O InnovPlantProtect (InPP) promotes the seminar “Six years of innovation: The path of CoLABs for the future of the agricultural and agri-food sectors”, on the next day June 11th, from 09h30 until 11h00, in center stage at Espaço InsectERA, located in the Central Cloisters of the National Center for Agricultural Exhibitions and Markets (CNEMA) in Santarém.
The seminar aims to present the practical results and real impact of six Collaborative Laboratories (CoLABs) in Portugal - InnovPlantProtect, Colab4Food, FeedInov, Food4Sustainability, MORE and SmartFarmCoLAB. These interface infrastructures are essential pillars of the National Innovation System (SNI) and play a growing and essential role in the dynamics of innovation for agriculture and agri-food.
The event will be attended by members of the teams and partners of each of the CoLABs, who will talk about their vision of the added value of these interface and innovation entities, from the point of view of those who collaborate directly with them.
The initiative, which is part of the National Agriculture Fair (FNA) 2025, which this year has the theme “Biosolutions” and will be the stage for exploring the innovations that are shaping the future of the sector, brings together different representatives of the innovation ecosystem to show the role of CoLABs in stimulating the transfer of knowledge and making innovation available to agriculture and agri-food in Portugal, creating value and attracting highly qualified human resources to the country.
See the full program in the image below.
The registration for the event is free, but mandatory due to the limited capacity of the space. Guarantee your presence by filling in the available form here.
We look forward to welcoming you for a morning of sharing and debate on the future of innovation in the agricultural and agri-food sectors!
Estamos em contagem decrescente para a Feira Nacional de Agricultura (FNA), uma das maiores feiras agrícolas do país!
É já de 7 a 15 de junho que o InPP vai estar na 61ª edição da Feira Nacional de Agricultura, que se realiza no CNEMA – Centro Nacional de Exposições, em Santarém.
O tema da edição deste ano é “Biosoluções”e pretende destacar a importância das soluções e tecnologias inovadoras no setor agroalimentar e na promoção de práticas mais sustentáveis e eficientes.
A FNA reúne agricultores, empresários e especialistas dos setores agroalimentar, pecuário e agrícola e é um excelente espaço para aumentar a nossa rede de contactos, trocar conhecimentos e apresentar as mais recentes tendências e soluções agrícolas que a nossa equipa tem desenvolvido.
Vai poder encontrar-nos no stand nº.18, à entrada do Espaço dos claustros, dedicado à Agenda InsectERA, entre as 10h e as 20h.
InnovPlantProtect (InPP) took part in the National Olive Growing Fair (FNO 25) in Campo Maior, from May 23 to 25, presenting its latest biological and digital innovations for crop protection, including projects focused on biopesticides for olive diseases and early detection of fungi that cause gafa, and monitoring insect vectors of the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa, which attacks olive groves. The Elvas CoLAB was present with its own stand to demonstrate its strengths and the impact of its research on agricultural sustainability, inviting producers, technicians and researchers to learn about its innovative bio-based and digital solutions and to actively participate in the discussion of the sector's challenges.
The collaborative laboratory (CoLAB) welcomed visitors at the stand no. 14, located at thematic area at the Campo Maior Municipal Garden, to showcase their activity, the ongoing projects that are developing solutions to the main olive diseases, the patents already submitted, the apps for agricultural management and the bio-based and digital products and services they have to offer the agricultural sector and the market. Throughout the three days of the fair, some of InPP's researchers were at the stand to demonstrate to visitors the various features of the Elvas CoLAB, which has been developing innovation that it hopes will contribute to the sustainability of agricultural systems.
InPP announced ValorCannBio project, which is processing biomass that is not used in the medical cannabis industry to develop effective and sustainable biopesticides against gafa and tuberculosis, The project will be carried out in the municipality of Elvas, which is responsible for decimating entire harvests, leading to severe economic losses and compromising food quality. The impact of this project will be felt in the municipality of Elvas, where the project is being developed, but it is expected that it will extend to the entire olive-growing region from Trás-os-Montes to the Algarve, where production losses are increasing due to these diseases. O AlViGen project was also one of the protagonists and is using cutting-edge technology to detecting and identifying the strains of fungi that cause gafa, long before the symptoms become visible. The project team has used traps to collect spores that circulate in the air to monitor the presence of fungi, which can give farmers an important advantage in preventing infections and protecting their crops, reducing production losses.
O SNM_XylellaVt project, The SNM_XylellaVt project, led by DRAPCENTRO and in which InPP actively participates, was also highlighted at FNO. SNM_XylellaVt is monitor the insect vectors of the bacteria Xyllela fastidiosa, in particular the foam leafhopper, the insect responsible for transmitting the bacterium, which attacks various agricultural and forestry crops, and in particular olive groves. The project team is developing new tools, such as risk prediction models which, in the presence of the bacterium, whether in plants or insect vectors, will allow the National Agricultural Warning Service (SNAA) to alert, in real time, about the economic attack levels (EAL) for these insects, thus allowing prevent infection of the main crops. As part of this project, the team has also developed an online platform where citizens can report the sighting of foams, which are signs of the presence of the insect vectors of X. fastidiosa, This will help to map its temporal and spatial distribution and to plan measures to combat this bacterium.
The FNO, organized jointly by the Campo Maior City Council and the Centre for the Study and Promotion of Olive Oil in the Alentejo (CEPAAL), is an event that aims to enhance national olive growing, and in particular Portuguese olive oil, boosting the local economy and bringing together professionals from the sector - producers, technicians, or researchers - from all over the country to discuss challenges and trends in the Portuguese olive and olive oil sector.
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.
As well as the new laboratories, it was possible to visit INIAV's newly renovated auditorium and cafeteria, which also serve InPP. Below, center, the director of the Formulations and Process Development department, David Learmonth, and researcher Sónia Siquenique while determining the viscosity of formulations with a viscometer; on the right, the director of the New Biopesticides department, Cristina Azevedo, and researchers Miguel Carvalho and Jordana Branco, in a meeting.
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.
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