It's called PROSPER and it's a new European project that aims to transform European agriculture through the valorization of “orphan” legumes - resistant crops, little exploited, but with great potential to face the challenges of climate and food in the future.
The consortium, with total funding of around 5 million euros, brings together 27 partners from 13 European countries and Tunisia, including universities, research centers, companies and non-profit organizations in the agricultural sector. Among them are countries from the Mediterranean (Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal and France), Central Europe (Germany, Belgium, Poland, Bulgaria and Romania), Northern Europe (Denmark, Sweden and Finland).
The aim of PROSPER is to test and validate new agricultural diversification strategies, adapted to different climates and social and economic contexts, promoting more sustainable, innovative practices that are adjusted to the needs of different agricultural realities.
InPP, PROSPER's partner, will be responsible for analyzing:
Soil health and environmental impact
Energy efficiency and waste management
Nutritional quality of crops
Fair valuation along the production chain
To do this, the InPP team will use advanced technologies, such as real-time sensors and geospatial analysis, which will help study soil health, carbon sequestration captured by crops, water management and biodiversity, among others.
PROSPER is co-created with the main players in the agricultural sector, ensuring that the solutions developed do not remain on paper: they will be practical, useful and transformative.
The project starts in September 2025. We are ready to embark on this journey towards a greener, fairer and more resilient agriculture.
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.
A diretora de departamento Sandra Correia, em entrevista para a newsletter do Núcleo de Engenharia Biológica do Instituto Superior Técnico (NEBIST), lançada no mês de abril, fala sobre a sua carreira, sobre a sua experiência como professora, sobre o seu percurso académico e científico por várias universidades nacionais e estrangeiras, bem como sobre a investigação que tem sido desenvolvida pelo departamento de Proteção de Culturas Específicas do InnovPlantProtect (InPP).
Nesta entrevista, Sandra deixa também umas palavras de inspiração para as futuras gerações de investigadores, que pensam partir à descoberta do fascinante mundo da biotecnologia e das plantas e, que contribuirão para a construção do futuro!
“Se o vosso desejo é trabalhar na área da biotecnologia, tentem integrar-se na malha de intervenientes na cadeia agrícola, desde a produção, até à procura de soluções em si. São precisas pessoas, são precisas soluções e são precisas ideias, para que seja possível atingir as metas de sustentabilidade e produção que nos são exigidas”, sublinha a diretora de departamento ao NEBIST.
“Portanto, se tiverem um verdadeiro desejo e gosto por desenvolver soluções para proteção de plantas, para alcançar um mundo onde consigamos obter mais alimentos de forma sustentável, prossigam esse sonho mesmo que não seja o caminho mais rentável, pois alguém tem de prosseguir nesse caminho”, acrescenta.
Leia a entrevista na íntegra here. A entrevista encontra-se nas páginas 1 a 4.
Nos dias 17 e 18 de abril de 2023 teve lugar a primeira conferência da ação COST “European Network for Innovative Woody Plant Cloning” (CopyTree) na Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, em Espanha.
A conferência teve como público-alvo a comunidade científica, decisores políticos, stakeholders e tecido empresarial e pretendeu abordar os principais desafios da investigação da cultura in vitro de plantas lenhosas, uma técnica que permite multiplicar plantas em laboratório. Durante estes dois dias esteve ainda em debate como se pode melhorar a compreensão de todos os aspetos desta tecnologia, desenvolver novas estratégias de investigação, avaliar o risco da sua utilização e promover a aceitação por parte da sociedade.
A Sandra Correia, diretora de departamento do InnovPlantProtect, foi moderadora do grupo de trabalho 1 que abordou o tema da recalcitrância, isto é, a dificuldade das plantas responderem à cultura in vitro. A recalcitrância é um fator limitante importante para a exploração biotecnológica de espécies de plantas lenhosas relevantes economicamente, e pode também prejudicar a aplicação de outras técnicas de conservação in vitro.
A ação COST (sigla em inglês de European Cooperation in Science and Technology) é uma entidade financiadora para redes de investigação e inovação. Estas ações ajudam a conectar iniciativas de investigação ao redor da Europa que, através da partilha entre a comunidade científica, permitem desenvolver as ideias dos cientistas. Estas ações pretendem assim alavancar a investigação, carreira e inovação da comunidade científica.
Um agradecimento especial a toda a equipa envolvida na organização desta iniciativa.
Os trabalhos desta ação continuarão a todo o gás! Esperamos ter mais novidades em breve!
O diretor executivo do InnovPlantProtect (InPP), Pedro Fevereiro participou na 6ª Edição das Jornadas de Homologação de Produtos Fitofarmacêuticos, organizada pela Associação Nacional da Indústria para a Proteção das Plantas (Anipla), e que teve lugar no dia 17 de abril, em formato presencial, no auditório da Direção-Geral de Alimentação e Veterinária (DGAV), em Oeiras.
As Jornadas juntaram indústria, agricultores e entidades do setor agrícola nacional para debater acerca das políticas europeias e de como estas influenciam a disponibilidade de soluções fitofarmacêuticas, bem como acerca do papel fundamental da tecnologia na produção de alimentos, na proteção contra pragas e doenças das plantas e na adaptação às alterações climáticas.
A iniciativa contou ainda com uma mesa redonda dedicada ao tema “A tecnologia na produção de alimentos, na proteção fitossanitária e na adaptação às alterações climáticas” e com a participação da CropLife Europe para falar sobre diplomas europeus e o impacto destes na Indústria e Agricultura.
Em 2024 estará de volta mais uma edição das Jornadas da Anipla.
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