genoma – InnovPlantProtect

NEWS

InPP joins BioLivingLABS project - Bioeconomy at the service of the sustainability of inland territories

September 22, 2025
Blog, Highlight, News, Project
Ines Ferreira

InnovPlantProtect (InPP) recently received approval for an application submitted to COMPETE2030-2024-6 - Collective Actions - Transfer of scientific and technological knowledge - BioLivingLABS - Bioeconomy at the service of the sustainability of inland territories, led by MORE CoLAB - Laboratório Colaborativo Montanhas de Investigação, Associação, in partnership with the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança (IPB), the Polytechnic Institute of Castelo Branco (IPCB) and AQUAVALOR.

BioLivingLABS aims to promote the economic valorization of research and development (R&D) results obtained by various institutions in the North, Center and Alentejo. To this end, it will create an experimental demonstration network, the so-called Living Labs, The project will be held in the innovation hubs of Mirandela, Douro, Covilhã and Elvas. In addition, demonstration actions, workshops, an inland innovation catalog and training on intellectual property protection will be developed with the aim of encouraging the incorporation of innovative solutions in the business sectors of these regions.

Scheduled to begin in October and lasting 24 months, the project has a total eligible investment of over 740,000 euros, financed by COMPETE2030 - Thematic Program for Innovation and Digital Transition. For InPP, this project is a strategic opportunity to strengthen its mission as a center for technology development and transfer, boosting the practical application of scientific knowledge to promote sustainable development.

This initiative confirms InPP's commitment to open and sustainable innovation, integrating science, technology and regional development to respond to the challenges and potential of the interior of the country.

InPP took part in an Open Day dedicated to the cereals of Baixo Mondego

September 19, 2025
Blog, Highlight, News
Ines Ferreira

On September 18, the executive director of InnovPlantProtect (InPP), António Saraiva, the director of the New Biopesticides Department, Cristina Azevedo, and researcher Luís Grilo attended the Open Day “The Cereals of Baixo Mondego”, promoted by the Centro Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR Centro), at the Bico da Barca Experimental Unit in Montemor-o-Velho.

The event highlighted the latest innovations from the Coimbra Innovation Hub, from new technologies applied to maize and rice, to fertilization strategies, protection and the use of biostimulants on these key crops in the Baixo Mondego region.

Our team also monitored trials with biofungicides, including the product I21, developed with our collaborative laboratory to combat pyriculariosis in two rice varieties, which is being patented.

In an interview with Voice of the Countryside, Cristina Azevedo shared the work we have been doing in the area of biosolutions.

(Re)watch the interview here.

Image credits: InnovPlantProtect and Voz do Campo magazine

Maize in Portugal: phytosanitary challenges and new emerging threats

August 19, 2025
Blog, Highlight, News
Ines Ferreira

Maize continues to be the Portugal's most important arable crop, The sector has a significant impact on food safety and the national agri-food industry. Involving thousands of producers and generating tens of millions of euros a year, the sector is currently facing increasingly complex phytosanitary challenges.

Among already known pests and emerging diseases, there are risks ranging from cartridge caterpillar until Maize Rugose Dwarfism Virus (MRDV), The presence of this virus is increasing in Portugal. This virus, transmitted by the corn leafhopper, can seriously compromise production and is found in the climate change increasingly favorable conditions for its spread.

However, it's not just MRDV that's worrying. There are new threats that require vigilance, such as the coleopter Diabrotica virgifera or the MDMV virus (Maize Dwarf Mosaic Virus), already detected in neighboring countries, and also toxic weeds, such as the winter fig (Datura stramonium), which in addition to impacting productivity pose public health risks.

Faced with this reality, the answer is integrated and sustainable strategies, matching:

crop rotation and good agricultural practices;
careful use of insecticides to avoid resistance and environmental impacts;
resistant or tolerant varieties, where available;
research and technological innovation, including new digital tools for early detection.

As the InnovPlantProtect researcher points out, Nuno Faria, in the article entitled “The main emerging pests and diseases of the maize crop in Portugal”, available in the August edition of Voz do Campo magazine: “The phytosanitary panorama of maize in Portugal requires continuous vigilance, investment in research and the application of integrated and sustainable strategies capable of responding to an increasingly dynamic and unpredictable reality.”

To find out more about the main current risks and mitigation measures, read the full article published in the August issue of Voz do Campo magazine (pages 88-89), available on newsstands and online.

EVENTS

Combating clover root rot disease

January 21, 2021
Blog
Ines Ferreira

1st InPP field trip - Fertiprado — First InPP / Fertiprado field trip, by the Guadiana River, southwest of Elvas

CoLab InPP and Fertiprado collected the first samples of Persian clover and the pathogen that attacks this plant, which is used in the Alentejo and Elvas to produce pasture to feed free-range cattle.

The InnovPlantProtect (InPP) collaborative laboratory will develop a technological solution, based on existing products on the market, to protect Persian clover meadows (Trifolium resupinatum) against root rot. The initiative is the result of a partnership signed on December 2, 2020 with Fertiprado, an InPP member company.

This forage legume is particularly adapted - especially Fertiprado's varieties - to pasture production in Portugal and countries with winters similar to the Portuguese one. In the Alentejo and Elvas, Persian clover is mainly used as feed for free-range cattle, “due to its high protein content and its ability to retain atmospheric nitrogen,” says Pedro Fevereiro, InPP's executive director.

The action aims to isolate and identify the causative agent of root rot. The need was recognized by Fertiprado, which over the years has seen an increase in the incidence of this disease in its meadows, particularly those used for seed production. In the second week of January, InPP phytopathologists carried out their first field trip, accompanied by Ana Barradas, Fertiprado's Director of Research and Development, to collect samples of Persian clover and the pathogen that attacks it.

The work is in its initial phase and the identification of the causal species/strain of the disease is expected between March and April 2021, says Pedro Fevereiro. In a second phase, the “sequencing of its genome and the molecular identification of the strain” will be carried out. The third phase will consist of “testing and identifying the best solution based on coating the seeds with a biopesticide”.

National agri-food research has a name: INIAV

December 17, 2020
Latest
Ines Ferreira

INIAV-National Institute for Agricultural and Veterinary Research is one of the founding members of InnovPlantProtec. In this interview with Oeiras Valley, Nuno Canadas lists the differentiating elements of the institution he chairs and emphasizes its position within the national scientific and technological system. See Part I and Part II of the interview.

After the new era, what future for genomics?

December 12, 2020
Blog
Ines Ferreira

The new era in genomics began 20 years ago with the publication of the first draft of the human genome. And now, which way forward? This is the question that two genomics experts will try to answer in a live online chat this Monday at 19:00.

Since the new era in genomics began 20 years ago, a lot has changed: DNA sequencing costs have fallen, gene therapy is back, ethical boundaries are being pushed to the limit by gene editing, new technologies such as single cell and transcriptomics are leading researchers towards genomic breakthroughs.

How far the field of genomics has advanced in the last 20 years is not in question. What is under discussion now is what will happen next. With the progress that has been made, what is the way forward? What path should be taken?

On the 14th, at 7pm, in an online meeting organized by the US publication Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News, two genomics experts from The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) and the authors of the recently concluded 2020 strategic plan will look back at the past of genomics, analyzing its highs and lows, and try to figure out its future. For the authors of the 2020 strategic plan, “the vision of genomics has never been clearer” and the future, they say, lies in “responsible stewardship” and increasing diversity.

To take part, register here.

News & Events