The executive director of InnovPlantProtect (InPP), António Saraiva, took part in the conference “What are the challenges facing the national agroforestry sector over the next decade?”, which took place at the Escola Superior Agrária de Coimbra (ESAC) of the Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra last Tuesday, April 22.
The event, which brought together more than 150 participants and was organized by 17 national Competence Centres, discussed topics such as innovation, sustainability, soil conservation, monitoring cork oak forests and efficient agricultural management.
António Saraiva was part of the panel of commentators, whose speaker was Pedro Santos, Director General of CONSULAI, and moderated by Maria Custódia Correia, Coordinator of the AKIS Portugal Network. The opening session was attended by the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, José Manuel Fernandes, who announced the publication of the Ordinance of April 21 to open the Grant for Initiatives for the creation of Operational Groups (OG).
This initiative provides a total of 11 million euros for new GOs, with a maximum of 350,000 euros per project and eligible funding of 100%.
The GOs are considered crucial structures for transferring knowledge and strengthening the AKIS (Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System).
Special thanks to the 17 Competence Centers for the opportunity to participate in this productive meeting!
Beyond strategy: The secret ingredient of innovation
On the path to success, organizations define strategies, plan each step, and invest in crucial resources such as the sale of services and products, project applications, the development of solid business plans, and the protection of intellectual property. However, there is an often-neglected element that is fundamental to the flourishing of innovation: serendipity. But what exactly is this mysterious force, and why is it so vital to advancing agriculture and so many other areas?
When chance opens doors: The power of unplanned discovery
Serendipity lies in the art of finding something valuable when looking for something else. It's the unintentional discoveries that arise from unexpected situations. Throughout history, some of the most transformative innovations have not been the result of a rigorous plan, but rather of a fortuitous encounter with the unknown. Although deliberate research and methodical experimentation are pillars of scientific and technological progress, openness to the unexpected proves to be a powerful catalyst. When researchers cultivate this openness, they often come across revelations that have the potential to revolutionize entire industries, transform technologies, and expand our understanding of the world around us.
A close look at the “error”: The genesis of an innovative biofungicide
Today, we unveil the surprising and inspiring story of Maria Miguel, a talented researcher from the InPP's New Biopesticides Department, whose insight transformed a fortuitous event into a discovery of inestimable value: a broad-spectrum biofungicide capable of combating Botrytis cinerea, the relentless fungus responsible for the devastating gray mold disease in tomato plants. This pathology represents one of the greatest phytosanitary challenges in tomato cultivation, especially when grown in greenhouses, causing significant losses to producers if not controlled in a timely manner.
From discard to discovery: An investigator's insight
The journey of this discovery began in a scenario familiar to any researcher: the observation of Petri dishes, used to grow cell or microorganism cultures. In Maria Miguel's Petri dishes, colonies of the fungus Botrytis cinerea were growing, intentionally introduced there for study. However, something else caught her attention: one of the plates was contaminated by mold, and curiously, a clear zone surrounded this intruder. Instead of discarding the plate and ignoring it as mere contamination, Maria Miguel decided to investigate the reason behind that clear area. Her curiosity revealed that the mold had a surprising ability to inhibit the growth of Botrytis cinerea in its vicinity.
“Sometimes we look at something and think it's a mistake. The truth is that within a failure, there can be something good,” shares the researcher. The emotion and enthusiasm of a researcher when realizing that what at first seemed like an obstacle, a negative result, can actually be an opportunity, is contagious. For Maria Miguel, this “error” transformed into a serendipitous discovery with enormous potential.
Maria Miguel, a researcher at the InPP's Department of New Biopesticides, transformed an unexpected event into a groundbreaking discovery: a broad-spectrum biofungicide to combat gray mold in tomato plants.
Beyond chance: The active ingredients of scientific discovery
As the story of this biofungicide demonstrates, the world of science is full of examples of discoveries that arose from the unexpected. One of the most famous cases is the discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming in 1928. While observing Petri dishes, Fleming noticed that a mold was producing a substance that eliminated Staphylococcus aureus bacteria around it. He identified the mold as Penicillium notatum and named his revolutionary antibiotic penicillin. Penicillin ended up becoming an extremely important drug for fighting infections.
However, chance is not the only protagonist of these important revelations. “Sometimes we have to follow our intuition and be able to prove that we are right or wrong,” explains Maria Miguel. In addition to intuition, a generous dose of curiosity, an open mind to accept unexpected results, a solid scientific knowledge, and the ability to see and advance to further investigations on surprising results play a crucial role in the alchemy of discovery.
The ecosystem of discovery: Fostering an environment conducive to innovation
There are other ingredients that contribute to the recipe for scientific success:
Creativity: The ability to generate new perspectives, concepts, questions, or solutions, and the willingness to explore existing ideas under a new light.
Flexibility: The courage to venture into unknown territories without fear of failure, thus increasing the odds of serendipitous encounters.
But no discovery flourishes in isolation. At InPP, the strong team spirit and culture of collaboration transcend departmental boundaries. Maria Miguel's discovery is a testament to this synergy, as she herself acknowledges: “My colleagues opened doors so that I could do my research.”
To foster innovation, organizations need to cultivate an environment that stimulates open discussions and connects people from diverse areas of knowledge and life experiences, without judgment; that encourages curiosity and receptiveness to new experiences; and that promotes a relentless pursuit of improving scientific knowledge, the fertile ground where serendipity can germinate.
Sowing the future: The impact of a discovery and the path of research
Although Maria Miguel is about to embark on a new journey, driven by a prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie doctoral fellowship - a program that supports the career of researchers and promotes excellence and innovation in research - her legacy at InPP is already flourishing. Her innovative discovery is opening new and promising doors for future research in the area of crop protection, demonstrating how, at times, it is in the unexpected that the potential to transform our world lies.
Beyond strategy: The secret ingredient of innovation
On the road to success, organizations define strategies, plan every step and invest in crucial resources such as selling services and products, applying for projects, drawing up solid business plans and protecting intellectual property. However, there is an element that is often overlooked, but which is fundamental to the flourishing of innovation: serendipity. But what exactly is this mysterious force and why is it so vital to the advancement of agriculture and so many other areas?
When chance opens doors: The power of unplanned discovery
Serendipity is the art of finding something valuable when you're looking for something else. It's the unintentional discoveries that arise from unexpected situations. Throughout history, some of the most transformative innovations have not been the result of a rigorous plan, but rather a chance encounter with the unknown. While deliberate research and methodical experimentation are pillars of scientific and technological progress, openness to the unexpected proves to be a powerful catalyst. When researchers cultivate this openness, they often stumble upon revelations that have the potential to revolutionize entire industries, transform technologies and expand our understanding of the world around us.
A close look at “error”: The genesis of an innovative biofungicide
Today, we unveil the surprising and inspiring story of Maria Miguel, a talented researcher from InPP's New Biopesticides Department, whose acumen turned a chance event into a priceless discovery: a broad-spectrum biofungicide capable of combating the Botrytis cinerea, the relentless fungus responsible for the devastating gray rot disease in tomato plants. This pathology represents one of the biggest phytosanitary challenges in tomato cultivation, especially when grown in greenhouses, causing significant losses to producers if it is not controlled in good time.
From discard to discovery: The insight of a researcher
The journey of this discovery began in a setting familiar to any researcher: the observation of Petri dishes, used to grow cultures of cells or microorganisms. On Maria Miguel's plates, colonies of the fungus Botrytis cinerea were growing, intentionally introduced there for study. However, something else caught her eye: one of the plates was contaminated by mold, and curiously, a clear area surrounded this intruder. Instead of discarding the plate and dismissing it as mere contamination, Maria Miguel decided to investigate the reason behind the clear area. Her curiosity revealed that the mold had a surprising ability to prevent the growth of Botrytis cinerea in its vicinity.
“Sometimes we look at something and think it's a mistake. The truth is that in a failure there can be something good,” the researcher shares. The excitement and enthusiasm of a researcher realizing that what at first glance seemed like an obstacle, a negative result, could actually be an opportunity, is contagious. For Maria Miguel, this “mistake” turned into a serendipitous discovery with enormous potential.
Maria Miguel, a researcher at InPP's New Biopesticides Department, who turned an unexpected event into a discovery that changed the course of her work: a broad-spectrum biofungicide to combat gray rot in tomato plants.
Beyond chance: The active ingredients of scientific discovery
As the history of this biofungicide shows, the world of science is full of examples of discoveries that came out of the blue. One of the most famous cases is Alexander Fleming's discovery of penicillin in 1928. While observing Petri dishes, Fleming noticed that a mold was producing a substance that eliminated bacteria Staphylococcus aureus around him. He identified the mold as Penicillium notatum and named his revolutionary antibiotic penicillin. Penicillin ended up becoming an extremely important medicine for fighting infections.
However, chance is not the only protagonist of these important revelations. “Sometimes we have to follow our intuition and be able to prove ourselves right or wrong,” explains Maria Miguel. In addition to intuition, a generous dose of curiosity, an open mind to accept unexpected results, solid scientific knowledge and the ability to see and move on to further research into surprising results play a crucial role in the alchemy of discovery.
The discovery ecosystem: Fostering an environment conducive to innovation
There are other ingredients that contribute to the recipe for scientific success:
Creativity: The ability to generate new perspectives, concepts, questions or solutions, and the willingness to explore existing ideas in a new light.
Flexibility: The courage to venture into unknown territory without the fear of failure, thus increasing the chances of serendipitous encounters.
But no discovery flourishes in isolation. At InPP, the strong team spirit and culture of collaboration transcend departmental boundaries. The case of Maria Miguel's discovery is testimony to this synergy, as she herself acknowledges: “My colleagues opened doors so that I could do my research”.
To foster innovation, organizations need to cultivate an environment that encourages open discussions and connects people from different areas of knowledge and life experiences, without judgment; that encourages curiosity and receptiveness to new experiences; and that promotes an incessant quest to improve scientific knowledge, the fertile ground where serendipity can germinate.
Sowing the future: The impact of a discovery and the path of research
Although Maria Miguel is about to embark on a new journey, boosted by a prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie PhD scholarship - a program that supports the careers of researchers and promotes excellence and innovation in research - her legacy at InPP is already flourishing. Her groundbreaking discovery is opening promising new doors for future research in the field of crop protection, demonstrating how sometimes it is in the unexpected that the potential to transform our world lies.
“InnovPlantProtect (InPP) is consolidating itself as a reference center in applied research, combining biotechnology and digitalization, to offer a range of solutions for crop protection, focused on the prevention, monitoring and mitigation of phytosanitary threats, but also on the delivery of bioinspired solutions (...) for the optimization of agricultural productivity,” António Saraiva, executive director of InnovPlantProtect (InPP), told Voz do Campo magazine.
In an opinion piece for this month's edition of Voz do Campo magazine, António Saraiva, InPP's executive director, highlighted CoLAB's commitment to innovation and sustainability, as well as its ability to attract and retain highly qualified young researchers. The opinion article “InnovPlantProtect: Science and Innovation at the Service of the Agricultural Challenges of the 21st Century” recognizes InPP's contribution to the transformation of agriculture.
The executive director also warns of the uncertainty over the future of InPP's public funding, and calls for the need to define a stable funding framework to guarantee the continuity of CoLAB's work.
Read the full article (in the file below) and find out how we are shaping the future of agriculture.
We thank Voz do Campo magazine for its recognition and reiterate our commitment to building a more sustainable and innovative agricultural future.
Opinion article “InnovPlantProtect: Science and Innovation at the Service of the Agricultural Challenges of the 21st Century” by António Saraiva, executive director of InPP, published in the March edition of Voz do Campo magazine.
The 12th National Maize Colloquium 2025, promoted by Anpromis, brought together around 600 farmers and specialists from the agri-food sector in Figueira da Foz to discuss the technical challenges, innovations and best practices associated with growing maize in Portugal, as well as the European challenges in the current geopolitical context.
The executive director of InnovPlantProtect (InPP), António Saraiva, moderated the panel on “The technical challenges of corn production in Portugal”, which included the participation of André Antunes, Consultant in agricultural resilience, Stéphane Jezequel, Technical Director of Arvalis, and Luís Queirós, Global Director for Fodder Additives at Lallemand Animal Nutrition.
The Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, José Manuel Fernandes, closed the event with a speech focusing on the national strategic measures that are essential for cereal production and the instruments and financial resources that will benefit the agricultural sector.
InPP would like to thank Anpromis, a founding member of InPP, for inviting us to moderate the panel on “The technical challenges of corn production in Portugal”. It was an excellent moment for dialog and the exchange of knowledge, which is essential for the development of the sector!
Image credit: Anpromis
Left and middle photo: InPP's executive director, António Saraiva, moderating the panel “The technical challenges of maize production in Portugal” at the 12th National Maize Colloquium 2025; Right photo: The agricultural community gathered at the 12th National Maize Colloquium 2025 to debate the future of the agricultural sector.
The General Assembly of InnovPlantProtect (InPP), held last Tuesday, February 4, at the Auditorium of the National Institute for Agricultural and Veterinary Research (INIAV) - Elvas Campus, in Elvas, formally swore in the new governing bodies. NOVA University Lisbon, which was reappointed to the Board of Directors (BoD), nominated Margarida Oliveira to the position of Chair of the InPP BoD for the 2025-2027 triennium.
In her speech, re-elected president Margarida Oliveira said that this term of office will be marked by the challenge of capitalizing on the entire structure set up and the results already achieved by the INPP team, in order to guarantee the Association's financial sustainability and its continued ability to produce solutions for the market. “The INPP team is a source of pride for those who dreamed up what was just a project at the time, but which in just six years, and in the middle of a pandemic, has achieved strong recognition at national and international level,” he said.
The previous chairman of the General Assembly (GA), Domingos dos Santos, president of the National Federation of Fruit and Vegetable Producers“ Organizations (FNOP), handed over the presidency of the GA to Pedro Monteiro, chairman of the board of Casa do Arroz, and took the opportunity to thank him for his two terms and ”the way he has always been treated by the InPP“. FNOP is now a member of the Board of Directors. In his speech, the now chairman of the GA, Pedro Monteiro, highlighted his ”pride in representing the Board of Directors for six years and the great honor" for Casa do Arroz in accepting the Presidency of the GA.
António Saraiva, InPP's executive director, welcomed the new members of the Board of Directors for the 2025-2028 triennium, as well as the rest of the bodies. For the executive director, “CoLAB has made significant progress to ensure a solid future. We are implementing a series of strategic projects, improving the efficiency of our teams and our internal workings in order to better serve the agricultural ecosystem and our members. Today, we continue to bet on a stronger InPP, ready to establish itself as a benchmark in the development of new technologies, products and services with a strong innovation component. We will continue to work towards the modernization and competitiveness of agriculture, boosting knowledge of the agricultural sector and being a fundamental link between academia, companies and production. This is our mission and our ongoing commitment.”.
The new governing bodies are committed and motivated to making CoLAB grow and innovate, strengthening its representativeness in the agricultural sector.
The following governing bodies were elected for the three-year period 2025-2027:
General Meeting Board: Chair - Casa do Arroz; First Secretary - University of Évora and Second Secretary - Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre
Board of Directors: Chair - NOVA University Lisbon; Vice-Chair - INIAV
Board members: Syngenta Crop Protection, Fertiprado, ANPROMIS, FNOP and ANPOC.
Português 
English