News & Events

Today, April 5, InnovPlantProtect (InPP) members had the opportunity to visit the new facilities of the collaborative laboratory (CoLAB), at the Elvas Campus of the INIAV, The 39-strong team is already at work, although some laboratory equipment is still being assembled.

The visit was attended by Isabel Rocha, vice-rector of the NOVA University Lisbon, José Pereira Palha, president of the National Association of Protein, Oilseed and Cereal Producers (Anpoc), José Rato Nunes, representing the Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre, Pedro Monteiro, president of Casa do Arroz, Tiago Pinto, secretary-general of the National Association of Maize and Sorghum Producers (Anpromis), José Maria Rasquilha, vice-president of Anpoc and president of Cersul, Pedro Viterbo, manager of Fertiprado, Domingos dos Santos, president of the National Federation of Fruit and Vegetable Producers' Organizations (Fnop), Felisbela Torres de Campos, Director of Corporate Regulation and Sustainability for Portugal at Syngenta Crop Protection, Maria do Rosário Félix, representing the University of Évora, Margarida Oliveira, deputy director of the ITQB NOVA and coordinator of the InPP working group, and Benvindo Maçãs, director of INIAV's Elvas Center, who were accompanied by CoLAB's executive director, Pedro Fevereiro.

InnovPlantProtect (InPP) will be present at the 38th Ovibeja, The event will take place from April 21 to 25, with its own stand and a program of activities to be announced in due course. On Saturday, April 23rd, at 3pm, the InPP is organizing a colloquium on the theme “Protecting crops to feed the world: from soil microorganisms to pest and disease monitoring techniques”.

The executive director of the InPP is taking part in this conference, Pedro February, who will present CoLAB, iLaria Marengo, director of the Monitoring and Diagnostics department, who will talk about remote sensing applied to crop protection, and Ricardo Ramiro, director of the Data Management and Risk Analysis department, who will address the topic of the soil microbiome.

Pedro Fevereiro is also taking part in the seminar ACOS - The Southern Farmers“ Association is organizing a conference on ”How to feed the planet?“, the theme of Ovibeja 2022, on the 23rd at 11.30 a.m., and the colloquium ”The European green agenda. Sustainability of agriculture and food sovereignty", which takes place on Friday, April 22, at 4pm. The event takes place at the Manuel de Castro e Brito Fair and Exhibition Park in Beja.

The executive director of InnovPlantProtect, Pedro Fevereiro, will take part in the next “MED às 4as” (MED on Wednesdays), on April 6, a round table organized by the MED - Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development, on “The use of genetically modified plants for more sustainable agriculture”.

The session will take place in person in the Conference Room of the Mitra Campus. University of Évora, between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m., but it is also possible to attend via Zoom.

The use of genetically modified varieties is a possible solution for achieving the strategic objectives of the European Green Deal, as part of the “From Plate to Plate” and Biodiversity Strategy for 2030. However, it is still limited and remains under European legislation that does not take into account the new genomic techniques (NTG). The development of specific legislation allowing the development and use of plants subject to these NTGs would be particularly timely for meeting the objectives of the European Green Deal, say the organizers.

Find out more and meet the panel of speakers here.