News & Events

Farming is considered by many to be a traditional activity, carried out by hand and managed according to the dictates of the Borda d'Água. But is that really the case? Or is it an activity guided by scientific knowledge and which shows leaps in quality, sustainability and productivity when science is applied judiciously in agricultural fields?

This is the theme of the debate, organized by InnovPlantProtect (InPP), which will take place on National Scientific Culture Day, November 24, at 6pm, in the InPP Auditorium, in Elvas, and which brings together a CEO, António Serrano, a scientist, Rosário Félix, a science communicator, Cristina Nobre Soares, and an agricultural producer, Paulo Maria, at the same table to answer the question: “Does agriculture need Scientific Culture?”.

The debate will be moderated by Pedro Fevereiro, executive director of InPP.

Participation is open to all interested parties, subject to prior registration here.

Meet the panel of speakers here.

Celebrate this day with us and come and enrich this debate by asking your questions.

The initiative is part of Science and Technology Week 2022, promoted by Ciência Viva, which runs from November 19 to 27 and celebrates science and technology at national level, with the aim of bringing science closer to society and promoting scientific and technological culture in Portugal.

On November 7, the executive director of InPP, Pedro February, took part in the first session of EDE-X - Entrepreneurial Discovery Spaces, a cycle of participatory events dedicated to technology transfer, R&D and innovation, promoted by National Innovation Agency (ANI), which took place in Évora, at the Alentejo Science and Technology Park.

The main objective of the initiative was the collaborative mapping of technology transfer, R&D and innovation models and processes in the context of smart specialization in Portugal.

This session was an opportunity to involve the entire innovation community in the construction of an operational governance model for the National Strategy for Intelligent Specialization (ENEI 2030), made up of multiregional thematic platforms, and a system for monitoring the dynamics of technology transfer in the areas of intelligent specialization.

ENEI 2030, approved in June, served as the motto for the discussion, in which participants were invited to contribute, through co-creation methodologies, to the definition of the lines of action that give shape to its six major priority areas: Digital Transition; Materials, Systems and Information Technologies; Green Transition; Society, Creativity and Heritage; Health, Biotechnology and Food; Major Natural Assets: Forest, Sea and Space.

(Re)watch the best moments of this session in the video available on ANI's YouTube channel here.

The EDE-X series of events was promoted within the framework of the Support System for Collective Actions - Transfer of Scientific and Technological Knowledge, TECH4INNOV, co-financed by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund, under the Competitiveness and Internationalization Operational Programme (COMPETE 2020) of Portugal 2020.

Image credits: ANI

AlViGen, coordinated by InnovPlantProtect, was one of the innovative pilot projects recently selected and funded under the 4th edition of the Promove Program.

The project “AlViGen: Creation of a hub in ALentejo for the GENomic VIgilance of diseases in agriculture”, led by InnovPlantProtect (InPP) in partnership with the University of Évora (WOW), is one of the winners of the 4th edition of the Promove Program (in the category of innovative pilot projects), financed by the La Caixa Foundation, BPI and the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). This project will enable the InPP to create the capacity for early detection of multiple crop diseases, using molecular methods that make it possible to identify important characteristics of pathogens, such as virulence, susceptible varieties and resistance to phytopharmaceuticals, benefiting producers and government authorities.

AlViGen aims to create the first genomic surveillance center in the Alentejo, applied to important agricultural crop diseases, a unique structure at local and national level, with state-of-the-art equipment. Genomic surveillance, a methodology widely applied to the SARS-CoV2 virus (which causes COVID-19), makes it possible to characterize pathogens in detail down to the strain level, enabling the agricultural sector to obtain better information on crop pests and diseases, and to manage the means of control (e.g. pesticides) based on data, in order to reduce possible economic, social and environmental impacts.

Ricardo Ramiro, The InPP researcher responsible for the project explains that “the AlViGen project is important to us so that we can establish the conditions for applying genomic surveillance. Once these conditions are established, we will apply genomic surveillance to fungi in olive groves and wheat fields. We will identify which species of fungi are circulating in the air and also characterize the strains of two key fungi in these crops: Puccinia striiformis f.sp. tritici (yellow rust on wheat) and Colletotrichum spp. (olive galls). This will allow early and rapid detection of strains of these fungi and some of their characteristics, including virulence and resistance to fungicides or pesticides.”.

“The information obtained could be used to prevent sharp losses in the production of these essential crops for the Alentejo region, which is the main producer at national level,” adds Rosário Félix, a UÉ professor also involved in the project.

In addition to bringing benefits to producers in crop management, the service provided by the AlViGen hub will also be of great interest to government entities or non-governmental organizations focused on protecting agricultural crops or biodiversity, since the genomic information produced makes it possible to identify pathways and routes of pest transmission, allowing authorities to implement policies that minimize the risks of transmission.

The AlViGen project is the result of an international collaboration with institutions in Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom, bringing together research centers, companies, producer associations and public administration institutions. In addition to InPP and UÉ, the project includes the British research center John Innes Center, the National Institute for Agricultural and Veterinary Research (INIAV), Spanish companies De Prado and Roma/Roma-Bio, the Agrupamento de Produtores de Cereais do Sul (CERSUL) and the General Directorate of Food and Veterinary (DGAV).

The fourth edition of the Promove 2022 competition received 29 proposals divided into three categories, with funding of over 3.6 million euros awarded to just 13 pilot projects across the Iberian Peninsula. The Promove Program aims to support innovative initiatives in strategic areas to boost the sustainable development of Portugal's inland and border regions and which can be replicated in other regions with similar characteristics.

Find out more about this competition at la Caixa“ website”.

Financing: