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.
Elvas collaborative laboratory distinguished by Rural Life as “the most significant investment in the last year in the agricultural and agro-industrial sector”.
“Investment that makes a mark” 2021 is the name of the prize awarded today to InnovPlantProtect by Rural Life. The award, conferred by the editorial board of the professional agribusiness magazine, recognizes the most significant investment in the last year in the agricultural and agro-industrial sector at a national level.
The choice of the collaborative laboratory (CoLab), based in Elvas, “aims to reinforce the importance of investing in research and innovation in a key area for the future of agriculture: the search for biologically-based solutions for crop protection, in a challenging context, in which it is necessary to ensure the production of food in an increasingly sustainable way,” explains Isabel Martins, director of the company. Rural Life and publications coordinator at IFE.
One of the laboratories in the current, temporary premises.
Field work on a property owned by Fertiprado.
This award “honors the initiative of the 12 founding partners to create an innovative institution to develop biological and digital solutions for crop protection,” says Pedro Fevereiro, the CoLab's executive director, adding: “It's an incentive for InnovPlantProtect, which set up in a low-density region and managed to attract 38 highly qualified human resources to set up a modern innovation unit. It also rewards the vision of the municipality of Elvas, which embraced this challenge from the outset.”
The “Investment that Makes a Mark” 2021 award was presented during the 8th edition of the AgroIn - Annual Agribusiness Congress, organized by Rural Life/ IFE, held in the auditorium of the Faculty of Dental Medicine of the University of Lisbon.
Pedro Fevereiro, executive director of InnovPlantProtect
The InPP team, like scientists around the world, concludes that new techniques can mitigate the challenges posed by climate change and the continuing increase in the world's population.
We know that in order to feed the world's population in 2050, we will have to increase food production by 70% [1]. And we also know that agriculture is under intense pressure to meet the sustainability goals of the European Green Deal and Farm to Fork Strategy, This is under pressure from climate change and the increase in pests and diseases attacking crops.
A team from InnovPlantProtect (InPP) reviewed hundreds of scientific articles published in recent years and concluded that “genome editing is an important tool for improving food security in a sustainable way and mitigating the challenges posed by global climate change and the expansion of the world's population”. The review article [2], entitled Genome editing for resistance against plant pests and pathogens, has just been published in Transgenic Research.
“The development of new tools to improve plant protection is critical in the context of current agricultural, environmental and ecological challenges,” say the researchers, adding that “various efforts in the area of genome editing have resulted in plants with potentially beneficial characteristics that can be quickly and easily applied in the field.”.
Crops are invariably exposed to pests and diseases (left). In order to speed up the plant breeding process, genome editing technologies such as CRISPR-Cas make it possible to introduce resistance mechanisms or remove susceptibility quickly and precisely (right).
The team analyzed the latest advances in genome editing with a view to improving plant protection, focusing on editing the genomes of crops, pests and pathogens based on the CRISPR-Cas technique (Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2020). The researchers did not forget other technologies, such as host-induced gene silencing (HIGS) and the use of biocontrol agents, discussing how CRISPR-Cas can be used to accelerate the development of ecological strategies that promote sustainable agriculture in the future.
[HIGS consists of the plant producing small molecules of RNA (ribonucleic acid), which lead to the silencing of the pathogen's genes; silencing a gene means “canceling” its expression].
As genome editing does not require crossbreeding, the authors of the article point out, it avoids the introduction of unwanted characteristics through genetic linkage (a situation in which a gene with a positive characteristic is physically linked to a gene that confers negative characteristics) in improved varieties, speeding up the entire breeding process.
In addition, genome editing technologies can directly target the susceptibility genes or virulence factors of pests and pathogens, either by directly editing the genome of the pest in question, or by adding genome editing mechanisms to the plant genome, or to microorganisms that act as biocontrol agents.
Several studies have shown that the targeted inactivation of susceptibility genes through genome editing is a solid strategy for crop protection, capable of producing non-transgenic plants. The technique has been shown to be particularly effective in editing susceptibility genes to pathogenic bacteria and fungi.
“The potential impact of genome editing, and CRISPR technology in particular, on plant synthetic biology to improve resistance to pests and diseases is enormous and will have a direct effect on agricultural sustainability on a scale never seen before,” the team concludes.
Original article:
Rato, C., Carvalho, M.F., Azevedo, C. & Oblessuc, Paula. Genome editing for resistance against plant pests and pathogens. Transgenic Research (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11248-021-00262-x
Elvas City Council promotes a visit to the works in progress at InnovPlantProtect and at the Elvense pole of the National Institute for Agrarian and Veterinary Research.
The work in progress at INIAV Elvas, including those that will accommodate the permanent facilities of the InnovPlantProtect (InPP), were visited yesterday, June 16, by a delegation that included the president of the Elvas City Council, Nuno Mocinha, the vice-president of the municipality, Cláudio Carapuça, as well as a number of council technicians, the presidents of parish councils in the municipality and representatives of the media.
InPP is an institution that wants to last for many, many years, not a “one-off project”, said the executive director of the collaborative laboratory (CoLab). Pedro February He also highlighted the fact that the research and innovation carried out here “leaves” the laboratory for the field, in the form of specific, biologically-based products and services supplied to companies, farmers and producers, among others.
Nuno Mocinha stressed the CoLab's great importance for agriculture and the region, particularly thanks to the establishment of highly qualified workers dedicated to science and technology applied in the field.
The visit took place as part of a tour promoted by the CME of some of the works underway in the municipality.
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