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NEWS

Imagine a future where drones and artificial intelligence work together to protect your vineyards. That's what the AI4Leafhopper project is making a reality!

Manisha Sirsat, a researcher on the AI4Leafhopper team, has developed two artificial intelligence models that analyze the aerial images captured by our latest generation drone... and these models make it possible:

  • geolocation of each vine
  • to know if there are vine failures
  • quickly identify “sick” vines”
  • optimize the application of treatments

The result? Growers can have a detailed view of the health of their vineyards, detect problems early and make more informed decisions.

Find out all about it here.

AI4Leafhopper is a project led by InPP and funded by the ICAERUS Horizon Europe program, which began in April 2024 and ended on April 30 with a final meeting involving the six European projects approved in the 1st edition of the ICAERUS program's PULL applications. The project team presented the AI-based models for detecting and monitoring the impact of the green leafhopper on vineyards.

The AI4Leafhopper project, InnovPlantProtect used a state-of-the-art drone to monitor the impact of the green leafhopper in the vineyards of our partners Reynolds Wine Growers and João Portugal Ramos. Although the results show that this advanced technology is more effective at detecting attacks at advanced stages, we are excited about the potential of this tool to provide valuable data for the management of this harmful insect.

We believe that with more research, we can refine our solution to detect early attacks and prevent significant damage to vineyards. Transforming the monitoring of this pest is where we want to go, always with the aim of protecting vineyards and guaranteeing the quality of production for winegrowers.

Over the next few days we'll be revealing everything that the AI4Leafhopper project is making a reality and how drones and artificial intelligence are working together to create a more sustainable future for viticulture. Stay tuned!

Find out all about it here.

AI4Leafhopper, funded by the ICAERUS Horizon Europe program, which began in April 2024, is now in its final stages. The development phase of the project, which took place in the field, is now over and the final stage is to present the solutions developed by our team on Portuguese soil to the market.

EVENTS

International Day for the Fascination of Plants 2022 celebrated in Elvas on May 19th

To celebrate Fascination of Plants Day 2022, InnovPlantProtect (InPP) promotes the 1st Meeting of Ciência Viva Clubs of secondary schools in the district of Portalegre, tomorrow, May 19th, with the support of Estremoz Living Science Center, and a guided tour of InPP's new laboratories. The afternoon ends with a visit to Elvas Municipal Garden, This is the largest green space in the city and has a remarkable biodiversity in terms of tree species.

The following secondary schools are taking part in the initiative Mouzinho da Silveira, from Portalegre, and D. Sancho II of Elvas, which has just formed its Ciência Viva na Escola Club. InPP will welcome a total of 42 students and seven teachers to its facilities. The tour of the laboratories, led by CoLAB's executive director, Pedro Fevereiro, will be followed by a short presentation on the charms and importance of plant biodiversity. Then, at 3.45 p.m., the students and teachers will gather in the renovated InPP/ INIAV Auditorium for the Ciência Viva Club Meeting at the School.

The aim of this meeting is for the district's clubs to get to know each other and present the projects they have developed and plan to develop. The joint initiative between InPP, the Schools and CCV Estremoz is part of the national celebrations coordinated by the ITQB NOVA, The aim is to promote a culture of knowledge about the importance of plants through the wonder that the plant world provides, whether at home, in the street, in the countryside or on the beach, in the forest, in the orchard, in the vegetable garden, in the agricultural field or in the mountains.

O Fascination of Plants Day is an initiative of the European Plant Science Organization (EPSO), which takes place every two years on May 18th. It is coordinated at national level by the Portuguese Society of Plant Physiology and ITQB NOVA, with events across the country.

#FoPD #PlantsDay #PlantDay

How do you innovate in the interior of Portugal? Yes, it's possible! Pedro February explains everything today, May 17th, at Science’22 Meeting. Tomorrow, the 18th, Cristina Azevedo e David Learmonth talks on the development of plant protection products for the control of phytopathogens and on the encapsulation of biopesticides.

The executive director of InnovPlantProtect (InPP) is one of the speakers at the session “From Lab to Fab: stories of innovation”, organized by ANI - National Innovation Agency, The event starts at 2pm in Room 5C of the Lisbon Congress Center. Pedro Fevereiro will demonstrate the case of the Elvas CoLAB, which operates in the heart of the Alto Alentejo region.

Tomorrow, the director of the Department of New Biopesticides and the director of the Department of Formulations and Process Development at InPP will speak at the session entitled “Sustainable Production and Consumption IV”, which will take place in Auditorium 3, from 11.30am to 1pm.

InnovPlantProtect (InPP) is celebrating National Scientists Day 2022, May 16, by challenging its researchers to complete the sentence “A scientist is...”

...someone who gets up in the morning with the desire to discover something new and the perseverance to carry on even when that doesn't happen.

Cristina Azevedo

...a methodical person who is determined to look for small clues and put them together to make it clear what natural phenomena are.

Pedro Rosa

... a tireless explorer.

Miguel Carvalho

(Left image: Jonathan Petersson | Pexels)

...someone who answers questions about how our Universe works, using experimentation as a way of investigating it, and who establishes verifiable theories about how it works.

Pedro February

...someone who finds answers to questions that may only be of interest to a niche group of people or, on the other hand, contribute to the maintenance of the human species, namely by finding solutions to guarantee food for the world's growing population, as we try to do every day at InPP. Regardless of the “size” of the issue, being a scientist is always a huge challenge.

Cláudia Rato da Silva

... the deeper reality of the superficial physical occurrence. In this context, one of my most recent works{ explores the specific adaptations of symptomatic and asymptomatic vines to esca, a disease as old as vine growing!

Rupesh Singh

*Goufo, P., Singh, R. K. and Cortez, I. (2021) Metabolites Differentiating Asymptomatic and Symptomatic Grapevine Plants (Vitis vinifera L ‘Malvasia-Fina’) Infected with Esca Complex Disease-Associated Fungi. Biol. Life Sci. Forum 2022, 11(1), 87; https://doi.org/10.3390/IECPS2021-11923