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.
On June 11th, InnovPlantProtect (InPP) held a seminar on “Six years of innovation: CoLABs” path to the future of the agricultural and agri-food sectors", at the National Agriculture Fair (FNA) in Santarém.
The event brought together, for the first time, six Collaborative Laboratories (CoLABs) with direct involvement in the agricultural and agri-food sectors: InnovPlantProtect, CoLAB4Food, FeedInov CoLAB, Food4Sustainability, MORE CoLAB and SmartFarmCoLAB.
Round table 1 - Sofia Couto (ANI), Paulo Madeira (InPP), André Mota (Colab4Food), Cristina Monteiro (FeedInov), Margarida Palma (Food4Sustainability), Albino Bento (MORE CoLAB), and Helena Vazão (SmartFarmCoLAB)Round table 2 - Isabel Martins (Vida Rural), Pedro Viterbo (Fertiprado), Rui Lima (SenseTest), Jaime Piçarra (IACA), Gonçalo Amorim (BGI), Andreia Afonso (Deifil Technology) and André Sá (TEROMOVIGO)Closing session - Tiago Pinto (ANPROMIS), António Saraiva (InPP), Miguel Teixeira (CoLAB4Food), Ana Sofia Santos (FeedInov), Nuno Serra (Food4Sustainability), Albino Bento (MORE CoLAB) and Helena Vazão (SmartFarmCoLAB)
The program included two round tables. The first, dedicated to “Innovation in Action: The Results and Impacts of CoLABs in Agriculture and Agrifood”, representatives from each CoLAB took part, presenting success stories and projects developed, with emphasis on the intervention of the innovation manager at InnovPlantProtect, Paulo Madeira, He shared InPP's achievements in developing solutions for more sustainable agriculture.
The second round table, under the theme “Partnerships for the Future: How CoLABs are Driving Innovation in the Agricultural and Agri-Food Sector”, The event was attended by partner companies and associations, who stressed the importance of collaborating with the CoLABs. Among the speakers were Pedro Viterbo, manager of Fertiprado, InnovPlantProtect's partner, accompanied by representatives of the following organizations Sense Test, Associação Portuguesa Dos Industriais De Alimentos Compostos Para Animais (IACA), Building Global Innovators (BGI), DEIFIL Technology and TeroMovigo.
The seminar ended with a moment of joint reflection, with speeches from all the executive directors of the CoLABs present, including the executive director of InnovPlantProtect, António Saraiva, The meeting was organized by the European Commission, which stressed the importance of cooperation and strategic coordination between the Collaborative Laboratories, reinforcing their collective commitment to innovation and sustainable development in the agricultural and agri-food sectors.
Round table 1 - Paulo Madeira (InPP)Round table 2 - Pedro Viterbo (Fertiprado)Closing session - António Saraiva (InPP)
Throughout the seminar, the importance of synergies between science, innovation and the market became clear, as did the need to strengthen funding and guarantee conditions for the continuity and growth of these Collaborative Laboratories, whose impacts are already visible in the national agricultural and agri-food ecosystem.
This meeting was an important moment for sharing experiences and strengthening collaborative work, charting a joint path towards a more competitive, sustainable and innovative future for agriculture and agri-food in Portugal.
On February 27 and 28 and March 1 and 3, the “AlViGen: Creation of a hub in ALentejo for the GENomic Surveillance of diseases in agriculture” project team began its fieldwork by installing spore traps, known as capta-esporos, in wheat fields in Portalegre, Beja, Évora and Mérida. The traps make it possible to capture spores and identify the species of fungus circulating in the air and, in particular, variants of the fungus Puccinia striiformis f.sp. tritici, causing yellow rust on wheat, as well as its virulence characteristics and resistance to fungicides.
In total, the spore traps were installed in eight wheat fields in the Alentejo (Alto, Central and Baixo) and Spanish Extremadura, two of the poorest regions in Europe, whose economy is largely dependent on agriculture, and in which the fungus Puccinia striiformis f.sp. tritici has had a particular impact.
The aim of setting up these wheat fields is to implement a cross-border network of traps that capture spores from the air and enable early detection of fungi circulating in the air.
The team will collect samples on a weekly/fortnightly basis, for 3 months a year, during the wheat production cycle. Regular monitoring of the diversity of fungal species circulating on wheat fields will also make it possible to detect the appearance of new pathogenic fungi.
Manuel Patanita, a lecturer at the Polytechnic Institute of Beja (IPBeja), by Benvindo Maçãs and José Coutinho, director and researcher at the INIAV of Elvas, respectively, and Paulo Velez, production manager at the CERSUL - Southern Cereal Producers Group.
AlViGen, coordinated by InnovPlantProtect (InPP) in partnership with the University of Évora (WOW), was one of the innovative pilot projects selected last October and funded by the La Caixa Foundation, BPI Bank and the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), as part of the 4th edition of the Promove Program. This project will enable InPP to create the capacity for early detection of multiple crop diseases, using molecular methods that allow the identification of important characteristics of pathogens, such as virulence, susceptible varieties and resistance to phytopharmaceuticals, benefiting producers and government authorities.
Find out more about the AlViGen project at webpage of the project here.
O InnovPlantProtect (InPP) e a Direção-Geral de Alimentação e Veterinária (DGAV) assinaram, no passado dia 16 de fevereiro, um protocolo de cooperação com o objetivo de continuar a colaborar no desenvolvimento de novos serviços e projetos que permitam monitorizar a presença da bactéria Xylella fastidiosa nas culturas agrícolas, através de sistemas de informação geográfica (SIG), bem como fazer a gestão de dados que daqui resultem.
O protocolo de cooperação foi assinado pela Diretora Geral da DGAV, Susana Guedes Pombo, e pelo Diretor Executivo do InPP, Pedro Fevereiro.
Esperamos que esta parceria possa crescer cada vez mais e possa evidenciar a excelência do trabalho colaborativo!
O Encontro dos Produtores de Frutas e Legumes do Clube de Produtores Continente decorreu na passada quarta-feira, dia 15 de fevereiro, entre as 10h00 e as 13h30, no pólo do INIAV, em Elvas, e pretendeu apresentar os desafios e oportunidades nos setores da horticultura e fruticultura em Portugal, bem como os projetos que estão a ser implementados pelo Clube com o objetivo de atingir uma produção hortofrutícola mais competitiva, inovadora e sustentável.
No encontro o diretor executivo do InnovPlantProtect, Pedro Fevereiro, deu a conhecer ao Clube de Produtores o trabalho que tem sido desenvolvido pela equipa para encontrar soluções para combater pragas e doenças nas culturas agrícolas e apresentou os serviços laboratoriais e digitais que temos disponíveis para agricultores e empresas, reforçando a possibillidade de desenvolver um serviço personalizado e à medida de cada cliente.
Os diretores de departamento Ilaria Marengo e Ricardo Ramiro falaram sobre a gestão e apresentação de dados na Agricultura, bem como sobre os métodos de monitorização de pragas e doenças que os seus departamentos têm utilizado.
A iniciativa reuniu mais de uma centena de participantes e contou com as intervenções de David Monteiro, Diretor Comercial de Frutas e Legumes do Continente, Ondina Afonso, Presidente do Clube de Produtores Continente, e Marta Barradas, Técnica de Mercado do Clube de Produtores Continente.
No final da manhã, os produtores tiveram a oportunidade de visitar as instalações do laboratório colaborativo.
Este foi mais um passo importante para nos darmos a conhecer ao setor agroalimentar.
No futuro, o InPP pretende continuar a conversar com produtores locais e discutir quais são as principais problemáticas com que se deparam diariamente em relação às pragas e doenças das suas culturas agrícolas, bem como tornar as aplicações e tecnologia que temos desenvolvido mais acessível aos produtores.
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