertou que “nós estamos em mudança e temos que saber gerir a mudança e adaptarmo-nos a ela e não fixarmos os pés na terra e pensar que podemos continuar a ser como somos. Temos de ser outra coisa”. “E como é que compatibilizamos este desejo de nos ajustarmos, com a necessidade de sermos sustentáveis a diversos níveis?”, questionou o diretor executivo.
Vídeo da intervenção do Diretor executivo do InPP na iniciativa “Café de Ciência no Parlamento”
Esta iniciativa juntou cientistas, deputados e empresários para debater o impacto das alterações climáticas no sistema alimentar global e apresentar medidas concretas para travar o atual paradigma. Estiveram presentes Augusto Santos Silva, Presidente da Assembleia da República, Elvira Fortunato, Ministra da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior, Alexandre Quintanilha, Presidente da Comissão Parlamentar de Educação e Ciência, Tiago Brandão Rodrigues, Presidente da Comissão Parlamentar de Ambiente e Energia e Rosalia Vargas, Presidente da Ciência Viva.
O encontro teve transmissão via streaming. Pode (re)ver o encontro na íntegra no canal de YouTube do Pavilhão do Conhecimento here.
Mas afinal quais são os principais obstáculos atuais à segurança alimentar? A nossa alimentação está segura? O que vai mudar nos próximos anos?
O diretor executivo do InnovPlantProtect, Pedro Fevereiro, foi um dos oradores convidados na mais recente reunião do Conselho de Segurança, um projeto promovido pelo Expresso e Continente, que decorreu no passado dia 10 de Outubro em Lisboa, e que serviu para discutir os principais desafios relacionados com a segurança alimentar, um tema central em tempos de inflação e de guerra.
O diretor executivo falou no painel sobre “Como garantir a segurança alimentar junto dos portugueses? O papel da ciência e o papel do negócio”, que contou também com a participação de Ondina Afonso, presidente do Clube de Produtores Continente e diretora da Qualidade & Investigação da Sonae MC.
O debate foi transmitido via Facebook. Pode (re)ver o debate na íntegra na página de Facebook do Jornal Expresso here.
Na passada terça-feira, dia 11 de Outubro, o InnovPlantProtect (InPP) recebeu a visita do Prof. Sophien Kamoun e do Prof. Paul Christou do Conselho Consultivo da Unidade de Investigação GREEN-IT do Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier (ITQB NOVA) e de alguns dos seus investigadores.
Durante a visita, o diretor executivo Pedro February e os diretores de departamento Cristina Azevedo, Sandra Correia, Ricardo Ramiro, Ilaria Marengo e David Learmonth apresentaram o InPP e as diferentes áreas de investigação que estão a ser exploradas pelos cinco departamentos do laboratório colaborativo (CoLAB). As apresentações foram seguidas por uma visita às novas instalações e laboratórios.
Esta visita pretendeu não só dar a conhecer as atividades do CoLAB, como também potenciar futuras oportunidades de parcerias e colaborações entre as duas instituições.
Um agradecimento especial à GREEN-IT pela visita.
Apresentações de Pedro Fevereiro, Cristina Azevedo, Sandra Correia, Ricardo Ramiro, iLaria Marengo e David Learmonth, membros da GREEN-IT (da esquerda para a direita e de cima para baixo)
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