News & Events

InnovPlantProtect (InPP) took part in the “III Colloquium on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides - What Future?”, which was held on May 24 at the Santarem Polytechnic Institute's Santarém Higher Agricultural School (ESAS).

The colloquium, organized by the Portuguese Horticultural Association, the National Horticultural Operational and Technological Centre (COTHN) and ESAS, aimed to provide policymakers with a current picture of the agricultural sector and the legislation, innovation, difficulties, opportunities and needs of crop protection.

The promoters organized the Colloquium at an opportune moment, following the European Commission's decision last February not to proceed with the revision of the Directive on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides, but in which the goals and ambition of the European Green Deal are maintained.

Portugal is the country in the European Union with the second highest rate of reduction in pesticide use and 10% of authorized plant protection products are biopesticides.

The round-table event brought together speakers from agricultural confederations, associations representing agricultural sub-sectors, universities, public and private laboratories, the Ministry of Agriculture, MPs and MEPs.

Pedro Fevereiro, executive director of InPP, was one of the speakers on the panel “Session II - What is the future?”, which took place between 2:30 and 4:30 p.m. and included the deputy director of the Directorate-General for Food and Veterinary (DGAV), Paula Cruz Garcia, the president of CropLife Portugal, Felisbela Campos, Cristina Carlos from the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD), Social Democratic Party MP Emília Cerqueira, chair of the Assembly of the Republic's Agriculture and Fisheries Committee, and João Frazão, a member of the Portuguese Communist Party's political committee. The moderator was João Baptista, a journalist from the newspaper Mais Ribatejo.

©️ Image credits: Escola Superior Agrária de Santarém and Portuguese Horticultural Association

Last Wednesday morning, May 15, another Farmers“ Day was held at the Innovation Hub in Elvas, under the motto ”Challenges and opportunities for the sustainable intensification of agriculture", which was attended by the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, José Manuel Fernandes.

InnovPlantProtect (InPP) was present at this event, promoted by the National Institute for Agrarian and Veterinary Research (INIAV, IP), a founding member of InPP, which aimed to promote the dynamics of innovation that result in the valorization of national production and also in people settling in the territories.

The initiative kicked off with a speech by the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, who highlighted the importance of the agricultural sector, stressing that “Agriculture is much more than numbers and GDP. It's territorial cohesion, it's landscape, it's culture, it's gastronomy, it's tourism”, and he also listed as priority areas for action the improvement of farmers' incomes, the attraction of younger people and the link with academia and research, which must be based on a perspective of territorial cohesion.

This was followed by a round table on “Territory, Capacity Building, Research and Innovation”, moderated by José Palha, representing the CerealTech Competence Center, and with the participation of Nuno Canada, President of INIAV, Paulo Fernandes, Mayor of Fundão, Bernardo Albino, Vice-President of the National Association of Protein, Oilseed and Cereal Producers (ANPOC) and João Madeira, from the Extensive Grazing Competence Center.

The round table concluded with the presentation of the Cereais do Alentejo range of products, a registered trademark of ANPOC which, like the Fundão Cherry, aims to enhance national cereal production; and with the launch of the technical guide “Cereais Praganosos - A Produtividade e a Qualidade Constroem-se”, a manual that results from the compilation of the most relevant knowledge transmitted over the years in the Technical Training for Autumn/Winter Cereal Production, jointly promoted by ANPOC, INIAV and the Polytechnic Institute of Beja since 2016.

Congratulations to INIAV for the initiative!

Farmers' Day is an annual initiative that brings together hundreds of farmers and companies in the sector.

Today, May 16, is National Scientists' Day in Portugal and InnovPlantProtect (InPP) has issued a challenge to its scientists - to record their day-to-day lives in the Collaborative Lab. InPP promoted a photo competition open to its entire community who submitted photos showing a little of what their day-to-day life as scientists is like.

The team then chose the three best photos through an internal voting process and today opened the voting to the online community on the institutional social networks so that they can choose who the big winner is.

To choose your favorite photo, all you have to do is vote in the poll that we will be launching on the social networks LinkedIn and Facebook from 2pm, and which will be available until the end of today.

Congratulations to researchers Maria Miguel, Francisca Rodrigues and Francesca Messina, authors of the photos below. Thanks to all the participants for the fantastic photos submitted!

We wish a Happy National Scientist Day to all our scientists and researchers who dedicate their lives to curiosity, to trying to understand how the world works, and who are increasingly concerned about sharing this knowledge with others. Together we all contribute to building the future!

National Scientists' Day was established in 2016 and aims to recognize the contribution of the scientific community to the advancement of knowledge, progress and the well-being of society.