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.
A equipa do InnovPlantProtect (InPP) esteve presente no Dia de Campo da cultura do arroz, promovido pelo Centro Operativo e Tecnológico do Arroz – COTArroz, e que decorreu no dia 7 de outubro, nas instalações do COTArroz, em Salvaterra de Magos.
Durante este dia de campo foram apresentadas as atividades de investigação e inovação desenvolvidas pelo COTArroz, com destaque para a obtenção de variedades portuguesas de arroz já inscritas no Catálogo Nacional de Variedades. A sessão contou ainda com a apresentação das tendências e novos mercados do setor orizícola nacional.
A Ministra da Agricultura e da Alimentação, Maria do Céu Antunes, participou também neste dia destacando o papel fundamental do COTArroz no desenvolvimento do Programa Nacional de Melhoramento de variedades do arroz, liderado pelo Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária – INIAV, IP, que contribui para o reforço da viabilidade do setor deste cereal.
A diretora de departamento Cristina Azevedo e os investigadores Pedro Rosa, Rupesh Singh e Tiago Amaro estiveram presentes no Dia de Campo do Arroz que decorreu no passado dia 7 de outubro
A Noite Europeia dos Investigadores animou a Praça do Giraldo, com 19 pontos e dezenas de investigadores.O InPP como não poderia deixar de ser, marcou presençanesta noite para celebrar a ciência.
A Noite Europeia dos Investigadores (NEI) 2022 teve como tema “Ciência para Todos, Sustentabilidade e Inclusão”. Durante a tarde e noite de 30 de setembro, o evento juntou na Praça do Giraldo dezenas de investigadores da Universidade de Évora e da região do Alentejo em 19 stands de instituições científicas. O objetivo foi dar a conhecer à sociedade a ciência que se faz, através de jogos, debates, demonstrações, workshops, desafios e experiências, numa noite que chamou a cidade à rua.
O stand do InPP foi o ponto de encontro entre os investigadores do InPP e todos aqueles que quiseram descobrir a ciência que é desenvolvida no laboratório colaborativo. Recebemos a visita de miúdos e graúdos, das mais variadas regiões do país, que vieram a esta festa da ciência para conhecer o trabalho desenvolvido pelos nossos investigadores, bem como para ter a oportunidade de conhecê-los de perto.
Desde caixas com cera, farinha, aveia, alimento para as várias fases do ciclo de vida da traça da colmeia, a placas de Petri com fungos e bactérias, das mais diversas cores, formas e feitios, foram várias as atividades nas quais os nossos visitantes puderam participar.
A equipa do InPP teve ainda a oportunidade de conversar com agricultores que partilharam algumas das dúvidas que tinham sobre as pragas e doenças das suas culturas.
Obrigado a todos pela visita e até para o ano!
Saiba mais sobre a participação do InPP na NEI 2022 here.
A Noite Europeia dos Investigadores ocorre todos os anos e tem o objetivo de partilhar o trabalho dos investigadores com o público em geral.
O InnovPlantProtect (InPP) esteve presente no evento final do SmartAgriHubs que teve lugar em Lisboa, de 26 a 28 de setembro. Este evento promovido pelo SmartAgriHubs, a maior rede de hubs de Inovação Digital na agricultura, foi dedicado ao reforço da colaboração entre os inovadores europeus e ao intercâmbio sobre a digitalização da agricultura europeia.
O evento foi composto por um dia exclusivamente reservado aos membros do projeto Horizon 2020 SmartAgriHubs (26 de Setembro) e de dois dias (27 e 28 de Setembro) abertos ao público com a participação de vários oradores do ecossistema europeu de inovação digital.
Os investigadores do InPP iLaria Marengo, Manisha Sirsat e Ricardo Ramiro representaram o laboratório colaborativo e tiveram a oportunidade de participar em várias atividades do programa composto por 44 workshops sobre agricultura de precisão, agricultura inteligente, dados, robótica e muito mais, 6 sessões plenárias, 19 pitches de projetos europeus financiados pelo Programa Horizon 2020, e várias atividades de networking.
O projeto DIMAP, liderado pelo InPP e o único projeto português aprovado no âmbito da linha PREPARE (uma linha que pretende apoiar a formação de consórcios que possam desenvolver experiências inovadoras relacionadas com a digitalização da agrigultura) do SmartAgriHubs, foi apresentado no primeiro dia do evento.
O SmartAgriHubs é uma rede de organizações que colaboram de modo a promover a digitalização do setor agro-alimentar e a interação entre diferentes atores deste ramo de atividade.
O projecto “DIMAP: A digital ecosystem for integrated disease management in pear orchards” visa reunir um consórcio para conceber uma experiência inovadora que permita detetar precocemente três das doenças mais importantes para a produção de pera: estenfiliose (causada pelo fungo Stemphylium vesicarium), fogo bacteriano (provocada pela bactéria Erwinia amylovora) e podridão branca das raízes (originada pelo fungo Rosellinia necatrix).
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